Derry Buscarin

At least 50 top Iranian officials were killed in U.S.

and Israeli airstrikes, including the country's former supreme leader.

Peace talks have remained stalled despite a fragile ceasefire since early April.

For NPR News, I'm Derry Buscarin in Istanbul.

Iran's supreme leader, Moshtaba Khamenei, struck a hard line in a wide-ranging written speech.

It was read aloud by a state television anchor.

He lambasted what he called foreigners who greedily commit atrocities, saying they have no place in the Strait of Hormuz.

In his words, except at the bottom of its waters.

The leader also pledged to protect Iran's nuclear and missile capabilities.

Khamenei has not been seen in public since he was injured in the airstrike that killed his father.

the former supreme leader, on the first day of the war.

For NPR News, I'm Derry Buscarin in Istanbul.

NetBlocks reports Iran's internet use goes up to about 2% of normal levels.

The government has issued so-called white SIM cards to members of the government, some social media influencers, and loyal media outlets, specialized virtual private networks, or VPNs,

are being sold on the black market for about $10 per gigabyte of data.

Google searches work intermittently.

Iran does have a functioning internal web called an intranet, so services like local banking are still functional.

But some Iranian officials are raising concerns about the economic cost of being cut off from the outside world.

The head of an Iranian technology workers' union said Sunday about a fifth of the country's tech workforce could face layoffs.

For NPR News, I'm Derry Buscarin in Istanbul.