GPS Disruptions Paralyze Tehran Streets Amid Post-War Security Measures
“For weeks I have been unable to work,” said Farshad Fooladi, a 35-year-old ride-hailing driver using Iran’s Snapp app. “Most of the time was wasted wandering around aimlessly.”
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — The streets of Tehran have turned into a maze for drivers struggling with weeks of GPS disruptions, nearly two months after the end of the unprecedented 12-day war between Iran and Israel, according to AFP.
“For weeks I have been unable to work,” said Farshad Fooladi, a 35-year-old ride-hailing driver using Iran’s Snapp app. “Most of the time was wasted wandering around aimlessly.”
The interference, which began after Israel’s surprise mid-June attack that triggered the deadly conflict, has crippled essential services ranging from ride-hailing and delivery platforms to navigation apps like Google Maps and Iran’s local equivalent, Neshan. In some cases, Tehran residents reported that their devices mistakenly located them hundreds of kilometers away.
Iran’s communications ministry has justified the measures as necessary for “security and military purposes” but provided no further details. Missiles, drones, and rockets often rely on GPS for targeting, and Iran has a history of jamming signals around sensitive military sites. However, observers say the current disruption is unprecedented in scale and duration.
“I only pick up passengers who know the directions,” Fooladi said, explaining that his limited familiarity with Tehran’s backstreets has left him dependent on passengers for guidance, severely cutting his income.
Economic Fallout and Public Concern
The disruptions have dealt another blow to Iran’s already strained economy. The country faces decades of sanctions, mismanagement, and, most recently, renewed U.S. “maximum pressure” policies and the fallout from June’s Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, according to AFP.
Javad Amel, chief executive of Neshan, revealed in early August that his platform had lost 15 percent of its daily users and saw navigation activity decline by 20 percent. Local media have also warned of “collateral damage” to Iran’s digital economy and public safety, including delays in emergency services.
Former communications minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi criticized the disruptions as ineffective, warning they are costly and unlikely to significantly hinder adversaries. “Drone manufacturers and operators are not stupid either. If the GPS is disrupted and another positioning system replaces it, they will also use the new system,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.
Searching for Alternatives
Amid mounting frustration, Deputy Communications Minister Ehsan Chitsaz suggested Iran could explore alternatives such as China’s BeiDou satellite system, which has been fully operational since 2020 and is emerging as a global rival to the U.S.-built GPS. He confirmed that a program was being drafted to gradually migrate some of Iran’s transport and agricultural services toward BeiDou.
Still, experts caution that such a shift would require costly infrastructure overhauls. Amir Rashidi of the U.S.-based Miaan Group argued Iran remains “highly vulnerable in cyberspace,” making such a transition difficult.
For ordinary Iranians, however, the uncertainty is more immediate. “This war has upended our lives and frozen our future plans,” Fooladi told AFP. Another driver, Mohammad Hossein Ghanbari, voiced fears of renewed conflict: “Everything is uncertain, and we can’t plan. The future is unclear. We don’t know whether the war will break out again or what will happen next.”
