Biden wants to ‘arm’ the Iranian opposition with the Starlink internet network that Elon Musk has taken to Ukraine, but it won’t be that easy

CNN assures that White House officials have already contacted Musk to find ways to guarantee internet access to Iranian dissidentsMusk has sent more than 20,000 land terminals to Ukraine, at a cost since the start of the war of 80 million dollarsSome experts consider that taking Starlink to Iran would be a much greater challenge and potentially more dangerous, which could have the opposite effect to the desired one Elon Musk is “an unpredictable cannon”, they say in the White House. But this cannon is being essential in Ukraine thanks to Space X’s Starlink technology, which has become a key tool to sustain telecommunications in the country, besieged since February 24 by Russia. If Starlink has worked in Ukraine, could it work in Iran, as a support for dissent to the Sayyid Ebrahim Raisol-Sadati regime? “We have our foot on the accelerator to do everything possible to support the aspirations of the Iranian people,” he said. a senior administration official told CNN. “That is our policy, period. At the same time, it is truly an Iranian movement led by young girls and spilling over into other aspects of society. And we don’t want to overshadow their movement in any way.” Non-governmental organizations consulted by The Guardian assure that since the beginning of the protests, 12,500 opponents have been arrested and at least 250 have died. Ukraine. By the end of the year, the figure will have risen to 100 million. We can’t continue to fund that service “indefinitely,” Musk said, threatening to turn off the tap. Starlink is still losing money and other companies are getting billions of dollars from taxpayers, we will continue to fund the Ukrainian government for free.” , we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 15, 2022 But does Iran need the same as Ukraine? However, are Ukraine’s needs the same as Iranian dissent? Experts consulted by CNN warn that while Starlink in Ukraine has been critical to battlefield successes, bringing Starlink to Iran would be much more challenging and potentially more dangerous, which could backfire. White House hopes that Starlink terminals will be as common in Iran “as satellite dishes”. At that time, there are already some in the country, although the regime has banned them. There are “very few” in Iran, Musk has said. And the ones that exist are difficult to control. The problem is that they have to be physically planted in the ground and they are easy to track. Those that are operational have entered Iran through smugglers. Washington fears that undisciplined dissidents could end up making inappropriate use of them. “I really worry that there is a lack of security knowledge or even training on how people can hide those signals,” Amir Rashidi, director Internet security and digital rights officer Miaan Group, who was forced to flee Iran after the 2009 protests. “It’s going to be really risky for people in Iran to use it on a large scale.” John Scott-Railton, researcher and expert in connectivity in conflicts considers that the use of Starling technology requires in-depth reflection beyond sending them the terminals: “Efforts to help must be based on understanding how the Iranians communicate, the risks they face and the technologies of circumvention of censorship that they have experience in using. We should be committed, but be wary of magical ideas.”