Iranian authorities confiscate Starlink terminals and arrest sellers

Iranian authorities have arrested a number of people for allegedly selling terminals for the Starlink satellite internet service. Since the beginning of the attack by the USA and Israel, the internet in Iran has been practically completely shut down.

The authorities have confiscated 139 Starlink terminals, and 46 people have been arrested, reports the US news agency Bloomberg, citing the semi-official news agency Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA). The first arrests were made according to the opposition news channel Iran International, based in London, as early as the end of last week. In the course of the operation, several bank accounts of Starlink users were also blocked.

The internet in Iran has been largely shut down for over a month, according to the internet monitoring service Netblocks. Traffic is at 1 percent of the usual value. Netblocks also reports on the authorities' actions against users of satellite internet.

Estimated 50,000 Starlink terminals in Iran

According to estimates by the human rights group Holistic Resilience, there are around 50,000 Starlink terminals in Iran. The satellite internet service is not officially licensed; the terminals are brought into the country illegally and traded under the counter. Those who use Starlink face drastic penalties. However, the service is one of the few ways to get information into and out of the country, especially in times of crisis like the current war or the protests at the beginning of the year.

Accordingly, the authorities are taking action against it. The Minister of Information and Communications Technology recently ordered further measures to locate Starlink terminals, said Holistic Resilience CEO Ahmad Ahmadian to Bloomberg. At the beginning of the year, Starlink was specifically disrupted by the authorities.

(wpl)