Tehran: At her studio in Iran's capital, Amen Khademi prepared a fashion shoot for a jacket she designed with Persian-inspired motifs.

But even as she applied lipstick to the model, she was distracted, worrying if her business would survive after four months without its main link to customers - the internet.

Iran's 90 million people have been cut off from the internet for most of 2026, one of the world's longest and strictest national shutdowns. That is devastating for an online economy that had long defied government restrictions and international sanctions. From fashion to fitness, to advertising and retailers, many have seen their incomes evaporate.

Khademi hasn't made a sale in months. "The internet outage in the past four months has completely destroyed not only my business, but many online businesses," she said.

Despite an uneasy truce with the US and Israel, Iran's rulers have refused to reverse the shutdown they have depicted as a wartime necessity.

But they are facing an outcry as it adds to mass job losses from strikes on