A senior Iranian official has revealed that Tehran has imported advanced Chinese technology in an effort to permanently restrict access to the global internet.
The disclosure comes amid a major nationwide internet blackout in Iran, where authorities have blocked connectivity following the start of conflict with the United States and Israel on February 28.
Mohammad Sarafraz, a member of Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace and former head of state broadcaster IRIB, told the online newspaper Faraz on May 23 that Chinese equipment has already been brought into the country.
According to him, the purpose of this technology is to build the infrastructure for permanently restricting internet access, allowing only tightly controlled connectivity for selected users in Iran’s population of around 90 million people.
The ongoing shutdown, now in its third month, is described as the longest nationwide internet disruption since Libya’s nearly six-month blackout during the Arab Spring protests in 2011. However, given Iran’s much larger population, experts say it represents the largest government-imposed communications blackout ever recorded.
Internet monitoring organization NetBlocks described the situation as “unprecedented in scale and severity in a connected society.”
Iranian authorities have defended the blackout, claiming it helps prevent foreign cyberattacks, protects officials during wartime, and preserves public morality.
However, Sarafraz rejected these justifications, arguing that some of the most severe cyberattacks on the country have occurred during periods when the internet was already shut down. He also said that internet restrictions have failed to prevent assassinations of officials during the current conflict.
He further criticized the concept of “morality protection,” saying prolonged digital isolation—combined with unequal access systems such as “white internet” for regime-linked users and premium services for wealthier citizens—has caused greater psychological harm than any foreign online content.
Can China’s Model Work in Iran?
Iran’s Deputy Minister of Communications, Ehsan Chitsaz, said on May 9 that fully replicating China’s internet model is “in no way feasible” for Iran, citing China’s massive population and digital economy scale.
He also warned that prolonged internet shutdowns themselves pose a national security risk.
Digital rights expert Amir Rashidi of the Miaan Group said Iran’s system is far simpler than China’s and relies on restricting existing infrastructure rather than building a complex parallel network.
According to him, this makes the Iranian model easier for other authoritarian governments to replicate.
Researcher Aryan Eqbal argued that China’s economic growth did not result from an isolated internet system and warned that Iranian supporters of tighter control focus only on the restrictive aspects while ignoring the economic foundations that make such systems sustainable.
He added that under sanctions and long-term economic mismanagement, Iran lacks the capacity to sustain a full-scale Chinese-style system.
Economically, the impact has been severe. Iranian Chamber of Commerce official Iran Chamber of Commerce estimated that internet restrictions cost the country up to $40 million per day, with indirect losses reaching $80 million daily.
