886: Blackout
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What led to Shirin's parents disappearing into the blackout?
From WBEZ Chicago, it's This American Life. I'm Chana Jafi-Walt, sitting in for Ira Glass. When Shirin Jafari moved to the U.S. as a young adult, there were a lot of promises made to her family back home. We'll be in touch all the time, call you every week, almost like we're in the same town. which is the kind of thing you say. But Shirin actually pulled this off for the last 20 years.
We are a close family. We message several times a day. We send each other reels, like normal stuff. I mean, I don't want to lose those details, those small details of their lives because I am so far away from them.
And they really get into the details, this family. Who ate what? How far was the walk? What's the latest with the dental work? On the phone, by text, random thoughts tossed out at any hour. Have you seen this pumpkin dessert?
How are people in Iran coping with the war and internet blackout?
Unsolicited suggestions.
I would send them videos of exercises they can do at home.
Like you worrying about them getting enough movement?
I would love them to. Yeah, I would love. Yes, I have been trying to get my mom to do more yoga and my dad to not sit all day. How's that going?
Not great. So just like a constant, ongoing conversation with them?
What historical context is provided about Iran's conflict before the current war?
Totally. The kind of thing that you would be asking them if you were actually in the same space and close.
Then, in February, the United States and Israel attacked Iran, where her parents live. And on that very same day, the first day of the war, the Iranian authorities shut the Internet down. Just put the whole country into an Internet blackout. A shockingly effective blackout.
The call wouldn't go through. It would just disconnect. I didn't hear anything.
What opinions do Iranians have about the war and each other?
It would just disconnect.
Did you do it over and over again?
Yes, of course. I tried so many times. I wouldn't be able to get through. Calling through cell phone was impossible. It just became useless. The cell phone became useless for us. The only way I was able to communicate with them was them calling on a landline to my cell phone. That was the only way they could reach me.
Text message, email, nothing else was working.
After that point, no, they called me on the landline.
What happened in Iran the night Trump threatened civilization?
And it's funny when I think of it, you know, there were so many times when I visit them and I would tell them, who needs a landline? Maybe you guys should get rid of this. In this day and age, who needs a landline?
Inside Iran, what was happening was, as soon as the war started, cell phones were only working to call people inside the country. No internet. Communication with the outside world became so difficult, it was like going from breathing regularly out in the open to being underwater and breathing through a straw. Workarounds like VPNs are expensive or janky. Some are flat-out scams. And they're banned. A private satellite service like Starlink? illegal, and people have been arrested for using it. So, the landline. That was the only way Shirin's parents could reach her. But when bombing got too intense in Tehran, they fled the city, leaving behind the landline. And Shirin was left going for days, sometimes weeks, without hearing from them.
Were they okay? Were they safe? She'd go on social media, scouring every platform, looking for anyone she knew in Iran who had found some brief internet workaround to ask them if they'd heard from her parents.
So sometimes I would stay up at like 3 or 4 a.m.
How are communication methods altered by the internet blackout?
looking for any information that I can get from any relative or friend or somebody who knows my parents that could be online. I would just send messages to everybody like, hey, let me know if you are online. Let me know the next time you're connected. Can you give me an update? Just message me as soon as you see this message.
I've heard a lot in the last two months during this war about deals and negotiations. I've heard about bombings by the U.S. and Israel and by Iran. Also lots about oil prices and the stock market and the Strait of Hormuz. But I haven't heard much at all from Iranians inside Iran. What are they seeing and thinking and doing and talking about? For the last few weeks, we've been working with two journalists in the United States, Fatima Jamalpour and Roxana Saberi, to collect voice memos from inside Iran.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What led to Shirin's parents disappearing into the blackout?
0:01–0:59
2
How are people in Iran coping with the war and internet blackout?
0:59–1:26
3
What historical context is provided about Iran's conflict before the current war?
1:26–1:58
4
What opinions do Iranians have about the war and each other?
1:58–2:29
5
What happened in Iran the night Trump threatened civilization?
2:29–3:56
6
How are communication methods altered by the internet blackout?
3:56–6:13
7
What challenges do Iranians face in accessing information during the blackout?
6:13–8:04
8
What are the implications of a tiered internet access system in Iran?
8:04–1:00:44