Rising costs, poor connectivity, and censorship are undermining students’ access to global research and deepening the crisis in Iran’s higher education system.
The Iranian regime’s escalating restrictions on internet access are doing far more than limiting people’s ability to communicate or access social media. They are undermining education, obstructing scientific research, and threatening the future of an entire generation of students and academics.
Whenever the regime senses growing public discontent and the possibility of another uprising, it turns to familiar instruments of social control. Restrictions on women’s clothing and tighter control of the internet are among the measures repeatedly used to impose its authority and restrict public freedoms.
Recently, Kayhan, the newspaper affiliated with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, again emphasized the need to control cyberspace, invoking Khamenei’s earlier statements. Meanwhile, the regime has been pursuing a policy of effectively restricting internet access through slower connections, higher service costs, and increasingly explicit warnings by officials about possible shutdowns.
The consequences extend well beyond ordinary internet users. Small businesses and independent livelihoods are among the immediate casualties, but university students, researchers, and academic institutions face particularly damaging consequences.
Students Pay More for an Internet That Works Less
The regime’s internet policies have created a double burden for Iranian students: access is becoming more expensive while its quality and reliability continue to deteriorate.
According to figures published by the Iranian newspaper Tose’e Irani, mobile internet service prices charged by the country’s two major operators, Hamrah-e Aval and Irancell, increased by as much as 40 percent beginning November 1.
A survey by the Majles-affiliated Mellat Public Opinion Research Center also revealed widespread dissatisfaction. Some 58 percent of respondents described internet speed as unsatisfactory, while 73 percent expressed dissatisfaction with its cost.
These expenses do not end with purchasing internet packages. Because numerous websites and platforms remain blocked, users must also pay for virtual private networks (VPNs) to access them. The reported average monthly expenditure on VPN services is approximately 105,000 tomans.
In effect, users must pay twice: once for internet access and again to bypass the regime’s censorship.
The economic consequences are particularly severe for students. According to the same survey, 56 percent of respondents said their own income or that of their household heads depended on internet access. This means that restrictions simultaneously undermine household income and increase the cost of studying and conducting research.
For students from low-income families, these pressures can turn access to essential educational resources into an additional financial obstacle.
The National Information Network Cannot Replace the Global Internet
The regime has promoted its National Information Network as an alternative to unrestricted internet access, arguing that domestic platforms and services can keep essential activities running even when international connectivity is disrupted.
Officials have maintained that schools will continue receiving educational services through domestic infrastructure. But keeping a local website accessible is not equivalent to maintaining access to the international scientific community.
University students need access to newly published academic papers, international research databases, digital libraries, and specialized educational resources. Professors and researchers must follow developments in their fields, exchange findings with colleagues abroad, and participate in international research projects.
A domestic network cannot provide an equivalent substitute for these connections.
The ability to make domestic bank payments or access local government services does not address the central problem: the isolation of Iran’s universities from the global exchange of scientific knowledge.
The political nature of the restrictions is also difficult to ignore. Regime officials have acknowledged that internet shutdowns were imposed to enable security forces to control the situation. This makes clear that the restrictions are not simply the result of technical shortcomings or inadequate infrastructure. They are deliberate political decisions presented under the pretext of security.
Internet Restrictions Deepen Iran’s Academic Decline
The damage extends to the international standing of Iran’s universities.
International academic rankings already point to serious challenges facing the country’s higher education system. In the 2025 SCImago rankings, which assess research and scientific performance, Iran’s position reflected the difficulties confronting its academic sector. In the 2026 Shanghai Ranking, no Iranian university appeared among the world’s top 500 institutions.
These rankings do not capture every aspect of academic performance, and internet restrictions alone cannot explain Iran’s declining position. Chronic underfunding, poor management, and restrictions on academic freedom have also weakened universities and obstructed scientific development.
However, cutting universities off from international research networks can only aggravate these structural problems.
Scientific research depends on timely access to information and international cooperation. Academic deadlines do not wait for internet connections to be restored. Research opportunities disappear, collaborative projects are delayed, and students lose valuable time even when they have already paid for the necessary services and invested considerable effort in their work.
For researchers, unreliable connectivity can mean losing access to essential databases or missing opportunities to publish and collaborate. For students, it can mean falling behind their international peers through no fault of their own.
The Regime Is Sacrificing a Generation’s Future to Maintain Control
The Iranian regime’s internet policy exposes a fundamental contradiction in its approach to the country’s future. While officials speak about scientific development and educational progress, their actions increasingly isolate students and universities from the resources required to achieve either.
The consequences are not confined to the digital sphere. They affect employment prospects, academic opportunities, innovation, economic development, and the ability of young Iranians to compete internationally.
A university cannot advance in isolation, and a generation cannot build its future behind digital barriers imposed for political control.
The central question is therefore not whether domestic networks can keep a limited number of services functioning during an internet shutdown. It is why Iranian students, researchers, and families should be forced to bear the economic and educational costs of a policy designed to restrict society and protect the regime from public dissent.