Update VII from The Iranist

April 17, 2026

Salam reader,

For those of us with friends and family in Iran, it’s been a difficult time—not just because of the war, but because of the country’s fifth state-imposed internet shutdown, which began on February 28 and is now the longest globally (X). Rarely do the single check marks on messaging apps like WhatsApp turn into two. Sometimes messages come t…