Iran's Vice President for Women and Family Affairs Zahra Behrouz-Azar has criticised her own government's continued restrictions on international internet access, arguing that a digital economy cannot operate while access to the global web remains limited, Donya-e-Eqtesad reported on May 12, citing IRNA.

Behrouz-Azar's remarks come as Iran has imposed sweeping restrictions on internet access since the war with the United States and Israel began on February 28, with most public connectivity heavily curtailed or cut entirely for extended periods.

Independent monitors, including NetBlocks, have recorded sustained disruption to Iranian connectivity throughout the conflict, with the majority of the country now offline since February 28. The country has lost more than $8bn in economic wealth, according to some estimates inside the country, with that number believed to be a conservative figure. 

Behrouz-Azar said the belief that closing off the international internet would help domestic platforms grow was a mistake, with the upgrade of services being what drove user adoption, as many Iranians remain sceptical of services backed by the state. 

"It is not possible to talk about a digital economy while access to the international internet is limited," Behrouz-Azar said at a ceremony marking National Home-Based Businesses Day, the 50th meeting of the National Headquarters for Organising and Supporting Home-Based Businesses and the launch of the "1,000 Squares, 1,000 Markets" plan and a new home-based businesses platform, the paper wrote. 

The vice president called for international internet access to be opened for businesses which has been dubbed "pro internet". Coordination between platforms and the removal of existing obstacles could help drive real growth in home-based businesses, she said.

The establishment of a data exchange centre was necessary so operators could offer their products to the standards required by different platforms, the vice president added.

A significant share of operators in the home-based business sector worked through online platforms including Digikala, Basalam and Rubika, Behrouz-Azar said. The two main strategies for the sector were increasing the number of new entrants and supporting the growth of existing businesses.

Behrouz-Azar said it was possible that the recent war with the United States and Israel would push more men into home-based work, raising the sector's participation rate.

Family businesses (90% of which were headed by women) had a high level of durability due to shared concerns among their members and accounted for 70% of global GDP, Behrouz-Azar said.