The head of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is interrupted during a House subcommittee hearing after boasting about NED’s deployment of Starlink terminals in Iran, a report says.

Snip:

The US-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED) deployed around 200 Starlink devices in Iran during recent riots, NED president Damon Wilson has revealed at a congressional hearing, before representatives cut him off, saying the topic shouldn’t be discussed.

Wilson said Tuesday NED “began supporting the deployment [and] operation of about 200 Starlinks early on” amid the riots, but Representative Lois Frankel interrupted him, saying, “You know what, I am going to interrupt you, we better not talk about it.”

[…]

The NED president further detailed collaborations with NGOs and media networks, saying the organization had amplified stories blaming the Iranian government for mismanaging resources like water in Tehran.

The protests that erupted in early January 2026 were initially peaceful over economic grievances, including currency devaluation, but escalated into violent riots when foreign-backed actors intervened.

  • unmagical@lemmy.mlEnglish
    13·
    10 hours ago

    Why is a government founded organization that gets it’s funding from the government considered a non-governmental organization?

    • Hexamerous [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
      3·
      5 hours ago

      We earmarked the money (it’s like casting a spell on the money, like in harry potter) so it can only be used for good and freedom so they’re not allowed to do bad stuff with it. So technically it’s like the government wasn’t involved anyway.

      smuglord