Security cooperation between Iran’s police chief and China, a Western-sanctioned figure
Drones, internet blocking, and facial recognition technology deployed to pressure protesters
Has Chinese surveillance technology increased the Iranian regime’s control capabilities?
Iranian President Massoud Fezezhikian (left) and Chinese President Xi Jinping are meeting in Beijing, China on September 2 last year. Reuters Yonhap News
Iranian Police Chief Ahmad Reza Radan is at the forefront of the operation to suppress the anti-government protests in Iran, which have spread across the country amid despair over economic difficulties, using brutal techniques. He blamed the violent response against protesters on “unpaid soldiers of Iran’s enemies,” and insisted that the knife wounds and close-range shootings were not the work of government authorities.
Commissioner Radan, a former officer in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, a key military organization in the Islamic theocratic system, is notorious for his strong suppression of various anti-government protests. Immediately after the 2009 presidential election, when he was serving as deputy chief of the National Police Agency, he made his presence known by indiscriminately suppressing the ‘Green Movement’ sparked by suspicions of election fraud. He was later appointed as the police chief in January 2023, when protests against the mandatory hijab wearing continued.
Commissioner Radan has also been subject to Western sanctions for a long time. The United States sanctioned him in 2010 and 2011 for human rights violations and suppression of dissidents, and the European Union also placed him on its sanctions list for the same reasons. While under pressure from the West, General Ladan has steadily expanded security and security cooperation with China.
According to a report by China’s official Xinhua News Agency, Secretary-General Radan, who visited China in January 2024, met with Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong and said, “I hope to steadily promote exchange and cooperation in the field of law enforcement with the Chinese side.” The two sides jointly signed a ‘Memorandum of Understanding on Law Enforcement Cooperation’ at this event. Xinhua News Agency reported that through the agreement, the two sides agreed to “advance law enforcement and security cooperation” and “contribute to regional stability by strengthening practical cooperation in areas such as counter-terrorism.” However, neither Xinhua nor Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA released the full text of the memorandum of understanding.
It is assessed that the background to the strong suppression of anti-government protests is the technology and know-how support that China has provided to Iran for a long time. China, which has been considered a key economic and political partner of Iran, failed to provide a meaningful diplomatic or policy response during the regime crisis triggered by these protests. This is seen as an example showing that China’s Iran policy is not actually working in a crisis situation. However, criticism surrounding China’s role is growing, given that China has exerted a certain influence on the Iranian authorities’ suppression of anti-government protests through cutting-edge surveillance technology.
The Diplomat, an American diplomatic magazine, reported on the 17th (local time) that Chinese companies have played a key role in expanding Iran’s surveillance system. According to reports, Chinese companies such as Tiandy have not only sold surveillance equipment but also provided training courses for its operation. Chinese companies have also been involved in strengthening Iran’s intranet, making it easier to block communications with the outside world, and have also played an active role in supplying technology and equipment to Iranian unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) manufacturers.
As protests spread, Iranian authorities cut off internet access at an unprecedented speed and scope, isolating citizens from the outside world and their families and acquaintances abroad. According to eyewitness testimony, drones were used to herd protesters or fire into crowds, and in some cases were even used to identify people who were shouting protest slogans on the streets or inside houses.
This cooperation was formed over a long period of time. It has been reported that the People’s Public Security University of China, a police training institution under the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, has been operating the ‘Iranian Senior Police Officer Training Program’ since 2015. Then, in 2018, Iran’s National Police Academy signed an official agreement with China to institutionalize exchange and training programs. On the 25th of last month, just a few days before nationwide anti-government protests broke out, Iran’s ambassador to China visited the People’s Public Security University and announced, “We will continue practical cooperation in the fields of law enforcement and security.”
Experts believe that if the Iranian regime survives this crisis, the surveillance technology and repression tools shared between the Chinese and Iranian governments will likely have played a significant role in the background. From this perspective, some say that China has exercised considerable influence in invisible areas while avoiding direct intervention. However, it is also pointed out that it is still unclear what kind of political and diplomatic ramifications China’s technological support will have in the long term.
In this regard, The Diplomat pointed out that the fact that many of the tear gas, bullets, and bombs used by the Israeli military and their own government bear the label “Made in the USA” has long fostered antipathy toward American politics among Iranian citizens. The media analyzed, “If the label ‘Made in China’ is equated with the buzzing sound of drones, smoke, and the smell of debris, the image that China has built up (in Iran) as a ‘country of trade and construction’ will also suffer a serious blow.”
