US smuggled thousands of Starlink terminals into Iran after riot and protest crackdown

U.S. officials covertly smuggled roughly 6,000 Starlink terminals into Iran following the government's crackdown on nationwide riots and demonstrations last month, marking the first direct U.S. delivery of the satellite-internet devices into the country.

After Iranian authorities killed thousands of rioters and protesters and imposed severe internet blackouts in January, the Trump administration purchased nearly 7,000 terminals—most in January—by redirecting funds from other internet-freedom programs.

Senior appointees shifted resources to acquire Starlink kits, enabling antiregime activists to bypass Tehran's connectivity restrictions.

Trump was aware of the deliveries, though direct approval details remain unclear. The State Department bought the hardware to support dissidents, despite internal debates over diverting funds from VPN initiatives.

Mora Namdar, then leading State's Middle East bureau, urged Secretary Rubio in an August memo to procure Starlink, stating that funded VPNs become "useless when the internet is shut down."

Owning Starlink remains illegal in Iran, carrying multi-year prison risks, yet tens of thousands of Iranians use them to evade government censorship and firewalls.