Featured Images Source: Mohamed Azakir via Reuters / Alireza Nader via Twitter
Iran authorities are facing anti-government protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman arrested for violating dress code. Iran has strict Islamic dress code laws that force all girls and women to cover their hair with a headscarf (or hijab) and wear long, loose-fitting robes to cover their entire body. Amini was arrested by the Iran Republic's morality police off the streets of Tehran last week, they said she was "wearing her hijab too loosely" and took her to a "re-education center" where she died on September 16 under their custody. The Iranian morality police is notorious for treating women violently.
— ☾ mae ˺ check 📌 (@shinint91) September 17, 2022
Anti-government protests have continued across Iran since her death, women are burning their headscarfs on open fires in the streets (video below). Iranian authorities have initiated a violent crackdown against protesters supported by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who is a strong advocate for women wearing mandatory hijab. The government even shutdown internet access and censored social media sites in some areas across the country to inhibit Iranians from sharing videos of everything that's going on. Blocking internet access also inhibits local people from communicating to organize more protests.
This is the real #Iran. Compulsory hejab is not part of our culture. #IranProtests #Mahsa_Amini #مهسا_امینی pic.twitter.com/3bLS5pTtzf
— Alireza Nader علیرضا نادر (@AlirezaNader) September 20, 2022
Starlink will ask for an exemption to Iranian sanctions in this regard
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 19, 2022
On September 19, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said the company would request sanction exemptions from the United States government to provide Starlink Internet in Iran. "Starlink will ask for an exemption to Iranian sanctions in this regard," he said. Four days later, the U.S. Treasury Department adjusted sanctions to help Iranians evade online surveillance and censorship. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced –"We took action today to advance Internet freedom and the free flow of information for the Iranian people, issuing a General License to provide them greater access to digital communications to counter the Iranian government’s censorship," he wrote via Twitter. "Activating Starlink…" Musk wrote in response on September 23.
Activating Starlink …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 23, 2022
SpaceX's Starlink broadband satellite network has demonstrated to be useful for communication in remote regions across the world, including in war-torn cities in Ukraine where internet access was blocked by Russian soldiers amid the ongoing war. SpaceX delivered thousands of Starlink user antennas to Ukraine to help civilians communicate and coordinate safety operations. To date, SpaceX has launched around 3,300 satellites to Low Earth Orbit that provide Internet access to around 43 countries.
Featured Images Source: Mohamed Azakir via Reuters / Alireza Nader via Twitter
About the Author
Evelyn Janeidy Arevalo
Evelyn J. Arevalo joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover news as a Space Journalist and SpaceX Starbase Texas Correspondent. Evelyn is specialized in rocketry and space exploration. The main topics she covers are SpaceX and NASA.
