Iran disrupts internet as demonstrators rally over shopping centre tower collapse that killed 34

Iran disrupted internet access to the outside world as angry demonstrators rallied over the collapse of a tower in Iran that has killed at least 34 people, experts said on Tuesday as outrage and grief continued to grow in the country.

The disruption has plunged the southwestern province into digital isolation, making it difficult for journalists to authenticate events on the ground and for activists to share footage and organise protests.

It is a tactic the Iranian government has repeatedly employed during times of unrest, rights activists say, in a country where radio and television stations already are state-controlled and journalists face the threat of arrest.

The internet interference in the oil-rich Khuzestan province started in early May, weeks before the fatal collapse, said Amir Rashidi, director of internet security and digital rights at Miaan Group, which focuses on digital security in the Middle East. The province, home to an ethnic Arab population that long has alleged discrimination, was a flashpoint in protests over the sinking economy and skyrocketing prices of food staples.

Disruptions then intensified in the area after the Metropol Building collapse last week, according to data shared by the US human rights group Miaan Group.

The disaster ignited widespread anger in Abadan, where residents alleging government negligence gathered nightly at the site of the collapse to shout slogans against the Islamic Republic. Videos of the protests have circulated widely online, with some showing officers clubbing and firing tear gas at demonstrators.

The footage analysed by Associated Press corresponded to known features of Abadan, some 660km (410 miles) southwest of the capital, Tehran. The number of casualties and arrests remains unclear.