Many internet users in Iran struggle to access certain foreign websites, particularly services like GitHub, Notion, Mailchimp, and various financial or productivity applications that are unavailable from within the country. This problem is typically due to international sanctions imposed on Iran by foreign companies, which are often enforced through DNS-level blocking.
What are DNS-Level Sanctions?
DNS, or the “Domain Name System,” is responsible for resolving human-readable domain names (like github.com) into their corresponding server IP addresses. When a DNS provider deliberately refuses to provide a valid IP address for certain domains due to legal or political mandates, we refer to this as DNS-level sanctioning. In practice, this means your browser sends a request to resolve a domain, but the DNS server either intentionally withholds the response or returns an incorrect address, preventing access.
Why Do DNS Providers Do This?
To comply with United States regulations, major DNS providers such as Google, Cloudflare, and OpenDNS restrict access to certain domains for users with Iranian IP addresses. Consequently, when you use their public DNS services, you may find that many of these platforms are inaccessible.
What Is the Solution?
The solution is to use an alternative service like HyperResolve, which provides optimized and unrestricted DNS resolvers. By simply changing the DNS settings on your system or router to those provided by HyperResolve, you can regain access to many of the services that were previously blocked.