Tehran's internet blackout to end 'soon'

A senior Iranian official said on Monday that he hoped internet access would be restored for businesses within the next two days, after authorities imposed a blackout during a wave of anti-government protests.

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Rights groups say the internet blackout has provided cover for a deadly crackdown that has left several thousand protesters dead.

"We hope that companies' access to the international internet will be restored within the next day or two," Hossein Rafieian, a senior official on digital economy matters, told Iran's Mehr news agency.

He noted that the final decision was outside his office's "direct authority," but said "the issue is being followed up continuously through consultations with the relevant bodies".