The clandestine network smuggling Starlink tech into Iran to beat internet blackout

Sahand, whose name we have changed, fears for family members and other contacts inside the country. "If I was identified by the Iranian regime, they might make those I'm in touch with in Iran pay the price," he says.

For more than two months, Iran has been in digital darkness as the government maintains one of the longest-running national internet shutdowns ever recorded worldwide.

The current blackout began after the US and Israel launched airstrikes on 28 February. Before that, internet access had been partially restored for just a month following a previous digital shutdown in January, imposed during a deadly regime crackdown on nationwide protests.

More than 6,500 protesters were killed and 53,000 arrested, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

Officials say the government shut down the internet during the war for security reasons, suggesting the aim is to prevent surveillance, espionage and cyber-attacks.

The Starlink devices Sahand sends to Iran are one of the most reliable ways of bypassing the shutdown. The white, flat terminals, paired with routers, provide internet access by connecting to a network of satellites owned by Elon Musk's SpaceX company, allowing users to completely bypass Iran's heavily controlled domestic internet.

According to Sahand, several people can connect to each terminal at the same time.

He says he and others in the network buy them and "smuggle them through the borders" in a "very complex operation", though he declines to give details.

Sahand says he has sent a dozen to Iran since January and "we are actively looking for other ways to smuggle in more".

Last year, the Iranian government passed legislation that made using, buying or selling Starlink devices punishable by up to two years in prison. The jail term for distributing or importing more than 10 devices can be up to 10 years.

State-affiliated media has reported multiple cases of people being arrested for selling and buying Starlink terminals, including four people - two of them foreign nationals - arrested last month for "importing satellite internet equipment". It has also reported that some of the arrests include accusations of possessing illegal weapons and sending information to the enemy.

However, a market for the terminals in Iran continues, including through a public Persian-language Telegram channel called NasNet.

Iran has a long history of controlling information, both by pushing its own anti-American and anti-Israeli narratives via state-run media and by restricting reporting about repressive measures used by the regime against its critics.

Yet during the January protests, even with the internet shut down, reports and video evidence of extrajudicial killings, arrests and beatings trickled out. Much of this information is known or believed by human rights organisations to have come from people accessing social media platforms via Starlink.

Iran's current internet set-up has been described as a "tiered system".

All Iranians have access to a state-controlled domestic network on which services such as banking, ride-hailing and food delivery operate, as well as state-run media.

Many Iranians circumvented the restrictions by using virtual private networks (VPNs), which connect users to websites via remote servers, concealing their locations. Subscriptions for these also pushed up costs.

Now, under the blackout, only a select few officials and other individuals, including journalists working for state media, have unfettered internet access using what are known as "white sim cards".

In 2022, Musk said he was activating Starlink in Iran following severe internet disruptions during protests sparked by the death in custody of an Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini.

Since then its use has grown, especially during shutdowns.

Now, with the authorities increasingly on the hunt for Starlink terminals, Sahand and his network are advising users to use VPNs with the satellite technology in order to remain incognito. But many people cannot afford it, particularly at a time of economic crisis.

He says the operation he is involved with, including the purchase of the terminals, is funded by Iranians abroad and others who want to help those in the country. He says they do not receive funds from any states.

The terminals are sent to individuals they believe will use them to share information internationally.

"People need internet to be able to share what's happening on the ground," says Sahand. "We believe these terminals should be in the hands of those who really need it to make change."

Sahand says he also knows people who have been arrested for accessing or owning one - none of them procured the device through him.

The Iranian government has, however, admitted the shutdown has hit some businesses hard, with a minister saying in January that every day of internet blackout cost the economy at least 50 trillion rials ($35m; £28m).

It recently launched a scheme called "Internet Pro", which allows certain businesses some access to the global internet.

Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said the intention was "to maintain business connectivity during the crisis". She also said the government was "completely opposed to communication injustice" and once the situation returns to normal "the situation of the Internet will also change".

She warns that internet blackouts are becoming a "new norm". According to Access Now, there were 313 of them across 52 countries in 2025, the highest number globally since it began tracking them in 2016.

The executive director for the Abdorrahman Boroumand Centre for Human Rights, Roya Boroumand, says that an information vacuum in Iran "allows the state to broadcast its narrative, ie portray protesters as violent actors or foreign agents, while its victims, including those sentenced to death, and informed sources are silenced".

This is a major motivation for Sahand.

"The Iranian regime has proven that during a shutdown, they can kill," he says. "It is super crucial for Iranians to be able to portray the real picture of the situation on the ground."

He says those who voluntarily sign up to help with the smuggling "are aware of the risk". But he adds "it's a fight" and "we feel somehow we have to intervene and help".

On Friday her family said the 54-year-old had been taken from prison to a local hospital after a sharp deterioration in her health.

The warning comes as President Donald Trump said he was "not excited" by Iran's latest proposal for a peace deal.

The new season of HBO's Euphoria, and Apple TV's series Margo's got Money Troubles, both feature lead characters who are adult content creators. But they don't tell the whole story.

Both Bushes and Reagan won authorisation for wars, but Obama and Clinton ducked the requirement.

President Trump said on Friday that said a deal has been hard to reach in part because Iranian leadership was "very confused".