A confidential source sent the online news organization,
The Intercept, a series of internal documents and communications providing details on what appear to be plans to develop and launch an Iranian mobile network, including subscriber management operations and services, and integration with a legal intercept solution. Some of this communication included representatives of the Communications Regulatory Authority of Iran (CRA). In October 2022,
The Interceptshared this material with Citizen Lab researchers for analysis. The following report provides a summary of our analysis of this material and discusses its wider implications.
- Documents indicate that firms based in Russia, the United Kingdom (UK), and Canada engaged in extensive discussions to provide commercial services and technology to support Iran’s Legal Intercept requirements of mobile surveillance, service control, and account management. While the documents we reviewed did not include fully executed agreements, the negotiations among the key stakeholders were advanced and revealed extensive details about Iran’s legal intercept system and the type of services and technologies that would be provisioned from the private sector to support it.
