The United States smuggled around 6,000 Starlink satellite internet kits into Iran to allow activists to remain online after the Islamic Republic’s brutal crackdown on protests, a US official tells the Wall Street Journal.
It marks the first time the US has ever directly sent the terminals to Iran.
According to the official, senior Trump administration figures decided to use money for other internet-freedom initiatives in Iran to purchase nearly 7,000 terminals, which were mostly bought in January.
The official says it was unclear whether US President Donald Trump personally ordered the purchase, but he was aware of it.
During the crackdown last month, Iran cut internet access, only gradually restoring it after the killings of protesters subsided.
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