Iran kicks out American GPS for China’s BeiDou
Taking the latest conflict in the Middle East to the next level, Iran has kicked out American GPS system and adopted the Chinese built BeiDou
Taking the latest conflict in the Middle East to the next level, Iran has kicked out American GPS system from its borders and adopted the Chinese built Beidou.
According to the multiple sources, Iran has completely blocked all American GPS signals within its borders and switched to China’s Beidou satellite system instead.
The development came a day after Iran's Ambassador to Beijing, Mohammad Keshavarz-Zadeh, said China is providing Iran access to BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), according to Tehran based Mehr News Agency.
The Iranian Ambassador in China also said Tehran will work with Beijing to build a 5th-generation Internet infrastructure in the country.
Why China decided to develop BeiDou?
Named after the Chinese term for the Big Dipper constellation, China began constructing its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) in 1990s.
After the efforts of over 30 years, China succeeded in developing BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) as an alternative to the American GPS. The system launched in 2015 for global coverage, now covers 140 countries and processes over 1 trillion location requests every day.
China decided to end dependency on the American GPS system after the U.S. decided to shut down communication to a Chinese ship it alleged was carrying banned cargo.
The Chinese ship was stranded and left floating in the ocean for days without communication. Interestingly, the American troops later laid siege of the ship only to find nothing wrong and illegal.
The move however forced China to have own satellite communication and global positioning system.
Iran's Dependency on American Satellites
Iran depended on American GPS and communication system to navigate in the country, including for civilian as well as military purposes.
There were always the risk of the Americans turning off its communication system and use it for espionage, surveillance and cyber attacks.
Iran's decision to switch its communication system with the Chinese developed Beidou is important as it comes in the wake of its recent war fought jointly by Israel and the United States.
As per the Iranian officials, the American communication system, supported by WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and other digital communication tools, provided the real-time locations of government and military officials. This data was then used by Israel to target them on June 13, 2025.
Meta, which owns WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram denied the allegations. However, after the Israeli attack, Iran urged its citizens to delete WhatsApp from their phones.
Iran during this war, therefore, realised how deadly it could be if it continued to depend on the American GPS system, especially for military purposes.
[Zohair Mohammed Safwan is Staff Writer at ummid.com.]
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