Iran is experiencing its most severe nationwide internet blackout in years, effectively severing most of its population from the global web. The shutdown, which began on Thursday afternoon, comes amidst escalating anti-government protests. However, a small, brave segment of the population is maintaining a precarious connection to the outside world through a sophisticated ecosystem of smuggled technology and censorship-circumvention tools.
The Smuggled Satellite Lifeline
At the heart of this clandestine network are an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 Starlink terminals, part of Elon Musk's SpaceX satellite internet service, which have been smuggled into Iran over the past two years. According to Iranian digital rights expert Amir Rashidi, these devices, which connect via satellites in low-Earth orbit, represent Iran's last tenuous electronic link beyond its borders. While a single terminal can serve multiple users or even an entire apartment block, the total number of Iranians able to access the global internet is likely only in the hundreds of thousands from a population exceeding 90 million.
Using these terminals is an act of immense courage. Under a law passed in 2025, possession of a Starlink device can be interpreted as espionage for Israel, carrying a prison sentence of up to 10 years. "They have basically criminalised Starlink to the extent that they're saying in the law that if you use Starlink it's the equivalent of conducting espionage operations for Israel and the American CIA," Rashidi explained.
A State Crackdown Using Military-Grade Tech
Iranian authorities are actively hunting for these terminals. Sources report the use of tools developed for electronic warfare to jam whole neighbourhoods, alongside drones flown over rooftops to spot the distinctive satellite dishes. The jamming equipment is military-grade, similar to technology used against drones on the frontlines in Ukraine, said Rashidi. Doug Madory, Director of Internet Analysis at Kentik, noted these tools are expensive, energy-intensive, and can only knock out specific radio frequencies in localised areas, preventing a nationwide blanket jamming.
"Depending on how much effort the Iranian government wanted to put into it, they could trace the signals that use the particular frequency those terminals have to use," Madory stated, highlighting the constant risk for users. In response, tech-savvy Iranians are using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to disguise their online presence, while others physically move their terminals to avoid detection.
The Dawn of a 'National Internet'
For the vast majority without access to smuggled tech, the future looks increasingly isolated. A state-linked Telegram channel from the IRIB news agency recently published a list of the only internet sites that will be available, marking a move towards a fully controlled national internet. This state-approved ecosystem includes domestic search engines, mapping services, messaging apps, and a government-curated streaming service akin to an Iranian Netflix.
Rashidi describes this as a "skeleton version of the web" that is significantly more restricted than even China's heavily policed internet. This project, underway since the Rouhani administration, now appears to be operational. Both Rashidi and Madory warn that the open internet as it was known in Iran may not return. "Some people are saying that if things go back to normal, there won't be the internet. There will be only the national internet," Rashidi noted.
Despite the blackout, critical information continues to leak out through channels like the Telegram channel "Vahid Online," which has shared videos of protests and images of casualties, such as photos of bodies on a street in Kahrizak, south of Tehran. These messages are relayed using a combination of Starlink, Telegram proxies, the decentralised Delta Chat service, and the Ceno browser. For now, this fragile, dangerous network remains the final electronic thread connecting a silenced nation to the world.
