Starlink: Mohammad-Amin Aghamiri says systems to counter satellite internet are ready

Mohammad-Amin Aghamiri, head of the National Center for Cyberspace and secretary of the Islamic Republic's Supreme Council of Cyberspace, said at a press conference on Tuesday 13 October 2026 that several domestic systems have been designed and tested to detect Starlink terminals and sever their link to the satellite, and that the equipment is ready for use. During the months of the nationwide internet shutdown, Starlink was one of the few ways for citizens to get news and images out of the country.

Aghamiri said one of these technologies was used during the December–January uprising on the decision of the officials of a specific region, and could be used in other regions as well. He claimed that countering Starlink is possible both “from the ground” and “from the sky,” but gave no technical details or names of these systems. The head of the National Center for Cyberspace also said the Islamic Republic is ready to make this technology available to “like-minded countries” and that cooperation in this area continues; he named no country.

Deliberate internet throttling and censorship

These remarks came on the same day that Fatemeh Mohajerani, spokeswoman for Masoud Pezeshkian's government, confirmed the deliberate slowing of internet speeds in Iran, attributing it to “wartime conditions” and the threat of cyberattacks. Officials of the Islamic Republic have also previously spoken of the possibility of cutting the internet again if the war resumes.

During the December–January uprising, independent reports pointed to severe disruption of Starlink in some areas and to attempts to jam and manipulate satellite positioning signals, but so far no independent witness has shown that the Islamic Republic is able to knock Starlink out completely across the country.

Background to internet shutdowns in Iran

After the US and Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic on 28 February 2026, Iran's nationwide internet stayed cut for 88 days; NetBlocks called it the longest nationwide internet shutdown in contemporary history. Officials described the reason as “security-related,” while critics say the aim was to block the free flow of information. Since the start of the uprising and the war, judicial and security officials have also repeatedly announced the arrest of citizens on charges of possessing or selling Starlink equipment.

After an 88-day nationwide internet shutdown, the Islamic Republic is now targeting citizens' last free link to the world.