Click Here: "Smuggling signals out of Iran"

Podcast by Recorded Future News | Host: Dina Temple-Raston | Date: March 10, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode centers on Iran’s sweeping internet blackouts during widespread protests and war, and the ingenious—and dangerous—measures Iranians are taking to reconnect with the world. Host Dina Temple-Raston carries listeners into the heart of the information void, exploring how government shutdowns are wielded as tools of control, how Starlink satellite dishes are smuggled and disguised, and how access to uncensored information shapes the very narratives of power, protest, and war.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Power—and Peril—of Blackouts

• Governments control the story by controlling information.
  • Iran’s authorities responded to protests and US/Israeli airstrikes with total internet shutdowns. The result: domestic and global information darkness.
  • “When bombs fall and signals fade, the fight isn't only on the ground, it's over what the world even gets to see.” (Dena Temple-Raston, 00:44)
• Blackouts not only obscure events from the outside world—they fragment communication within Iran itself.
  • Even trusted landlines and simple calls no longer work.
  • Protests are reduced to rumors; even monumental news like the Supreme Leader’s death spreads painfully slowly.

2. Life Under Lockdown: Voices from Inside

• First-Hand Witness: Besad
  • Using a pseudonym to protect his safety (after a neighborhood child killed in protests), Besad recounts the surreal blend of daily life under bombardment and digital darkness.
  • “I try to be a witness to history and document what took place.” (Besad, 07:30)
  • Despite war and Nowruz approaching, most people try to maintain routines, though fear and uncertainty loom.
  • Communication devolves to word of mouth and spotty satellite TV.
• Difficulty in Receiving Critical Alerts
  • Israel attempted to send evacuation alerts via SMS, but with networks down, many never arrived.
  • Even state media confirmation of key events lagged far behind rumors.
  • “Many people spread the word through... phone conversations with relatives and friends. People who had access to satellite networks were getting outside information. But many ordinary citizens had doubts that it had actually happened.” (Besad, 09:52)

3. Smuggling Signals: Workarounds and the Starlink Underground

• The Rise of Starlink as Lifeline—and Risk
  • Ahmad Ahmadiyan, an Iranian expat leading the nonprofit Holistic Resilience, explains Starlink’s emergence as a vital workaround.
  • When the Iranian government throttled or cut the internet, demand for Starlink terminals skyrocketed despite the severe penalties if caught.
  • “There is a demand in Iran. There is a market building around this. Another shutdown could happen. A lot of people, their lifeline is depending on Starlink.” (Ahmad Ahmadiyan, 14:05)
• Creative Camouflage
  • Satellite dishes can’t hide like Wi-Fi routers; so people disguise them—especially as solar panels.
  • “They take the satellite dishes and make them look like solar panels. Something no one thinks twice about seeing on a roof. Which means something designed to collect sunlight now quietly is collecting signal instead.” (Dena Temple-Raston, 15:16)
• The Moment of Breakthrough
  • Ahmad recalls the emotional surge seeing protest videos escape the blackout.
  • “I had this glorious moment seeing that the Ayatollah was not successful in keeping people in dark.” (Ahmad Ahmadiyan, 15:56)

4. Narrative Wars: Information as Weapon

• Who gets to tell the story?
  • Once images and videos slip past the blackout, the government loses its monopoly on the narrative.
  • Even fragmented visibility undermines official versions of events.
• Global Parallels
  • The episode draws parallels to protests—and police shootings—in the US, showing how cell phone footage shifts public perception, not just in Iran but worldwide.
  • “Control the images and you control the story. Lose that control and the story may belong to everyone else.” (Dena Temple-Raston, 18:21)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On blackouts and control:
  “The Internet connects us, but it can go dark just when people need it most.”
  — Dena Temple-Raston, 00:21

• On spreading news during a blackout:
  “Many people spread the word through word of mouth, through phone conversations with relatives and friends... But many ordinary citizens had doubts that it had actually happened.”
  — Besad, 09:52

• On everyday life amid chaos:
  “A lot of people are trying to still have some form of normalcy while handling the daily chores after the recent bombing. I decided to go to work today because we need to earn a living.”
  — Besad, 09:09

• On smuggling Starlink:
  “You kind of call your electronics guy and this is just another thing that you ask him for, is that right?”
  — Dena Temple-Raston, 14:15
  “Exactly, yes.”
  — Ahmad Ahmadiyan, 14:21

• On seeing the first protest video emerge:
  “I just, I had this glorious moment seeing that the Ayatollah was not successful in keeping people in dark.”
  — Ahmad Ahmadiyan, 15:56

• On the stakes of visibility:
  “Because once images escape, the story no longer belongs only to the state.”
  — Dena Temple-Raston, 16:43
  “Control the images and you control the story. Lose that control and the story may belong to everyone else.”
  — Dena Temple-Raston, 18:21

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:44] — Framing the current blackout and the previous protests
• [07:30] — Interview with Besad: daily life, sources of information, atmosphere in Tehran
• [12:18] — Ahmad Ahmadiyan explains Starlink smuggling, innovation, and risks
• [15:56] — Emotional breakthrough: first videos escape the blackout
• [16:43–18:21] — Visibility, narrative control, global parallels
• [18:58-22:56] — News Briefs: Amazon cloud hit by Iranian drones, China's AI/economic plan, cyber escalation, Netflix's AI acquisition (not directly related but notable as context)

Episode Takeaways

• In modern conflicts, access to digital communication is both a weapon and a shield.
• Iranians, faced with the world’s most sophisticated censorship, have found ways to stay connected—at immense personal and political risk.
• The struggle over who controls the story—government censors or ordinary citizens—can shape the course of history itself.
• As long as small signals can escape censorship, the truth has a fighting chance.