Iran’s digital economy has suffered around $1bn in losses since February 28, the head of the blockchain commission at the country’s Computer Guild Organisation Abbas Ashtiani told IRNA on April 22, flagging daily damage of $30mn–$35mn as the Israeli–US war, continues to disrupt connectivity.

The estimate shows how wartime restrictions on bandwidth and access have become a binding constraint on growth, choking off cross-border data flows and consumer demand. With large swathes of global platforms intermittently unreachable, firms face a dual hit, with operations impaired and end-user access collapsing, compounding revenue losses and delaying recovery.

Ashtiani said the damage spans direct losses, indirect costs and “lost profit”, warning that compensation would be “time-consuming” without a step-change in infrastructure investment. “Internet stability and speed are core infrastructure,” he said, framing connectivity as a lever for GDP expansion in emerging markets.

Tehran has tightened internet controls since late February amid the conflict, with repeated slowdowns and blocks affecting international services. While limited access to tools such as Gmail and Google has been partially restored at times, Ashtiani described the effect as “positive” but marginal, insufficient to offset the broader shock.

Small online retailers and social-media sellers have borne the brunt. Businesses built on Instagram have been hit hardest, he said, whereas firms operating on domestic platforms have shown quicker, albeit partial, recovery. The disruption has rippled through payrolls, forcing some companies to cut staff as turnover shrinks.

Ashtiani said industry representatives have raised demands with the communications ministry, calling for a return to pre-war connectivity for both firms and households. He cautioned that headline figures do not capture the full extent of the damage, noting that foregone income and knock-on unemployment effects are integral to the tally.

Domestic platforms, including Rubika and Bale, remain active, but their ability to substitute for global services is uncertain. “Users decide,” Ashtiani said, pointing to past filtering episodes where foreign apps retained large audiences despite restrictions.

He added that the current outage mirrors earlier disruptions in impact, severing businesses from international data at the outset and then eroding consumer access, producing broadly similar economic losses each time.