Musk says he’ll seek ‘exemption’ from Iran sanctions to provide internet service
Times of IsraelSep 20, 2022
The Facts
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said via Twitter on Monday that his company will seek an exemption from sanctions on Iran to provide the firm's Starlink satellite broadband service to the country.
His Tweet was in response to Iranian-born science journalist Erfan Kasraie, who said that bringing the service to Iran could be a "real game changer for the future" of the country.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Starlink would be a great step toward ensuring the Iranian people have access to the outside world when the regime in Tehran seeks to silence them. The recent protests against the regime and the subsequent denial of telecommunication access are prime examples of why Starlink could be so useful in the fight against autocracy and dictatorship.
Establishment-critical narrative
Musk's Starlink is simply another vehicle of US and Western imperialism in the Global South. Indeed, Musk is intimately connected to the US's national security state, serving as one of its most important business partners. Starlink's services have even reportedly been provided to Neo-Nazi groups in Ukraine, all because the Pentagon wanted them to have such technology.
