The White House is talking with billionaire Elon Musk to build SpaceX‘s satellite internet service Starlink in Iran, CNN reported Friday, citing officials familiar with the matter. Satellite-based broadband services could help Iranians bypass the regime’s internet restrictions and certain social media platform bans. Protests that erupted after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody swept the Islamic Republic last month.

Last month, the US Treasury Department said that some satellite internet equipment could be exported to Iran, suggesting the company may not need a license to provide satellite broadband services.

Musk then said he would launch Starlink in response to a tweet from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the US was acting to “promote internet freedom and the free flow of information” to Iranians.

Musk said Tuesday that Starlink had not received any funding from the US Department of Defence for its services in Ukraine, adding that the company is losing about $20 million (approximately Rs 165 crore) a month due to unpaid costs for services and cyberwarfare security measures. “DoD has no money, but several other countries, organizations and individuals are paying for about 11k/25k terminals,” Musk said. The Pentagon is reportedly considering paying for services to Ukraine.

SpaceX aims to grow Starlink as it competes with rival satellite communications companies like OneWeb and Amazon’s yet-to-be-launched Project Kuiper.