Here is the entire report: Tightening the net: China's infrastructure of oppression in Iran (pdf)
The Iranian regime has been accused of deploying Russian and Chinese technology to aid its brutal crackdown on recent protests, and proliferate a near total internet shutdown, including disrupting satellite internet. This networked authoritarianism has equipped Iran with the technical capacity and political will to impose unprecedented infrastructure control to suppress the flow of information, as the regime massacred thousands of protesters and arrested many more.
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The report outlines how China, Iran’s largest trading partner, has been providing material and technical support to Iran since at least 2010, supercharging its surveillance and censorship capabilities. Despite international sanctions, Chinese companies including ZTE, Huawei, Tiandy and Hikvision continue operations in Iran, often through front companies, providing surveillance and monitoring technologies that directly contribute to the regime’s ability to perpetuate gross human rights violations.
The research also charts the way in which China’s ‘cyber sovereignty’ doctrine appears to influence Iran’s approach to internet governance – best exemplified in the country’s efforts to replicate the Great Firewall of China through Iran’s National Information Network. Both systems intend to block free access to the global internet, centralising censorship and embedding surveillance deep into their infrastructure. Iranian officials have publicly praised China’s normative and technical capacity, and supported China’s global push for separation from ‘foreign’ internet regulation in international fora, including the United Nations.
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Iran's suppression was combined with door-to-door seizure of satellite dishes, aided by arial drones, and criminal penalties of up to 10 years' imprisonment under a 2025 law in Iran criminalising the possession of hardware like Starlink terminals. Such multifaceted methods significantly complicate countermeasures to protect freedom of expression and information.
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Despite international sanctions and legal penalties, Chinese firms have sought means of continuing operations in Iran, often through front companies, complicating accountability. The involvement of Chinese vendors in supplying censorship and surveillance technologies to Iran has contributed to the government's ability to perpetrate human rights abuses, often disproportionately against ethnic and religious minorities and women.
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Sounds like a defense of the US color revolution