- Category
- Latest news
Russia Allegedly Helped Iran Shut Down Internet Nationwide Using Advanced Tech
- Authors
![Photo of Roman Kohanets]( "Photo of Roman Kohanets")
-111f0e5095e02c02446ffed57bfb0ab1.jpeg "Photo of Roman Kohanets")
Russia helped Iran build the infrastructure that enabled what was described as one of the largest and most complex internet shutdowns in history, according to Agenstvo Novosti report on January 15.
The report said Iran’s technology is based on a network-control architecture developed with Russia’s assistance and built around deep packet inspection, or DPI.
It said DPI allows Iranian authorities to go beyond blocking websites by restricting traffic to apps, virtual private networks, and messengers, and by selectively limiting access to platforms used to coordinate protests.
Every article pushes back against disinformation. Your support keeps our team in the field.
The report said Russian companies, including Protei, helped Iranian mobile operators integrate DPI into Iran’s message-interception system, which Foreign Policy said enabled security forces to identify protesters’ coordination centers, track communication patterns, and respond as protests developed, including carrying out targeted detentions before actions rather than after.
Russia also helped Iran develop a multi-layered system aimed at countering attempts to bypass blocks through satellite internet, adding that the Starlink service can be disrupted using electronic warfare systems that Russia has widely used in Ukraine.
-06edd17576e8390bd2b40028a0890918.jpg)
Internet connectivity in Iran plunged on January 8, when traffic volumes fell nearly 90% within 30 minutes and later dropped to effectively zero, cutting the country off from the global internet, according to Cloudflare’s Radar analysis published on January 13.
The shutdowns in Iran are unusually selective: while many Iranians nationwide are cut off from the internet, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei continued posting on X, local government websites quickly resumed operating, and services, including the Snapp! ride-sharing app, banking applications, and fuel stations’ payment processing continued functioning.
Currently, Iran is in the final stage of developing a new national network built on a Huawei platform that is designed to expand the authorities’ capacity to fully and for extended periods disconnect the country from the global internet, according to Iran International.
Earlier, it was reported that Russia led the world in internet censorship and shutdowns in 2025, with extensive disruptions totaling tens of thousands of hours — far more than in Iran — illustrating evolving state‑level internet restrictions.
-7f54d6f9a1e9b10de9b3e7ee663a18d9.png)
