A digital rights group, which questioned not to be named, notified the BBC it estimates at least 100 people have been arrested for possession of the terminals.
Sahand states he also knows people who have been arrested for accessing or owning one – none of them procured the device through him.
Yasmin, an American-Iranian whose name we have also modifyd, has notified the BBC a male member of her family has been arrested in Iran and accutilized of espionage for possessing a Starlink terminal.
The BBC questioned the Iranian embassy in London why only a few people are allowed access to the internet in Iran and why penalties for utilizing Starlink are so severe, but received no response.
The Iranian government has, however, admitted the shutdown has hit some businesses hard, with a minister stateing in January that every day of internet blackout cost the economy at least 50 trillion rials ($35m; £28m).
It recently launched a scheme called “Internet Pro”, which allows certain businesses some access to the global internet.
One man who works for a company in Iran has notified the BBC he has been given access via the initiative.
Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani stated the intention was “to maintain business connectivity during the crisis”. She also stated the government was “completely opposed to communication injustice” and once the situation returns to normal “the situation of the Internet will also modify”.
“Communications blackouts are a clear violation of human rights and they can never be justified,” Marwa Fatafta, regional policy and advocacy director at Access Now, a digital rights group, notified the BBC World Service, ahead of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May.
She warns that internet blackouts are becoming a “new norm”. According to Access Now, there were 313 of them across 52 countries in 2025, the highest number globally since it launched tracking them in 2016.
The executive director for the Abdorrahman Boroumand Centre for Human Rights, Roya Boroumand, states that an information vacuum in Iran “allows the state to broadcast its narrative, ie portray protesters as violent actors or foreign agents, while its victims, including those sentenced to death, and informed sources are silenced”.
This is a major motivation for Sahand.
“The Iranian regime has proven that during a shutdown, they can kill,” he states. “It is super crucial for Iranians to be able to portray the real picture of the situation on the ground.”
He states those who voluntarily sign up to support with the smuggling “are aware of the risk”. But he adds “it’s a fight” and “we feel somehow we have to intervene and support”.
