Starlink: Iran Internet Shutdown – Only Gateway to the World

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Iran is experiencing a near-total internet and telephone ⁣blackout.⁤ Communication is⁤ limited to sporadic images shared via Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite service.

Estimating Starlink usage ⁤in Iran is difficult. Reliable information is scarce, and no foreign journalists are currently reporting from within ‍the country. However, users face notable risk; possessing a Starlink terminal carries a potential prison sentence of up to ten ⁤years.

Spy Equipment

Iran banned Starlink last year, classifying the satellite terminals as⁤ spy ⁣equipment.

Starlink is one of the few ways for Iranians to make some contact with the outside world.

“Starlink is one of the few ways for Iranians to make some contact with the outside world,” says Amir Rashidi, an Iranian digital⁤ rights and security expert with the US-based Miaan Group. “We have never seen such a major blackout.‍ Not only is the internet out, people can’t call or send messages either.” A small number of people briefly regained the ability to make international ⁤calls⁣ this morning.

Regime Manhunt

Starlink terminals in Iran were smuggled into the country, primarily through Kurdish regions in the north, according to Rashidi.