A representative of Iran's Ministry of Health for Research and Technology stated that the internet blackout could cause a drop of about 10,000 academic papers in 2026, potentially pushing Iran from 18th to 20th place in global science rankings, behind Saudi Arabia. The official noted that without connectivity to upload local journals, the ranking could have improved.
A representative of Iran's Ministry of Health for Research and Technology warned that the nationwide internet blackout, imposed by the regime since the multi-front confrontations with Israel on June 7, is damaging Iran's scientific output. The official stated that without the connectivity restrictions, Iran could have published additional issues of its internationally indexed local journals, potentially moving up from 18th to around 16th in global science rankings, surpassing Saudi Arabia. Instead, the blackout may cause a loss of about 10,000 papers in 2026, dropping Iran to 20th place. The claim comes from a single official source and has not been independently verified. As The Zioneer reported on June 7, Iran's internet blackout began amid a multi-front escalation with Israel, with the Home Front Command later lifting sheltering instructions. The broader impact on Iran's academic sector remains unclear, with no independent data on the actual decline in publications yet available.
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Source and signal
- Internal intake