Iran goes dark as Ayatollah shuts down Starlink internet after huge protests | World | News
Iran has cut off internet connections and phone lines across the country amid protests over the regime’s handling of the ailing economy. Just after 8pm on Thursday evening, Iran’s 85 million people were cut off from the rest of the world. The population is now limited in sharing images and witness accounts of protests across the country.
Iran’s attorney general also warned that anyone participating in the demonstrations would be considered an “enemy of God” and that this would be a death sentence. Elon Musk’s Starlink has been playing a crucial role in giving Iranians access to the internet for years, with thousands of receivers reportedly being installed across the country.
While most recipients are likely in the hands of businessmen and others who want to stay in touch with the outside world to make a living, some are now used to share videos, photos and other reports about the protests.
Activist Mehdi Yahyanejad told AP News: “In this case, Starlink plays the key to streaming all these videos because all of this is disrupted.
But Starlink buyers face challenges. Iran has been jamming GPS signals since its 12-day war with Israel last June, presumably to make drones less effective.
Starlink receivers allow them to connect to a constellation of low-orbiting satellites using GPS signals to determine their location.
It is understood that most of the information coming from Iran since Thursday night was transferred via the now illegal internet service.
Amir Rashidi, director of digital rights and security at Miaan Group and an expert on Iran, said he has seen a loss of about 30% in packets sent by Starlink devices – essentially units of data transmitted over the internet – since Thursday.
Rashidi said that there was an 80 percent loss of packages in some regions of Iran. He said: “I believe the Iranian government is doing something beyond blocking GPS, like in Ukraine where Russia is trying to disrupt Starlink.”
He suggested that Iran may be using mobile jammers to jam satellite television receivers, as it has in previous years.
