Iraq has granted Starlink a licence to provide satellite internet services, the Communications and Media Commission said, after an agreement was signed in Washington on July 17.

The signing ceremony at the US Chamber of Commerce was attended by Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and the commission's executive chairman, Baligh Abu Kalal.

The commission, Iraq's converged telecoms and media regulator, said Starlink's entry would widen internet access for consumers and businesses, particularly in remote areas where fixed and mobile infrastructure remains limited, and would support investment and the government's digital transformation programme.

Starlink, operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX, delivers broadband through a constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit, bypassing the ground-based networks on which Iraqi connectivity has traditionally depended. The regulator approved the company's operating licence in June, a decision welcomed at the time by al-Zaidi and Tom Barrack, the US special presidential envoy for Iraq.

The deal was one of 48 agreements and memoranda of understanding Iraq signed with the US government, international companies and global institutions during the Washington summit, with energy, infrastructure and technology projects making up the largest share. Initial agreements with US firms were worth more than $60bn in total, including a deal with Chevron to rebuild the crude pipeline from Kirkuk to Baniyas in Syria.

"We are using an open-door policy," al-Zaidi told the summit. "Everybody who has a project can come and talk to us."

Starlink's arrival adds a new competitor to a telecoms market the regulator has been working to clean up. The commission has spent three years pursuing debts owed by mobile operator Korek Telecom and began seizing the company's assets in May, while pledging to accelerate Iraq's 5G rollout and attract foreign investment to the sector.

Negotiations over Starlink's entry ran through two Iraqi governments. Former prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani met SpaceX delegations in May and December 2025 to discuss licensing, coverage areas and the terms of the company's market entry.