Musk says Starlink to seek exemption from Iranian sanctions

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said that the company will ask for an exemption from sanctions against Iran to provide the firm’s Starlink satellite broadband service in the country.

Musk made the statement on Twitter at a time of widespread protests in Iran over the death of a woman in police custody. Some people on Twitter asked Musk to provide satellite-based Internet stations, according to Arab News.

Access to social media and some content is tightly restricted in Iran and Internet monitoring group NetBlocks reported “near-total” disruption to Internet connectivity in the capital of the Kurdish region on Monday, linking it to the protests.

SpaceX is aiming to rapidly expand Starlink, and it is racing rival satellite communications companies including OneWeb and Amazon.com Inc’s yet-to-launch Project Kuiper.