Iran SIM Card Cutoffs Block Banking, Courts, and Civil Services
This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.
Iranian authorities are cutting off SIM cards to punish critics, locking them out of banking, government, insurance, judicial, and educational services tied to verified mobile numbers. Victims include photojournalist Yalda Moayeri, who was convicted in absentia after officials used the very line they cut off to notify her of a trial date. The tactic emerged after the 2022 protests and intensified after the June 2025 war with Israel.
Key Facts
- Donya Rad could not renew her car insurance because a new mandatory rule requires SMS verification through a state housing portal.
- Mahsa Safaei's SIM was cut off three years ago because she appeared in videos without a head scarf and in short sleeves.
- Ali Akbar Gorji and Saeideh Shafiei were told to delete critical posts and write 20 posts defending the Islamic republic to have their SIM blocks lifted.
- Yalda Moayeri learned by chance during an unrelated court visit that a trial date had been set and officials had tried to reach her using the line they cut off before issuing a verdict in absentia.
- Filterbaan describes SIM cutoffs as an extralegal tool that blocks delivery of court summonses and cuts people off from the judiciary's electronic notification system.
Digital Lockout
In Iran, access to banking, government, insurance, judicial, and educational services is tied to a verified mobile number and one-time SMS codes. Cutting off a person's SIM effectively locks them out of a wide range of essential services and civil rights. Donya Rad discovered she could not renew her car insurance because a new mandatory rule requires registering one's address through a state housing portal that sends an SMS verification code. She wrote on X that SIM cutoffs have become so routine over the past two or three years that people talk about them the way they complain about traffic or the weather.
Targeted Individuals
Mahsa Safaei, a car mechanic who posts content on Instagram, said her SIM was cut off three years ago because she appeared in videos without a head scarf and in short sleeves. Ali Akbar Gorji, a professor of constitutional law, and journalist Saeideh Shafiei both had their SIM cards blocked without warning. Both said that when they sought to have the blocks lifted, they were told to delete certain critical social media posts and write 20 posts defending the Islamic republic. Yalda Moayeri, a well-known Iranian photojournalist, said she only learned by chance during an unrelated court visit that a trial date had been set for her. Officials had tried to reach her using the very line they cut off before issuing a verdict against her in absentia.
Legal Pretext
Authorities have in some cases cited Article 247 of Iran's Code of Criminal Procedure, which allows an investigating judge to impose supervisory measures such as travel or driving bans on a suspect. Filterbaan, an Iranian digital rights organization, has described SIM cutoffs as an extralegal tool designed to identify individuals, restrict them, and disrupt activists' ability to communicate. The tactic emerged following the 2022 nationwide protests that gave rise to the Women, Life, Freedom movement and intensified further following the 12-day war with Israel in June 2025.
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Iran SIM Card Cutoffs Block Banking, Courts, and Civil Services
