US Treasury Department: Exporting Some Satellite Internet Equipment to Iran Does Not Require License
The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Tuesday that certain satellite internet equipment is permitted to be exported to Iran, meaning that Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, would likely not need a license to provide Starlink internet services in Iran.
Elon Musk said on Monday that his company was seeking an exemption from Iran sanctions. In response to an Iranian social media user on Twitter about the possibility of providing Starlink internet services to the Iranian people, he wrote: “Starlink will seek an exemption from Iran sanctions in this regard.”
Musk’s tweet does not provide details about his plan to provide satellite internet to Iran, but it coincided with widespread protests by people in various Iranian cities against the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.
Many Twitter users, given the restrictions on access to social networks in Iran, had asked Elon Musk to establish satellite internet stations for the Iranian people.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Treasury Department, in issuing a statement, said that the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued a long-term license that permits the export of certain hardware, software, and internet communication services, including the export of certain satellite terminals.
The statement added that if existing licenses do not cover certain services and equipment supporting internet freedom in Iran, the Office of Foreign Assets Control welcomes applications from those seeking to provide such services.
People in Ukraine previously experienced using Starlink’s satellite internet service during conditions when Russian attacks had caused severe internet disruptions.
The Iranian government uses internet disruption and outages as a tool to counter protests, and notably during the November 2019 protests, it cut off the internet across the country for several days.
Source: Radio Farda
