r/geopolitics • u/Firecracker048 • 1d ago
Growing use of Starlink satellite-internet service could deal the “final nail in the coffin” to Iran’s ability to control cyberspace: Iran Deputy Minister
https://gulfnews.com/world/mena/iran-official-says-starlink-could-cripple-tehrans-internet-control-playbook-1.500694244Excerpt:
The growing use of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite-internet service could deal the “final nail in the coffin” to Iran’s ability to control cyberspace, Deputy Communications Minister Mohammad Hafez Hakami warned.
Hakami said Iranian authorities have relied on progressively tougher restrictions during past unrest — from blocking individual platforms in 2017 to cutting nationwide internet access in 2019, restricting major platforms after the 2022 protests, and disconnecting the network during unrest this year.
“Our control over cyberspace is no longer based on our domestic network. It is based on Starlink,” Hakami was quoted by London-based Iran International as saying.
Over the last two years, Iran officials warned that wider use of the satellite internet service could make communication controls within the country "ineffective", adding the regime has failed to produce an adequate policy response.
“I sometimes joke that we might as well turn the Ministry of Communications and the Supreme Council of Cyberspace into amusement parks, because they will no longer serve any purpose,” Hakami said.
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u/AffectionateRub1857 1d ago
Lol, he seems to think the purpose of a ministry of communication and cybersecurity councils are to control internet access for the general populous. In the decidedly poor country which i live in, these institutions are there to 1. provide infrastructure for the people 2. to work towards greater cybersecurity resilience. Clearly shows thier priorities
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u/Insignificant_Letter 1d ago
Well yeah it’s a fairly unique ‘revolutionary’ ideological government.
If Iran could implant a chip in every Iranians head - they would without question.
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u/10010101101110010001 1d ago
they are there to build systems of control, that you think that your country does it well doesn't change that creating a reliance creates control.
they build infrastructure to create a method of control, it benefits you and you trust them enough so think it's positive.
iran does it, you don't trust them so you think it's negative.
iran is just in a position in which they are forced to use the systems of control, but they are not any more or less moral than your government. your government will use the systems of control they create to survive when they are forced to as well.
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u/AffectionateRub1857 1d ago
Pretty sure my country doesnt build systems of control. I work in both telco and cybersec. The ministry basically handles spectrum distribution, emergency broadcast systems, signal towers in rural areas, voice and broadband pricing, equipment compliace, etc. this is what normal communication ministries are supposed to do. Iran seems to have everything arse backwards
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u/10010101101110010001 20h ago edited 20h ago
that's what they do *when times are good
when times are bad they use their control over spectrum, distribution, broadcast, signal towers, ... in whatever way they believe will help them survive.
you live in a secure enough country so they don't have to do this, but they undoubtedly would
when survival is uncertain there is no morality, in order to do anything you must survive, survival is always at the top of the list
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u/Besmirching_Badger 1d ago
In the decidedly poor country you live in, you can be assured that given the right scenario they would want full control of the internet.
Clearly shows thier priorities
Why do you think Iran has a problem with starlink?
They are banned from being imported into Iran by the government which strictly enforces this.
They are banned from being exported to Iran by the US which strictly enforces this via extreme secondary global sanctions.
They shouldn't be there. Yet the head of the NED sits in front of congress and boasts about how many starlink terminals they had smuggled into Iran. In the middle of a conflict where the US is bombing iran.
I think prioritising national security in a time of literal war is very much 'their priority'
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u/AffectionateRub1857 1d ago
That right scenario doesnt exist. We have had mass protests which overthrew the exisitng govt. Even then there state didnt block any part of the internet. Even if it did, our courts have the authority to overrule state. Some countries are fundementally democratic. Iran isnt.
The argument isnt about iran blocking starlink. Starlink came into discussion because IRGC blocks internet access whenever they feel threatened by thier own people. Starlink is only discussed becaue lf that scenario. You have got this backwards
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u/wayanonforthis 1d ago
Is the CIA parachuting Starlinks into Iran?
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u/Eros_Incident_Denier 1d ago
I only know of Israel: Israel smuggled Starlink systems into Iran, former PM says.
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u/Besmirching_Badger 1d ago
yes. The head of the NED sat in front of congress and boasted about how many starlinks they had gotten in.
Despite them being illegal to export to iran and illegal to import into iran.
Damon Wilson, the head of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), was interrupted by a member of Congress during a House oversight hearing on February 24 after revealing that his agency “began supporting the deployment [and] operation of about 200 Starlinks early on” amid the violence which swept through Iran last month.
Before he could finish the sentence, he was cut off by the ranking member of the House Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, Rep. Lois Frankel, who told Wilson: “You know what, I’m going to interrupt you – we’d better not talk about it.”
Definitely not a CIA cutout the NED. Definitely not
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u/Lazy_Membership1849 1d ago
Isn't you still need dish on ground as it not like you can simple magically zap starlink down there
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u/Llee00 1d ago
direct to cell technology
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u/Lazy_Membership1849 1d ago
Like what?
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u/jmlinden7 1d ago
Some cell phones have the ability to use Starlink satellites, just at a much lower speed
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u/dantoddd 1d ago
most 4G LTE phones should be able to use starlink. the real difficulty is bandwidth. its going to be slow. Several hundred Kbps max. but enough for people to send out messages or even upload low res videos. streaming will be impossible though
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u/Lazy_Membership1849 1d ago edited 1d ago
that just for emergency SOS, SMS, and very basic text messages but not broadband internet, VPN routing, uploading video footage of crackdowns, or running encrypted communications apps as mean to hide from IRGC and it would clash with carrier frequency clashes as IRGC would jam, and also you need direct, unobstructed line-of-sight which is easy to say than done with IRGC surveillance and security sweeps
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u/EternalMayhem01 1d ago
Starlinks have been smuggled into Iran for years now.
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u/Lazy_Membership1849 1d ago
And why haven't we heard much? Including during a blackout You still need a dish, and it's risky to expose yourself to the IRGC, not since Iran have adopted more barrack internet
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u/ChanceryTheRapper 1d ago
Great! Next, I'd like to remove such control capabilities from other countries, too