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24 May 2026, 14:21

Mohammad Sarafraz, the former head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) and a current member of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, says that part of the Iranian government is inspired by the Chinese model to restrict global internet access for the general public and provide it only to a specific and controlled group.

On Sunday, May 24, in an interview with the online newspaper Faraz, he stated that the Islamic Republic has purchased and imported the necessary equipment for "permanently cutting off the internet" from China.

Mohammad Sarafraz explained that in China, global internet access is cut off for the general public and is only available in a limited manner to specific groups. Referring to a model he called "Nikan System" in China, he said the goal of such a mechanism is to ensure that the "narrative of the government" prevails in the country.

He also identified the operators who are members of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace as the behind-the-scenes factors in the approval of the plan known as "Internet Pro," stating that the beneficiaries of cutting off the internet "sell VPNs one day and Internet Pro the next."
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After 2040 hours of internet outages in Iran, NetBlocks wrote that while access to global internet is largely cut off during peace negotiations, selected users on the whitelist are presenting an artificial image of the lives of Iranians to the outside world.
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