Iran says it disabled Starlink terminals during January protests

Iran claimed Monday that it had successfully disabled Starlink terminals during nationwide protests in January and has other tools to counter the satellite internet service.

According to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB, Mohammad Amin Aghamiri, head of Iran’s National Cyberspace Center, said Tehran had successfully disabled Starlink terminals during the protests.

“For the first time, Iran managed to successfully disable Starlink terminals during the coup in January,” Aghamiri said, using the Iranian authorities’ description of the protests.

He claimed that Western media had also reported at the time that Iran had successfully carried out an operation to disable Starlink terminals.

“That important technical operation, which was completely successful, is one of our tools, and we also have other tools at our disposal to counter Starlink,” he added.

Aghamiri’s comments came in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who displayed a Starlink terminal during his address to the UN General Assembly in New York on Sept. 24.

Netanyahu said the device allowed Iranians to access information, accusing Tehran of spending large sums of money on internet censorship.

Iran witnessed widespread anti-government protests in January, with demonstrations intensifying on Jan. 8 and 9 amid clashes between protesters and security forces.

Iranian authorities imposed a nationwide internet blackout on Jan. 8 as the protests intensified.

Starlink remained one of the few ways for Iranians to access the internet during the blackout, although reports at the time indicated that the satellite service was also experiencing significant interference and disruptions.

Aghamiri said the disruptions were caused by an Iranian operation targeting Starlink terminals.

​​​​​​​Starlink, operated by US space technology company SpaceX, provides internet connectivity through a network of satellites.