TEHRAN, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Minister of Information and Communications Technology Seyed Sattar Hashemi said here Monday the weeks-long Internet blackout has inflicted a financial loss of close to 36 million U.S. dollars per day on the country's macroeconomy.

He made the remarks at a meeting with Iran's Vice President for Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy Hossein Afshin that focused on supporting online businesses that have sustained financial losses as a result of the Internet blackout in the country, which started on Jan. 8 due to the unrest, according to the official news agency IRNA.

Also on Monday, Iran's First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Aref said that the country has prepared a written economic plan to deal with a potential war, while addressing a national conference in Tehran, according to IRNA.

Protests erupted late December in several Iranian cities over the sharp depreciation of the rial and sweeping reforms to government subsidies. Initially held peacefully, the protests gradually became violent, leading to casualties and damage to public properties, for which Tehran has blamed the United States and Israel. ■