SAN FRANCISCO — Users of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service in Iran were able to use the service for free Tuesday, according to Holistic Resilience, a U.S.-based organization that helps Iranians get access to the web.

Starlink’s parent company, rocket maker SpaceX, waived fees for the service Tuesday morning, said Ahmad Ahmadian, executive director of Holistic Resilience. He said people in Iran had told him that they did not have to pay Starlink to get online, amid a near-total communications blackout in the country as it grapples with mass protests. The New York Times was not able to verify Ahmadian’s claim.

SpaceX, which Musk founded in 2002, did not return requests for comment. Bloomberg reported earlier that SpaceX was offering free Starlink service in Iran.

Iranian authorities have cracked down on protests in the country in recent days and imposed a communications blockade to prevent people from getting information and from organizing online. Eyewitnesses have said Iranian forces have opened fire on unarmed protesters; the toll of dead and injured is unclear.

Musk’s Starlink service is often the only way to get internet access in conflict zones, remote areas and places hit by natural disasters. It relies on thousands of satellites that communicate with terminals on Earth to beam high-speed internet. Ukrainian forces have used the service heavily in their war against Russia, for example.

Musk’s ability to turn Starlink on and off in places, as well as his dominance in space with satellites and rockets, has made him a formidable and unpredictable geopolitical player.

Starlink has been highly lucrative for SpaceX. The company, which recently offered to buy insider shares in a deal that would value it at $800 billion, has become one of the world’s most valuable private firms and has told shareholders that it is preparing to go public.

Iranian authorities have chafed at Starlink before. When antigovernment protests broke out in the country in 2022, Musk made Starlink available there to help activists stay online. The Iranian government accused SpaceX of violating its sovereignty.

Ahmadian said Iran had banned Starlink terminals and enacted a law in October that enforced strict penalties, including death, for using the service. Authorities recently appeared to be trying to jam satellite internet signals to block Starlink, he said.

Amir Rashidi, director of digital rights and security at Miaan Group, a U.S.-based human rights nonprofit, said Iranians using Starlink received a software update Tuesday to boost the signal to circumvent jamming by the government.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Natallie Rocha
c. 2026 The New York Times Company