Clandestine network smuggling Starlink tech into Iran to beat internet blackout
143 points
5 hours ago
| 8 comments
| bbc.com
| HN
miohtama
9 minutes ago
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On other news, Iran is banning IPv6, UDP, DNS, ICMP to tighten the blackout

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/permanent-ban-ipv6-forced-nat...

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adiabatichottub
2 hours ago
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I learned from a BSides presentation that Ukranian military are using Starlink trancievers placed in pits to beat ground-based signal detection. Do with that what you will.
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wmf
1 hour ago
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I heard that Iran is just looking for Starlink SSIDs so if you turn off Wi-Fi they won't find it.
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tantalor
2 hours ago
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Wouldn't they be easily detected from airborne drones?
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XorNot
1 hour ago
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No, because the collimating effect on the beam would still require you to have line of sight to the emitter, and if a drone is able to get that close without being intercepted then something else has already gone wrong.

But this is also an example of weird absolutist thinking about military tactics: is it unbeatable? No. Does it complicate the surveillance and detection picture? Yes.

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pwndByDeath
6 minutes ago
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Are you under the impression that the starlink terminals in Iran are for US military?
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mlmonkey
3 hours ago
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Maybe we need to start a GoFundMe to sponsor some of these Starlink terminals.... ?
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rblatz
3 hours ago
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It’s the death penalty for anyone caught with one.
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Levitz
2 hours ago
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Per the article, it's seemingly not?

>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.

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pwdisswordfishq
2 hours ago
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Yeah but then Hesam died [1] ... yesterday in jail before having a trial. He was 40, wasn't an activist and had two daughters.

EDIT: To provide more context: Let's say that "John" is arrested for having had "illegal internet access" (not even owning a starlink). Even if he has a trial, the prosecutor can, and will, argue that he could have used his a secure channel to collaborate with the Mossad and CIA. If they find any unfavorable social media posts on his phone (and believe me, they will) they will say that he has endangered the national security by encouraging unrest and violent protests. This would then amount to waging war against God and death penalty.

If his phone is so clean that they don't find anything, it must be the fact that he is an agent, a mercenary. They will torture him until he confesses to having collaborated with Mossad. They will then air a forced confession on TV.

John might get lucky and have a caring family member from IRGC. In that case you might be right, he will only receive a prison sentence. If he had had a higher ranking IRGC family member he could even go further and start selling his starlink VPN for around $5 / GB. It's not even a hypothetical situation, I had to buy one of these (and it indeed was a starlink connection) four weeks ago ...

[1] https://x.com/indypersian/status/2050088043118211341

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throwawaypath
2 hours ago
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Shocking, but it may soon be (or is currently) true:

"Iran Prepares Death Penalty Law for Starlink Internet Use"

https://iranwire.com/en/news/145471-iran-prepares-death-pena...

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nickff
1 hour ago
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The regime has killed 40k of their own citizens; they don’t seem to be going through due process and sentencing in court…
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nullsanity
2 hours ago
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Per reports as of a few days ago, yes there are very much murdering people with starlink. Last year was before the current crisis. People are being murdered in the streets daily by the regime, and ordinary people are desperate for it to end.
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Pay08
7 minutes ago
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In all fairness, that's true for a lot of things in Iran, and some of those are not actually enforced or only enforced some of the time (which is where the forcibly transitioning gay people thing came from).
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squigz
3 hours ago
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Some things are worth the risk.
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donkey_brains
2 hours ago
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The point being that we need to not incriminate these people.
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m00dy
52 minutes ago
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I know how to smuggle starlink devices in a mass scale into Iran.
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dotancohen
30 minutes ago
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Starship?
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shameonus
1 hour ago
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israel should be sanctioned until it gives up its nuclear weapons
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hirako2000
2 hours ago
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I thought that was exactly how the spies got made. As Iranians figured they could just narrow the signal.
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fchicken
1 hour ago
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We are not the good guys in iran
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marcosdumay
1 hour ago
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On the specific concerns of giving internet to civilians, yes you are.

I just don't know if those civilians will trust you. They have plenty of reasons not to.

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Jabrov
1 hour ago
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You are not we
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Mikhail_Edoshin
9 minutes ago
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The person takes the responsibility; you are excluding him from the society that you implicitly claim to represent. These two are very different intentions.
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bhouston
4 hours ago
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I suspect the Internet blackout in Iran is not actually related to its citizens - it isn't about silencing its citizens.

It is to prevent hacking and tracking by US and Israel of what is going on over there, it is defensive since it has been shown that Iran's connected infrastructure is thoroughly compromised.

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burnrate
3 hours ago
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It’s 100% to prevent citizens from becoming organized. The regime is most fearful of this.
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tokioyoyo
2 hours ago
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How did people organize pre-Internet times though?
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marcosdumay
1 hour ago
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Through social gatherings that mostly don't exist anymore.
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fgfarben
1 hour ago
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which is the exact same reason China bans Starlink.
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markdown
23 seconds ago
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I wonder why BYD is banned in the US. Are we afraid they'll be used to transport people to gatherings?
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bigyabai
3 hours ago
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There's multiple motives, not just counter-organization. A media blackout prevents OSINT damage analysis, much like how the IDF and CENTCOM both censor reporting of attacks on their in-theater installations.
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Pay08
12 minutes ago
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They could easily just censor that, especially since a dictatorship has far more control over the media compared to democracies.
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sysguest
3 hours ago
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this

well... so obvious

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xbmcuser
3 hours ago
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I think the regime narrative is mostly made up by Americans what's the difference between any of the Arab countries from Iran. The only difference is they are not controlled by America. It the same bullshit narrative of promoting democracy but in reality it's just about pushing for a government no matter how bad as long as it supports US control.
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boc
2 hours ago
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Iranians are not Arabs and thousands of them got gunned down earlier this year protesting the regime. "America bad" doesn't change the fact that the Iranian people deserve a better future.
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E-Reverance
2 hours ago
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FYI it’s not an Arab country
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tjwebbnorfolk
3 hours ago
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The internet is only off for those who don't have a special sim card, i.e. those who aren't associated with the IRGC.
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adam_arthur
2 hours ago
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The blackout started back in January before the US even got involved.

Due to widespread protests and an attempt to crack down on coordination. This chain of events was widely reported.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Internet_blackout_in_Iran

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Mikhail_Edoshin
5 minutes ago
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Before the US started an open war. US has been involved in a relentless anti-Iranian campaign since before I was born (I'm 55).
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Ancapistani
2 hours ago
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It definitely ramped up with the invasion. I watched the webcam streams go dark.
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ShabbyDoo
3 hours ago
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Is Iran's domestic internet still fully operational (sans access to/from the outside world)? If so, I wouldn't think the cut-off would help much security-wise because a single Starlink terminal would allow the US/Israel domestic access.
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Pay08
10 minutes ago
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I don't think it is. At least from Iranians I've heard from, domestic internet was online for a little while but was turned off in February or so.
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throwawayheui57
2 hours ago
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It’s defensive indeed! It’s defense against the people whom the regime is most afraid of!
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stingraycharles
4 hours ago
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How do people communicate now? And why wouldn’t that be compromised?
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rayiner
3 hours ago
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Except that Iran has been doing it since 2019: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_Iran
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mullingitover
3 hours ago
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Don’t know why you’re getting downvoted for pointing out the obvious: yes obviously the US and Israel will exploit the information system of their enemy if they can, and it’s absolutely rational to deny them the opportunity to do so.
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throwawayheui57
2 hours ago
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Should internet and outside access be cut for people of Gaza and Lebanon too? Aren’t they targeted by Israel as well?
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AngryData
22 minutes ago
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If they could credibly threaten your infrastructure then it makes sense. If they have no real organized hacking capabilities then no. But the US has already attacked Iran through computers before with Stuxnet and is the world leader in software and networking knowledge so it does make perfect sense for Iran to disconnect its networks from outside.

You might also have to consider the propaganda campaigns the US could run against an Iranian population with web access. If the population isn't more discontent now than it already was, "secretly" replacing commercial ad placements on western websites with US propaganda when the requests come from Iranian sources could make them discontent or inflame them further, which is bad for the Iranian government.

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t-3
1 hour ago
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The government of Lebanon is cooperating with Israel - it's only the southerners/Hezbollah in conflict, at least for now. The people of Gaza are cut off for the most part. The strict censorship inside Israel is what you should compare to - not as strict as a total access ban, but if you say the wrong things or take pictures of the wrong stuff you're going to prison.
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nandomrumber
1 hour ago
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> but if you say the wrong things or take pictures of the wrong stuff you're going to prison.

That’s true in most counties. And for good reason.

Israel is tiny, and has a population of 10.1 million.

And a fair amount of military firepower. You probably shouldn’t be taking photos of, say, Iron Dome equipment locations.

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mullingitover
1 hour ago
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My point is that the people of Iran aren’t the target of the disruption.

Remember when Ukraine used the Russian cellular internet to operate drones that destroyed numerous Russian heavy bomber aircraft? That’s what the US/Israel would logically be expected to do if there were wide open internet access in Iran.

This is obvious game theory playing out militarily, people only see political suppression but warfare is a totally different ballgame.

If China were waging large scale war on the US I’d expect the exact same countermeasures to happen.

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