Musk’s Starlink in Crosshairs of Iran, Russia at UN Space Confab

Feb. 10, 2026, 6:38 PM UTC

Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite constellation violates international law while blurring the line between commercial and military technologies, Iranian and Russian diplomats said at a United Nations meeting.

The “illegal operation” of Starlink in Iran violates the nation’s sovereignty and amounts to “unauthorized military use of a commercial satellite mega-constellation,” read a statement delivered by the Islamic Republic late Monday at a UN scientific meeting in Vienna.

The Kremlin’s delegation suggested SpaceX’s network could be in violation of a provision of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, ratified by the US and more than 100 other countries, requiring satellite ...

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