Concerns after satellite provider restricts Iran images following US pressure

Concerns after satellite provider restricts Iran images following US pressure15 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleMatt MurphyBBC Verify BBCHumanitarian organisations and journalists have expressed concerns after a leading satellite imagery company told its users it was restricting access to images of Iran and large parts of the Middle East following a request from the US government.California-based Planet Labs initially introduced a 14-day delay on providing new imagery from the region in March. It has since moved to an "indefinite" restriction.The decision has limited how journalists, humanitarian groups and analysts can use satellite images to assess the impact of the US-Israel war with Iran, including damage to military targets and civilian infrastructure.It is unclear what prompted the US to press Planet to suspend its coverage and the Department of Defense did not respond to a request for comment.Planet initially said its original 14-day delay policy was "to ensure our imagery is not tactically leveraged by adversarial actors to target allied and Nato-partner personnel and civilians".It said in a statement to BBC Verify that it was now switching to a system of "managed distribution" and would share selected images "on a one-off basis until the security risk has abated".It declined to say how extensive the restrictions were. But based on BBC Verify's access to the portal it appears to extend across most of the Middle East, including Iraq, Lebanon, Israel and Gaza.One satellite imaging expert told BBC Verify that companies like Planet that have military contracts can sometimes implement "voluntary compliance" requests that are actually "driven by commercial incentive structures".BBC Verify has used Planet imagery across the Middle East in its reporting, including since the war in Iran began at the end of February - such as when a US strike on a school in the Iranian town of Minab.The cha...