Iran Vows Regime Will "not Back Down" as Web Blackout Continues
Key topics
As Iran's government vows not to back down amidst a nationwide web blackout, commenters are abuzz with speculation about the regime's stability and the motivations behind the protests. Some point to the Iranian Foreign Minister's suspicious trip to Beirut as a sign of elite panic, while others debunk this as rumor, noting that the minister himself has denied the claims. The discussion reveals a deep divide over the protests' origins, with some attributing them to a CIA-sponsored "color revolution" and others arguing that the people's desire for freedom is what truly matters. Amidst the debate, a grim historical parallel is drawn to the 2019 internet blackout, which masked government atrocities.
Snapshot generated from the HN discussion
Discussion Activity
Very active discussionFirst comment
27m
Peak period
63
0-2h
Avg / period
10.4
Based on 83 loaded comments
Key moments
- 01Story posted
Jan 9, 2026 at 8:27 AM EST
1d ago
Step 01 - 02First comment
Jan 9, 2026 at 8:54 AM EST
27m after posting
Step 02 - 03Peak activity
63 comments in 0-2h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03 - 04Latest activity
Jan 10, 2026 at 9:08 AM EST
7h ago
Step 04
Generating AI Summary...
Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns
Want the full context?
Jump to the original sources
Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.
However, French media reports the Iranian elites are trying to get french visas
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202601089494
Other unconfirmed rumors currently circulating is that last night under the cover of the internet blackouts there has been a major massacre of protestors
https://x.com/IliaHashemicom/status/2009594128284205077
Really, really hope it's a rumor.
https://www.reddit.com/r/NewIran/comments/1q7x4vv/caution_di...
> "To block the sharing of information regarding the protests and the deaths of hundreds of protesters on social media platforms, the government shut down the Internet nationwide, resulting in a near-total internet blackout of around six days.[25][26][27] In an effort to crush the protests, the Iranian government (according to Amnesty International) shot protesters dead from rooftops, helicopters, and at close range with machine gun fire. In an effort to mask the scale and casualty count of the protests, it hauled away large numbers of bodies of the dead protesters,[24] and threatened families of slain protesters not to speak to the media or hold funerals.[28]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019–2020_Iranian_protests
https://x.com/Osint613/status/2009405639869526236
Maybe someone in Lebanon can chime in.
https://www.gettyimages.com/search/2/image?phrase=public+han...
I hope to wake up to see a free iran any day now.
Do you think people go fight their armed government known for heavily repressing any kind of protest for fun after work ?
If Iran turns into a monarchy, it will be a very formal constitutional one, like Spain.
Paradoxically, republics of today seem more vulnerable to authoritarian turns than the monarchies which survived the 20th century.
Probably because an elected leader has more legitimacy and thus can demand more political power, sometimes too much power. In a constitutional monarchy, there is always a psychological split between the sovereign and the prime minister or whoever gets elected to executive power, and one-man-shows are less likely to succeed.
I will. For example, it is a nasty group of medieval characters, extremely corrupt even by contemporary standards, and willing to kill and maim their opponents at every opportunity. Hanging people from cranes, bloody hell.
"most obvious CIA-sponsored color revolution"
Yeah, because millions of people are just stupid remote-controlled robotic zombies who will, upon a command of the CIA, go into the streets against Basij thugs who are willing to shoot at them.
Do people outside the West have any personal agency themselves in your view, or are they all just mindless puppets of the Big White Man in the White House?
This is not to deny that the US has some interest in getting the ayatollahs overthrown. But I find the opinion that everyone in the world just obediently dances by someone's flute quite dehumanizing.
What a lazy and ignorant attempt of spinning this. That's on the same level as the "so many people would know, no one could keep it a secret" fact check drivel. You don't need people to be stupid, "remote-controlled" nor robotic zombies. You just need to keep on funding assets, recruit new people and the seeds will form a groundwork sooner or later.
I recommend picking up a book on this some time: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/cia-intervention
Some of these operations werde decades long.
> But I find the opinion that everyone in the world just obediently dances by someone's flute quite dehumanizing.
Basically no one means this when they speak of regime change operations and people participating in it.
I know a few activists who were involved in sending dialup numbers to fax machines during the Arab Spring during the Internet blackout in Egypt and most of them are pretty much aware that they were mostly pawns for Western governments.
If I lived in Iran, I would need no CIA to be angry about the status quo.
They do though. Spinning the 2014 Maidan Revolution as a fully illegitimate CIA-backed coup (with the implicit conclusion that it's against the will of the people) is one of the main rhetorical pillars used to justify Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
Not saying it is what's happening.
But pretending our brain isn't subject to manipulation isn't the way to our own betterment.
In Iran of 2026, neither food nor even water is secure. That is very low on the same hierarchy. I would say that this is a much stronger motivation for discontent than anything on the heavily censored local Internet.
Still better than having western corporations loot the hell out of your country, like they did to Russia in the 90s, or what AICO did after it got Mossadegh out of the way.
> robotic zombies who will, upon a command of the CIA, go into the streets...
Money goes a long way, even in countries that aren't poor. For a country as heavily sanctioned as Iran, the CIA could buy out all of their politicians and all of their journalists several times over. We already saw this with "arab spring" in Egypt. Five-eyes and company con terminally online city kids into thinking the country is behind them, city kids protest and weaken the government, the peasants take notice and realize, "Hey, if these spoiled kids can topple the government, just imagine what we can do!", so instead of getting gay rights and feminism, they get the Muslim Brotherhood.
The story of Eastern Germany is much more interesting. Capital from West Germany was directly steering the process.
> Still better than having western corporations loot the hell out of your country, like they did to Russia in the 90s, or what AICO did after it got Mossadegh out of the way.
Really? By what measure? Just look at how many people fled the Islamic Republic vs. Shah's old regime. The diaspora has absolutely exploded since Khomeini's revolution, and the people fleeing are mostly the best educated ones. Iran has the highest brain drain in the world.
Not the CIA anymore. Today, it's done by "semi-governmental" organizations such as the NED[1, 2] or RFE/RL[3] or in this case, its persian-language incarnation Radio Farda[4].
You can agree with their overt goal of strengthening pro-democratic forces in authoritarian countries, (though the question remain: with what authority and who sets the objectives they are promoting?)
Even then, the list of countries in which they don't operate should raise some questions: No activity in Israel, Argentina or the Gulf states, even though those countries are also generally regarded as autocracies (Gulf states) or are currently experiencing a massive slide towards authoritarianism (Israel, Argentina). It just happens that those countries are all allies of the US...
[1] https://www.ned.org
[2] https://socialism.com/fs-article/betrayal-from-venezuela-to-...
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Free_Europe/Radio_Libert...
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Farda
Yeah, the West is not a bunch of angels. But among people who view the world as one big conspirational system, there is a visible lack of understanding that many of the domestic regimes are worse than that.
If any country maintains a massive secret police against internal dissent, it is a good indication that the Dear Leader is hated by the population.
As of 2025, most European countries do not maintain a massive secret police against internal dissent, though some particular events are worrying. But prior to 1989, there were massive secret police systems all over the former Eastern Bloc.
"with what authority and who sets the objectives they are promoting?"
Does it matter? Why?
The Iranian system in particular derives its authority from Allah, and? Did Allah actually confirm their authority? Nope.
The US isn’t trying to restrict Venezuela’s oil sales. It is restricting those sales and part of that work, remember Russia invaded Ukraine and aids Iran in destabilizing the Middle East, is the seizure of ships flying under false flags in violation of international maritime law and in violation of US and European Union sanctions on Russian oil sales.
It's fair to be critical of the United States (which was also largely cleaning up European colonial messes in the Middle East), but it's not fair to take away Iran's agency and blame all of its ills on the United States.
Swap “Jews” with “Arabs” and you’d be describing Israel, except they don’t just chant and already have nuclear bombs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordechai_Vanunu
Israel isn't innocent either. Their actions in Gaza went beyond what was necessary, in my opinion, but I will never accept or entertain a discussion where all the blame just goes to Israel or just goes to the United States.
Neither Israel or the United States are doing what Iran is doing. Iran actively chooses to be belligerent because their authoritarian leaders, who also like to help Russia invade and bomb Ukraine mind you, need an enemy to try and maintain appearances.
I don't know but I don't doubt that Israel has a nuclear bomb. I also don't have a problem with it, because unlike Iran they don't go around threatening their neighbors with nuclear holocaust and destruction, like Iran does.
Are the Palestinians Iranian citizens? They weren't the last I checked. So no need for Iran to be involved there.
If you want to argue that Israel is "doing things right now" in this broad context against Arabs well, so did Hamas, Hezbollah, and others against Israelis. Iran threatens nuclear holocaust on Israel, Iran also launched ballistic missiles at Israel, funds ISIS/ISIL, Hezbollah, destabilized Syria and tried to destabilize Iraq. Maybe everyone just deserves what is happening to them?
I don't think it should be possible to kill two million people in a well planned and organised fashion without getting everyone involved...
Anything's better than US-backed monarchy
That is a heavy price to "get back at the Yankees".
Up until 2024 he had a 10 million reward on his head and it would be very plausible he will end up assassinated by a US UAV
https://2017-2021.state.gov/rewards-for-justice-reward-offer...
> The crackdown on protesters in Iran has prompted an outcry among European leaders, with High Representative Kaja Kallas denouncing Tehran for its "disproportionate" and "heavy-handed" response.
> The European Union has sharply condemned the crackdown on protesters in Iran who have taken to the streets to show their discontent over the Islamic Republic.
Starmer: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/03/keir-starmer-sil...
"We are deeply concerned about reports of violence by Iranian security forces, and strongly condemn the killing of protestors. The Iranian authorities have the responsibility to protect their own population and must allow for the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly without fear of reprisal. We urge the Iranian authorities to exercise restraint, to refrain from violence, and to uphold the fundamental rights of Iran’s citizens."
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/leaders-declaration-of-fr...
I root for the Iranian people in spite of Trump's support.
In fact, these Iran protests are a ray of light partly because liberalism is under attack, from populists like Trump, in Western nations.
So right now there is almost no starlink hardware in the country.
It's right there in the article. Just click the link!
Trump/Israel bad > Trump/Israel is anti Iranian regime > Iranian regime must not be so bad (or actually be good!)
[1] https://www.slatestarcodexabridged.com/I-Can-Tolerate-Anythi...
Will a protector come and save the Iranians, again?
A theocracy masquerading as a democracy can't really expect to not have uprisings now and again.