According to a recent Reuters investigation, based on Pentagon documents and interviews with multiple sources, Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network served as the operational backbone for US military drone strikes during the June 2025 and February 2026 wars against Iran.
The report revealed that the network also served as a tool for political destabilization and Western-backed efforts to fragment the Islamic Republic.
Under a 2023 agreement, SpaceX sells a military-specific version called Starshield to the Pentagon. These terminals can connect to both commercial Starlink satellites and a separate, more secure constellation also named Starshield.
At the start of the war, Starlink was already a core component of US strikes on Iran. In testing and early deployments, it supported several systems, from aerial attack drones to unmanned surface vessels used for maritime spy and strike missions.
When the US launched its aggression, Starshield terminals were being used across over a dozen drone systems.
The Reuters investigation confirm that Starlink provided real-time video feeds and command guidance to LUCAS loitering munitions reverse-engineered from Iran’s Shahed drones.
Thousands of Starlink terminals smuggled into Iran also complemented the official military use.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the United States smuggled approximately 6,000 Starlink terminals into Iran in January 2026 alone. The majority of the US State Department’s purchase of almost 7,000 terminals in January utilized funds diverted from similar “internet-freedom initiatives” to “help anti-regime activists circumvent internet shut-offs in Iran”.
Between 30,000 and 50,000 Starlink terminals are estimated to have been smuggled into Iran since 2022.
The US administration’s involvement was direct and deliberate, and President Donald Trump was reportedly aware of the smuggling of the dual-use technology, which was actively guiding lethal drones onto Iran’s territory.
The smuggling was portrayed by Western media as an effort to support “Internet Freedom”.
However, the Pentagon documents reviewed by Reuters revealed that the same terminals were simultaneously being used as components of a US military network.
MNA
