diff --git a/src/azure-cli-core/azure/cli/core/_profile.py b/src/azure-cli-core/azure/cli/core/_profile.py
index 13f47ed417c..dee887e741f 100644
--- a/src/azure-cli-core/azure/cli/core/_profile.py
+++ b/src/azure-cli-core/azure/cli/core/_profile.py
@@ -826,7 +826,30 @@ def find_using_common_tenant(self, username, credential=None):
 
         client = self._create_subscription_client(credential)
         # https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/resources/tenants/list
-        tenants = client.tenants.list()
+        from azure.core.exceptions import DecodeError, HttpResponseError
+        from azure.cli.core.azclierror import AzureResponseError
+        try:
+            # Eagerly materialise tenants here so any HTTP errors (e.g. firewall blocking the
+            # request with a non-JSON response) are caught below before iteration begins.
+            # Tenant counts are typically small so materialising up-front is not a concern.
+            tenants = list(client.tenants.list())
+        except (DecodeError, HttpResponseError) as ex:
+            if isinstance(ex, DecodeError):
+                raise AzureResponseError(
+                    "Failed to retrieve tenants. The response from the server could not be parsed. "
+                    "This may be caused by a network firewall or proxy returning an unexpected response. "
+                    "Please check your network settings and try again, or use "
+                    "'az login --tenant TENANT_ID' to log in to a specific tenant."
+                ) from ex
+            # HttpResponseError (but not DecodeError)
+            if ex.status_code == 403:
+                raise AzureResponseError(
+                    "Failed to retrieve tenants. The request was blocked (HTTP 403 Forbidden). "
+                    "This may be caused by a network firewall, proxy, or Conditional Access policy. "
+                    "Please check your network settings and try again, or use "
+                    "'az login --tenant TENANT_ID' to log in to a specific tenant."
+                ) from ex
+            raise
 
         for t in tenants:
             tenant_id = t.tenant_id
diff --git a/src/azure-cli-core/azure/cli/core/tests/test_profile.py b/src/azure-cli-core/azure/cli/core/tests/test_profile.py
index d62464ca5d3..38cd20baee9 100644
--- a/src/azure-cli-core/azure/cli/core/tests/test_profile.py
+++ b/src/azure-cli-core/azure/cli/core/tests/test_profile.py
@@ -684,6 +684,62 @@ def test_login_no_subscription_raises_error(self, can_launch_browser_mock,
             profile.login(True, None, None, False, None, use_device_code=False,
                           allow_no_subscriptions=False)
 
+    @mock.patch('azure.cli.core._profile.SubscriptionFinder._create_subscription_client', autospec=True)
+    @mock.patch('azure.cli.core.auth.identity.Identity.get_user_credential', autospec=True)
+    @mock.patch('azure.cli.core.auth.identity.Identity.login_with_auth_code', autospec=True)
+    @mock.patch('azure.cli.core._profile.can_launch_browser', autospec=True, return_value=True)
+    def test_login_tenant_list_403_raises_friendly_error(self, can_launch_browser_mock,
+                                                         login_with_auth_code_mock, get_user_credential_mock,
+                                                         create_subscription_client_mock):
+        """When listing tenants returns 403 (e.g. network block), a friendly AzureResponseError is raised."""
+        from azure.core.exceptions import HttpResponseError
+        from azure.cli.core.azclierror import AzureResponseError
+        login_with_auth_code_mock.return_value = self.user_identity_mock
+
+        cli = DummyCli()
+        mock_subscription_client = mock.MagicMock()
+        http_response_mock = mock.MagicMock()
+        http_response_mock.status_code = 403
+        http_error = HttpResponseError(response=http_response_mock)
+        mock_subscription_client.tenants.list.side_effect = http_error
+        create_subscription_client_mock.return_value = mock_subscription_client
+
+        storage_mock = {'subscriptions': None}
+        profile = Profile(cli_ctx=cli, storage=storage_mock)
+
+        with self.assertRaises(AzureResponseError) as cm:
+            profile.login(True, None, None, False, None, use_device_code=False, allow_no_subscriptions=False)
+        self.assertIn("403", str(cm.exception))
+
+    @mock.patch('azure.cli.core._profile.SubscriptionFinder._create_subscription_client', autospec=True)
+    @mock.patch('azure.cli.core.auth.identity.Identity.get_user_credential', autospec=True)
+    @mock.patch('azure.cli.core.auth.identity.Identity.login_with_auth_code', autospec=True)
+    @mock.patch('azure.cli.core._profile.can_launch_browser', autospec=True, return_value=True)
+    def test_login_tenant_list_decode_error_raises_friendly_error(self, can_launch_browser_mock,
+                                                                   login_with_auth_code_mock,
+                                                                   get_user_credential_mock,
+                                                                   create_subscription_client_mock):
+        """When listing tenants returns a non-JSON response (e.g. HTML 403 block page), a friendly error is raised."""
+        from azure.core.exceptions import DecodeError
+        from azure.cli.core.azclierror import AzureResponseError
+        login_with_auth_code_mock.return_value = self.user_identity_mock
+
+        cli = DummyCli()
+        mock_subscription_client = mock.MagicMock()
+        mock_subscription_client.tenants.list.side_effect = DecodeError(
+            message="JSON is invalid: Expecting value: line 1 column 1 (char 0)",
+            response=mock.MagicMock(),
+            error=None
+        )
+        create_subscription_client_mock.return_value = mock_subscription_client
+
+        storage_mock = {'subscriptions': None}
+        profile = Profile(cli_ctx=cli, storage=storage_mock)
+
+        with self.assertRaises(AzureResponseError) as cm:
+            profile.login(True, None, None, False, None, use_device_code=False, allow_no_subscriptions=False)
+        self.assertIn("could not be parsed", str(cm.exception))
+
     @mock.patch('azure.cli.core._profile.SubscriptionFinder._create_subscription_client', autospec=True)
     @mock.patch('azure.cli.core.auth.identity.Identity.get_user_credential', autospec=True)
     @mock.patch('azure.cli.core.auth.identity.Identity.login_with_auth_code', autospec=True)