After Iranian authorities smothered mounting unrest in January 2026 by killing thousands of protesters and severely cutting internet connectivity, the U.S. smuggled roughly 6,000 of the satellite-internet kits into the country, the first time the U.S. has directly sent Starlink into Iran…

Some 30 million Iranians used U.S.-funded VPNs during the country’s widespread protests in 2022, according to internal State Department data…Some VPN companies dependent on U.S. funding said in 2026 that they are struggling to provide their service to Iranians… Psiphon, a technology company that provides uncensored internet access to users, now receives about $5.9 million in U.S. funding, compared with $18.5 million in 2024… Psiphon had about 18.4 million active Iranian users in January 2026, the same month Tehran shut off the internet, though the company detected only 1,500 people operating Psiphon with Starlink when the regime cut off nearly all online access. 

Excerpt from Alexander Ward, U.S. Smuggled Thousands of Starlink Terminals Into Iran After Protest Crackdown, WSJ, Feb. 12, 2026