The Vice President for Science of the Islamic Republic announced on Monday, January 29, that the country's internet will return to normal by the end of the week.

According to Iranian media Telegram channels, Hossein Afshin stated that "the country's internet network is gradually returning to normal, and the existing restrictions will soon be lifted."

Based on the latest report from the website "NetBlocks," which monitors internet status worldwide, Iran's connection indicators to the global internet remain at their lowest possible level (close to zero) on the twelfth day of its "total blackout."

Statistical charts indicate a sudden drop in connectivity from about 100 percent to 1 percent on January 18, which has continued to this day (January 29). NetBlocks has reported that the sporadic passage of some messages in recent days could be a sign of testing a heavily filtered "intranet" by the Islamic Republic government.

On Monday, some government-affiliated media reported that Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of Iran, had "recommended" to Ali Larijani, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, that "internet restrictions be lifted as soon as possible." It remains unclear why Masoud Pezeshkian only made a "recommendation" to Ali Larijani instead of issuing an order to his own Minister of Communications.