This article is reprinted from "Tide News".

Author: Li Xuanxuan, PhD student at the Regional School of National Studies, Northwest University.

. Chen Guanting, a master's student at the School of Regional Studies, Northwest University.

According to CCTV News, in the early morning of January 20th local time, the functions of several local instant messaging apps in Iran have been fully restored to normal, and users can use various interactive functions such as group chat, dynamic publishing, and multimedia transmission again.

. With the return of local social platform services, Iranian users can now engage in daily socializing and information transmission on these platforms as usual. Recently, the situation in Iran has continued to receive international attention, and "internet disconnection" has become one of the most direct phenomena perceived by local people. Since the end of last year, protests have occurred in many parts of Iran due to issues such as rising prices and currency depreciation. Xinhua News Agency reported that the Iranian government acknowledges the difficulties facing people's livelihoods and promises to listen to demands and solve problems. Violent riots occurred during the protest, severely disrupting social order in multiple cities. The US has repeatedly threatened military intervention under the pretext of "supporting Iranian protesters". Ibrahim Aziz, Chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian Parliament, stated on the 19th that more than 3700 people have been injured in recent riots in Iran. Amidst the turmoil, what is the life of an ordinary person in Iran? Chao News reporters contacted two college students who had just returned from Tehran, the capital of Iran, to listen to their accounts of their experiences during the period.

Li Xuanxuan and Chen Guanting are doctoral and master's students at the Regional School of National Studies at Northwest University.

. On November 15, 2025, they arrived in Tehran and had originally planned to conduct at least one year of exchange study at Tehran University. Except for a short-term trip to the central Iranian town of Yazd in mid to late December last year, the two spent most of their time in Tehran.

2025 On December 26th of the year, the chain supermarket in Yazde, a central town, had a complete supply of goods. Photo provided by interviewee

Due to the recent turmoil in Iran, which has even led to a complete internet outage, the two of them interrupted their exchange and study visit in advance with the help of the college and school, and returned to their home country not long ago. I just reconnected with local friends in Iran a few days ago. As a result, they observed and recorded their perceptions of Iran and Tehran for about two months.

Turbulence and calmness, daily life amidst protests

When the two arrived in Tehran, Tehran University was approaching its midterm exams.

. Due to the regulations of Tehran University, they were unable to stay in dormitories and therefore rented short-term accommodation in the fifth district of Tehran city. If there were no special circumstances, our life would be shuttling back and forth between our residence and school, "Chen Guanting recalled. At the beginning of the protest, they were not aware. Until December 29th last year, when students joined the protest and the scale of the activity expanded, the two gradually learned about this matter. This is my first time in Iran, and my experience living in Tehran is that shopping malls and small street shops offer a wide variety of products, including vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs, milk, and light industrial products such as toothpaste. ”Chen Guanting described.

1 On the 6th of the month, local residents were shopping at a large supermarket in central Tehran. The interviewee provided pictures. He told reporters that he had witnessed local protests, but did not see any violent behavior. "The most outrageous action I have seen is someone burning garbage cans. Other than that, I have not personally witnessed any violent behavior by protesters." On the evening of January 8th, after returning to his residence from outside, Chen Guanting saw local people gathering together, "mainly middle-aged and young people." He recalled that the number of people was not large. In the eyes of the two, their studies and life in Tehran are normal and have not been affected by domestic protests in Iran. When saying goodbye to Iranian friends, they will remind them to pay attention to safety and be careful. There is almost nothing unusual in other aspects, "Chen Guanting said. Li Xuanxuan stated that they mainly observe local protests from home. "I personally think that some of the protests in the neighborhood are relatively controllable when I see them from the window," he said. He introduced that the social composition and nature of different neighborhoods in Iran are different, and the neighborhoods they are in are mainly composed of small middle-class people, with a relatively peaceful atmosphere. According to their understanding, most violent incidents occur in central southern Tehran and western Iran. In the central northern region of Tehran, sporadic protests only occurred on the 8th and 9th. On other days, we hardly felt the presence of protests in our neighborhood, and everyone continued to work, study, and live as usual. Our personal safety was also not affected. ”Li Xuanxuan said. During their time in Iran, the two exchanged ideas with many local residents. They found that due to differences in personal situations and class backgrounds, the viewpoints and positions of Iranians are often diverse.

Disconnection and return, life and evacuation in an offline society

Chen Guanting mentioned that the Western media reported that the Iranian Internet had slowed down since January 3, "but in my personal experience, the Internet usage was still normal on January 3, and I didn't feel that it was slowing down. On July 7, the Internet began to slow down, but it was still possible to use international roaming. Until August, the son of the former Iranian crown prince in exile in the United States publicly appealed against the current government, and then the Internet slowed down significantly."

International roaming was also cut off. From this day on, Iran has basically entered a comprehensive internet blackout. We switched to using SMS communication, but later the SMS signal was not very good: we could receive domestic SMS messages, but couldn't send them out or make calls. ”Li Xuanxuan stated that even during the internet outage, most people still maintain a normal pace of life.

1 On the afternoon of the 11th, in the central district of Tehran, grandparents and grandchildren were together. We also found that many people are not willing to sacrifice their work and life for protests, but rather seek a balance among them. On January 6th, I visited the Grand Bazaar in Tehran and found that businesses were operating normally in the morning, without the full day strike as reported by Western media. Taxi drivers and small shop owners are also operating normally every day. As the end of term is approaching and students are in the review and sprint stage, they are mainly taking online classes recently. Even if they participate in protests, they mostly use their spare time to do so. ”He continued, "Our major requires us to consult a large amount of online information and maintain contact with the outside world. Disconnecting from the internet can indeed have a certain impact on our studies, but life has to continue. Moreover, Iranians are accustomed to leaving each other's phone numbers, which is quite novel for us - nowadays most people rely on social media. But after experiencing the internet outage in Iran, I gradually realized that it is important for Iranians to keep their phone numbers well. During the internet outage, my Iranian friends who couldn't contact others would even call a hotline similar to 114 in China to inquire about phone numbers. At that time, we were quite surprised about this." During the days when Iran was offline, Li Xuanxuan tried to find a phone number without internet navigation. In fact, I haven't encountered any problems while driving“ When the internet was just disconnected, I couldn't contact the domestic network, it was indeed a bit urgent. But after adapting for a day or two, one can also accept this kind of internet free life, which is nothing more than shifting attention to other things. ”Chen Guanting said. Li Xuanxuan stated that this return to China is the result of multi-party collaboration and scientific decision-making. As soon as the situation in Iran changed, the school teachers asked us to report our safety in the group chat every day. Since the internet was cut off in Iran on the 8th, the teachers have been coordinating affairs in the emergency response team every day. After we didn't reply to the message in the group chat for 3 days, the college made a comprehensive judgment and finally decided to evacuate us and return home as soon as possible. Due to the internet outage, it was difficult for the two of us to purchase tickets in Iran. The school promptly purchased tickets for them to return to China on January 15th on Mahan Airlines. On the morning of January 16th, the two arrived in Guangzhou.

1 On the way to the airport on the 15th of the month, in the distance was the iconic Freedom Tower in Tehran. The interviewee provided pictures. However, after the airfare was resolved, another issue emerged - the inability to exchange money. At that time, there was no internet and no one was aware of the exchange rate. There are also few people willing to exchange money at normal market prices in Iran's black market currency, and the price pressure is particularly severe. Previously, we usually used WeChat transfer to exchange Chinese yuan for riyals. But after the network interruption, WeChat cannot be used, and the way to exchange money is cut off, so we can only tighten our belts and live. ”Li Xuanxuan recalled.

Chen Guanting said, "Before returning to China, the locals were still spreading news that the United States and Israel might attack, and they were a bit worried at that time."

Li Xuanxuan mentioned that a few days before returning to China, due to the severe situation and the capture of multiple foreign spies by Iran, the Iranian police increased their inspection efforts.

. But in daily life, we hardly suffer from unnecessary screening. "

" And passing through security checks at the airport is also very smooth. The entire process of customs clearance, boarding, and returning to China is relatively smooth. ”Chen Guanting added.

Reflection on personal experience and field investigation after the waves

Li Xuanxuan stated that as a student of a regional national college, when visiting a target country, one must observe and record the local culture, politics, society, and economy, so there must be a sense of immersion.

. Both of them were able to accept the local protests and the Internet interruption peacefully. Conducting field research in the target country requires accepting local diversity while also enduring a certain degree of unpredictability. In China, it may be difficult to imagine a week without internet, or daily power outages or shortages, but in many countries, this is actually the norm

2025 On December 6th of the year, on the expressway during the morning rush hour in Tehran. From the perspective of professional learning, these experiences are very valuable. ”Chen Guanting said. Li Xuanxuan said that during his exchange visit to Iran, the most memorable event for him was this protest. The reports of Western media on Iran are very different from what we have seen and felt on the ground. We also took the opportunity of local exchanges to verify the authenticity of Western media reports, and conducted multiple explorations based on this as a clue, finally reaching our own conclusions. I think this is a very meaningful process. "He further pointed out that in the narrative of Western media, many cities in Iran are occupied by protesters, claiming that other cities will soon be the same, and even advocating that the current Iranian regime is about to collapse. But in his view, after experiencing the Amini incident in 2022, the current round of protests in Iran has not yet reached the same scale. My biggest feeling is that regional and country studies still need to delve into the target countries, experience local life firsthand, and the static content in books is still different from actual feelings. ”Chen Guanting said that during his time in Iran, based on personal observation and communication with local friends, there are diverse vitality and possibilities within Iran. They pay close attention to international news and have their own views and opinions on various things, which has benefited me a lot from communication. After returning to Iran, due to the time needed for network recovery in Iran, the two of them initially lost contact with their Iranian friends. "I sent them a message when I first returned to Iran, but I haven't replied yet

19 Recently, Chen Guanting reconnected with local friends in Iran. Interviewee's photo

Chen Guanting said that on the 19th, he reconnected with his local friends. "At that time, it was more than 3 a.m. in Iran, and my friends generally did not stay up late. He should have been frantically collecting information from the Internet at that time. He said that he was worried about the attacks by the United States and Israel, and was paying attention to the military deployment of these two countries in the Middle East."

As for the future, they were clear that as long as the situation in Iran was stable and the security could be guaranteed after the study of schools and colleges, "we will still return to Iran and continue to complete the interrupted exchange visits. This is also in line with the original intention of regional country studies."