Musk offers activation of Starlink satellites after Blinken boosts efforts to bolster Iran protests
Elon Musk with Starlink satellites
Billionaire Elon Musk offered the activation of Starlink satellites following US secretary of state Antony Blinken's announcement of boosting efforts to bolster Iranian protests.
Amid protests that have sprung up around Iran following the death of a 22-year-old woman in the custody of morality police, Musk and Washington came out in favour of the openness.
With protesters torching police stations as well as vehiclesand reports of security forces coming under attack, public outrage in Iran over Mahsa Amini's death last week is not showing any signs of abating following days of protests in Tehran and other cities.
Starlink, which provides satellite Internet access coverage to 40 countries, is operated by SpaceX which was founded by Musk.
Also see |Death of young Iranian woman puts spotlight on morality police
Asking for a sanctions exception to do so, Musk said his company would provide Starlink to Iranians like it had done for the Ukrainian military following Russia's invasion.
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Urging her to ease restrictions on internet services to Iran, a bipartisan group of US lawmakers sent a letter this week to treasury secretary Janet Yellen.
Welcoming Musk's offer, a senior treasury official told reporters that the general export licence does not cover hardware.
Calling it a bid "to prevent the world from watching its violent crackdown on peaceful protesters," the US slammed Iran for cutting off internet services and eased export restrictions.
"This is a concrete step to provide meaningful support to Iranians demanding that their basic rights be respected," said Blinken.
After being detained for "improperly" wearing the Islamic headscarf, Amini spent three days in coma and subsequently died.
(With inputs from agencies)
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