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Donald Trump asked for help and Elon Musk’s Starlink began offering free satellite Internet service in Iran.
Last Thursday, cell phone signals were lost across the country, following a large demonstration in Tehran and after videos were published on social media showing a crowd in protest.
The President of the United States, Donald Trumpindicated earlier this week that he planned like Elon Musk to discuss the positioning of Starlink satellites to “keep the Internet running” in Iran; and so it will have happened.
According to the report of several activists, the satellite Internet provider Starlink is now offering free service in Iran.
Mehdi Yahyanejadan activist based in the city of Los Angeles, in the southwest of the United States, who helped bring the equipment to Iran, told the Associated Press news agency that the free service was now available.
Other activists also confirmed in online messages that the service was free.
“We can confirm that the free subscription for Starlink terminals is fully operational,” said Yahyanejad, in a note. “We tested it using a newly activated Starlink terminal inside Iran,” he added.
A Starlink has been the only way for Iranians to communicate with abroad since authorities cut off the Internet, when protests across the country escalated and started a bloody repression against protesters.
However, the Starlink has not yet commented on the decision.
Tension grows in Iran
With the Internet down, assessing the impact of demonstrations from abroad has become more difficult, although Iranians managed to make international calls again on Tuesday.
Iran is being shaken by a wave of protests since December 28initiated in Tehran by traders and economic sectors affected by the collapse of the rial, the Iranian currency, and high inflationlater spreading to more than 100 cities in the country.
The annual inflation rate is above 42% and, over the past year, the rial lost 69% of its value against the dollar, in a context in which the economy was strongly hit by US and UN sanctions due to the nuclear program of Tehran.
The Iranian authorities initially received the protests with understanding, but in the meantime they hardened their position and repression against the protesters, who began to be treated as terrorists associated with the USA and Israel, to which were added reports of death sentences for detained protesters.
O death toll in protests against the Iranian regime rose to at least 2.571said a non-governmental organization (NGO) created by Iranian exiles.
According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HDRANA), based in the USA, 2,403 of those killed were protesters and 147 were linked to the Government.
The group said on Tuesday that 12 children were killedalong with nine civilians who were not participating in the protests. The number of detainees also increased to more than 18,100.
