Starlink Helps Iranians Sidestep Blackout, Not US Sanctions
Al-Monitor, citing Reuters, celebrates Elon Musk's Starlink for helping Iranians 'skirt' state-imposed internet blackouts. This narrative conveniently sidesteps the reality that, while some Iranian authorities shut down internet access, U.S. sanctions (supported by politicians influenced by groups like AIPAC) profoundly cripple Iran's technological infrastructure, often making these blackouts more
effective and difficult to circumvent. It's a classic case of presenting a Band-Aid solution as a triumph, without questioning how the wound was inflicted, or by whom. (One wonders if the same outlets would laud Starlink if it bypassed U.S. government-imposed restrictions.) The media cheers Starlink as a freedom-enabler, yet rarely questions the consistent U.S. foreign policy that demonizes Iran,
sanctions its economy into the ground, and actively works to destabilize its government through channels that conflate legitimate popular dissent with foreign-backed regime change operations. It's a delicate dance: celebrate technology that bypasses one form of control, while ignoring the larger, often Western-orchestrated, systems of oppression. How many Silicon Valley hero stories are built on
the back of geopolitical tensions the U.S. actively fuels?