Iranian Protesters Struggle to Activate Starlink and Circumvent Internet Restrictions

After Elon Musk said his Starlink satellite-internet system was activated in Iran on Sept. 23, two men climbed onto the tiled roof of a residence in the Iranian city of Ahvaz and aimed a Starlink terminal into the sky. A faint signal was detected by the device for several seconds, then it disappeared. The men were seeking to help an Iranian protest movement struggling under a government crackdown on online communication, said Saeed Souzangar, a network engineer and one of the Iranian men. After three hours of tinkering with the Starlink kit smuggled into the country on a boat from Dubai, they gave up for the day, unable to establish a satellite link. Starlink didn’t respond to requests for comment. It is unclear if the Iranians’ failure to establish a satellite link was due to user problems or the Starlink system’s accessibility in Iran. With normal access to the internet often blocked for long periods by authorities because of the protests, Iranians have resorted to using hot spots and virtual private network applications to bypass the blockade on social media apps.