TEHRAN -- Iran succeeded for the first time in disabling Starlink terminals during the foreign-led coup attempt in January, the head of the country’s National Cyberspace Centre said on Monday, dismissing recent claims by Israel’s terrorist prime minister about launching the service in Iran as technically unworkable.
Muhammad Amin Aghamiri told the third Internet Platforms Conference, organized by the FATA police, that part of the Israeli claim is “psychological atmosphere and fear-mongering,” and that many of the assertions are technically impossible given bandwidth constraints and amounted to “selling dreams.”
“Western media at the time of the January coup confirmed Iran’s success and the operation to disable Starlink terminals,” Aghamiri said, adding that the operation was “fully successful” and was one of Iran’s tools, with other means also available to counter Starlink.
He warned that if Starlink is used for military purposes, “its nature changes and it becomes a weapon of war and a legitimate military target,” adding that the country is prepared at all levels to confront such threats and that the matter will be managed within the framework of the country’s governance.
Aghamiri said Iran’s main advantage is its elites and domestic scientific and technical capabilities, and that significant work has been done in recent years to identify and counter threats, leaving the country
technically and operationally ready.
Addressing cyberspace regulation, he said cyberspace is a major opportunity for the country but that seizing it requires changes in management and regulatory methods.
In the traditional space, different regulators operate separately, but in cyberspace, because of the convergence of domains, “we see regulatory overlap, and several regulators may face a single entity,” he said.
He said the traditional regulatory system faces two dangers in such conditions: first, dealing with cyberspace businesses using the same strict traditional approaches, which can harm businesses and destroy opportunities; and second, “regulator capture,” in which the executor interferes in the regulatory process.
He said artificial intelligence has added to the complexity, with the education, health, culture and broadcasting ministries all involved, and that it must be determined how and through what mechanism this area is regulated.
“We must manage these changes ourselves to prevent the two situations I mentioned,” Aghamiri said, calling for consolidation of regulatory processes and warning that resistance from traditional bodies and regulators is one of the most important challenges ahead.
On international cyber security engagement, Aghamiri said there is a serious confrontation at the macro level of security, and that alongside enemy attacks in recent wars, cyber attacks against the country also began, with a significant volume of them repelled through the efforts of specialists, coordinating bodies, executive agencies and businesses.
In some cases the attacks had successes and time was needed to contain them, but efforts were made to keep services running and to minimize the transfer of damage and concern to the public, he said.
“Last week, several cyber attacks occurred, access was controlled and the recovery process is underway, and the attacks have effectively been repelled,” he said.