Iran targets Starlink as ‘tool of war’ with hints of more internet curbs — SkimNews
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- Mohammad Amin Aghamiri, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Cyberspace Council, called Starlink a "tool of war" used by enemies for "command and control" and espionage, saying authorities "have several systems for cutting off Starlink satellite terminals."
- Penalties for Starlink use in Iran range from six months to two years in prison, with up to five years for importing or distributing devices and the death penalty possible when paired with espionage charges.
- Iranian authorities combine jammers, spoofed GPS signals, physical patrols and drone searches to block Starlink, and one jamming system deployed during January's protests was prepared for sharing with "aligned countries," according to a Tehran-based expert who spoke anonymously to Al Jazeera.
- Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned Norway's ambassador on October 4 over its role in Starlink's regulatory filings, a complaint it has pressed at the International Telecommunication Union since 2023.
- Deputy Technology Minister Mohammad Hafez Hakami warned that Starlink's spread could be "the last nail in the coffin" of state cyberspace governance and might force authorities to "cut electricity" in future crises because the service "is fundamentally not even dependent on our network."
- A state-linked policy framework released this week proposes that Google Play and WhatsApp could potentially be unblocked, while YouTube and Telegram would need to negotiate with Tehran and accept its conditions to be restored.
- Iran's 90 million people have endured two prolonged internet shutdowns in 2026 — a three-week blackout during January protests and an 88-day shutdown after the US-Israel war began with strikes on February 28.
Why it matters: Iran's escalating Starlink crackdown hands authorities a new lever over wartime information flows, with users facing prison terms of up to five years and the government openly preparing to export its jamming technology to allies. For Iran's 90 million people confronting an 88-day wartime blackout, the new policy framework reveals conditional openness — Google Play and WhatsApp could be unblocked — even as officials warn they may eventually have to cut electricity to preserve control.
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