Exclusive: Iran Recruits Afghans To Target Israelis

A statement said Monday’s cyberattack, which temporarily halted parliament’s operations, had not “touched the data of the system.” The Associated Press cited local media as reporting that a cellphone provider and an air flight company were also targeted by cyberattacks Monday from “Iranian-based hackers called Homeland Justice.”

In the announcement published on the Telegram account of the group, 'Homeland Justice' claims to have deleted more than 2 petabytes of data of the telecommunications network and the internal network of all connected companies.

Iran International cannot independently verify if the hacker group is affiliated with Iran, but Albania has a history of being caught in the crossfire between the Islamic Republic and the Iranian exiled opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK), currently based in Manza, an Albanian city near Durrës. In an X post after the parliament cyberattack, the hacker group called to “Destroy Durres Military Camp.”

In July 2022, Albania suffered a cyberattack that the government and multinational technology companies blamed on hackers linked to the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Believed to be in retaliation for Albania sheltering members of the MEK, the attack prompted the government to cut diplomatic relations with Iran two months later.

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In June, the Albanian State Police, on the orders of the Special Court, raided the MEK camp, resulting in clashes between its residents and security forces. The police confiscated a large number of electronic and storage devices allegedly linked to prohibited political activities.Iran said earlier in the year that the storage devices were handed over to Tehran, but Albania denied the claim.

In one of their statements, the hacker group said, “Ignoring our 'humanitarian warnings cost your corrupt politicians all this. But don’t be fooled. This will continue until we completely clear the country of terrorists,” an apparent reference to the MEK. The group was on the US Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list until 2012.

In recent years, MEK-affiliated hacktivist group ‘Uprising till Overthrow’ has breached hundreds of websites and servers belonging to the Iranian government such the office of the president and the foreign ministry, releasing troves of classified documents. In June 2022, it hacked over 5,000 security cameras of state bodies and 150 websites belonging to Tehran Municipality. The hack came after another cyberassault in March on the portal of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance (Ershad) and its affiliated websites. The attackers posted messages calling for the death of the country’s supreme leader.

MEK, a revolutionary organization with a Marxist-Islamist ideology emerged before the Iranian revolution in 1979 and for a time supported the new Islamist government in Tehran. But soon the ruling clerics decided they would not tolerate leftists and other organizations remaining active and launched bloody repression. MEK was exiled and many found refuge in Iraq under Saddam Hussein who helped them continue their fight against the government in Tehran. Since 2013, some 2,500 of the MEK members are sheltered in Albania, where they are not supposed to engage in any political activity and must abide by the country’s laws.

Amid mounting pressure from social media users, prominent political figures, including individuals with close ties to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, such as Ali Akbar Velayati, his senior foreign policy adviser, and Hossein Shariatmadari, his representative at the Kayhan newspaper, have raised objections to Russia's humiliating stance. 

Meanwhile, banners and posters have been prominently displayed around the Russian Embassy in Tehran, boldly proclaiming that all the 88 million Iranian citizens are the residents of Abu Musa, the largest of the three islands claimed by the United Arab Emirates. Some social media users emphasized that President Ebrahim Raisi should visit Abu Musa to reassert Iran's ownership of the island. Some others alleged that there is a UAE military post on Abu Musa where the Emirate's flag is hoisted every morning. They even posted a video on Threads to prove what they said.

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Shariatmadari, the editor of hardline Daily asked in an editorial: "What can Russia and Arab statement on the three islands be called other than hypocrisy and double standards in foreign policy?" Shariatmadari further addressed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and said: "Mr. Lavrov! Your error has the color of treason." He further demanded an apology from Lavrov and stressed that such an apology should be made immediately and publicly.

The Iranian public regards Shariatmadari’s statements as reflecting the views of Khamenei and his senior aides.

Russia’s action in siding with the Arab claim is also humiliating for Khamenei, who has shown a particular affinity for Moscow and President Vladimir Putin. He has been insisting that Iran’s best interests lie with close ties with Russia and China, while shunning opportunities to improve ties with the West.

This comes while the Raisi administration-owned newspaper, Iran, was the only newspaper that tried to minimize the importance of Russia's stance by arguing that although Iran and Russia are partners, they are not strategic allies.

Shahryar Heidari, a member of the Majles Foreign Relations Committee also demanded an apology from Moscow and said "otherwise, we will re-consider our relations with Russia."

The Foreign Ministry, which initially released a statement dismissing the Arab states' claims and condemning Russia's humiliating stance, later summoned the Russian ambassador in Tehran and formally presented a note of protest regarding Russia's involvement in the statement. This action was prompted by mounting pressure from social media and public sentiment.

The former chairman of the Iranian parliament's Foreign Relations Committee Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh accused the Foreign Ministry of naivety and said: "When the Iranian President's entourage counted the steps of the Kremlin during a recent visit to Moscow, Russian President Vladimir] Putin's agents were preparing the draft of an anti-Iranian statement in Abu Dhabi. This is a new example of naivety in Iran's foreign policy." 

Falahatpisheh's successor, Vahid Jalalzadeh, has called for a reciprocal response to Russia's stance by raising the issue of the Kuril Islands, which are disputed in terms of Russian ownership by Japan. This suggestion mirrors the one made by Khamenei's adviser, Kamal Kharrazi, back in September when Russia took a similar stance during a GCC meeting.

Meanwhile, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani told the press in Tehran that his office has objected to Russia and protested Moscow's undermining of Iran's territorial integrity. 

In another development former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reiterated that "it was a mistake by the Islamic Republic of Iran to give concessions to Russia," and that "we cannot expect the same kind of behavior from Russia as Moscow will never endanger its own interests for Iran".

In the meantime, Iranians continue to leave angry comments under social media posts and articles on websites about the issue. Under an article in conservative Alef website, readers said: "Russia has been backstabbing Iran for several hundred years now." They also reminded that "There are no permanent alliances. What is important is our national interests."

On Instagram, a user said: "You should expect such political behavior when you tie all of the country's national interests to one particular country from whose friendship Iran has never benefitted." Another user reminded the Foreign Ministry that it should defend the interests of Iran rather than Yemen and Palestine."

The Iranian Leakage Tracking System (Leakfa) has confirmed the validity of the hackers' claim, stating that the information was obtained through a breach of the Expert Information Technologists (Fanavaran) company infrastructure.

The information offered for sale on the dark web includes details such as name, national number, date of birth, address, zip code, and mobile phone, all the data needed to possibly forge identities. The report of the hack first was published by a Telegram channel in August. 

Since August, Fanavaran Company, which describes itself as "the largest information technology company in the insurance industry in Iran", has blocked internet access to its website.

Mehdi Imanimehr, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the company questioned the validity of the hacking, in an interview with the Digiato website. But he also emphasized that he does not have the legal authority to comment on the matter.

Iran's Central Insurance Company (CIC), a regulatory body for the Iranian insurance industry, had denied the hacking in a statement published weeks after the news broke out.

However, in September, the Economy Minister dismissed the CIC's head Majid Behzadpour, and appointed Ali Ostad Hashemi to the position.

The new head's appointment has been the subject of considerable criticism by insurance activists, according to Etemad News.

As an ally of the Economy Minister, Ostad Hashemi lacks any related job experience in the field, and the Supreme Audit Court of Iran has declared it unlawful for him to perform the job because he also holds another position, Etemad reported in September.

During the new government's tenure that began in 2021, many changes have been made as the downward spiral of government-owned insurance companies intensifies.

Iran has "increased its production of highly enriched uranium, reversing a previous output reduction from mid-2023", the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement summarizing a confidential report to member states seen by Reuters Tuesday. 

According to the IAEA report, Iran is enriching to up to 60% at its Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP) in its sprawling Natanz complex and at its Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP), which is dug into a mountain.

"The Agency confirms that, since the end of November 2023, the rate at which Iran has been producing uranium enriched up to 60% U-235 at these two facilities combined has increased to approximately 9 kg per month," the report to member states said.

By the IAEA's theoretical definition, around 42 kg of uranium enriched to 60% is the amount at which making a nuclear bomb with it cannot be excluded. Iran already has enough uranium enriched to up to 60%, if enriched further, to make three nuclear bombs. 

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Earlier in the year, there were several reports that Iran's stockpile of uranium enriched to up to 60-percent purity, close to the roughly 90% of weapons grade, continued to increase albeit at a slower pace. The slowdown, which had reportedly begun by June, was seen as the result of secret talks between the United States and Iran that led to the release of US citizens held in Iran earlier this year.

Now that the Islamic Republic is internationally rebuked for the increased attacks on US and Israeli targets by its proxies across the Middle East, the IAEA has also become a little more vocal about Iran’s nuclear program. Several Iran-backed militia groups have increased attacks on US and Israeli targets across the region as well as international shipping as part of their attempts to pressure Israel, which has been at war with Hamas, another Iran-backed militia in Gaza.

IAEA inspectors first observed a change in production at Fordow on November 25, after which Iran said the change was made on November 22, and that the rate of production was returning to the pre-slowdown level there, the report said. Inspectors observed an increase in the production rate at Natanz on November 27, it added. The IAEA then verified the amount being produced at Natanz on December 19 and Fordow on December 24, it said. The IAEA did not formally notify its member states of the reversal of the slowdown until Tuesday's report.

Despite Iran’s constant violation of its nuclear commitments and efforts to stonewall the UN watchdog, the IAEA board of governors and its chief, Rafael Grossi, have failed to take any tangible actions. Grossi keeps reiterating that "significant safeguards issues remain outstanding" in Iran’s nuclear program and "no progress" has been made In Iran’s nuclear promises. In September, Iran also withdrew the designation of several inspectors assigned to conduct verification activities in Iran under the Non-Proliferation Treaty Safeguards Agreement. In late November, IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi stated that Iran was not fulfilling many aspects of its commitments under the 2015 nuclear accord (JCPOA) and the March 2023 agreement. 

Negotiations since April 2021 to revive the Obama-era JCPOA nuclear deal have failed to make progress, and Iran continues to expand its nuclear program. The previous US administration withdrew from the agreement in 2018 and imposed harsh economic sanctions. Iran retaliated by starting to violate the JCPOA limits and substantially increased both the quantity and the quality of its uranium enrichment. 

Iran did not agree to a compromise plan proposed by the European Union in 2022 to revive the agreement, despite the Biden administration’s stated goal of finding a diplomatic solution. Earlier in the month, the Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Mohammad Eslami, said sanctions against the country must be lifted before Tehran fulfills its nuclear commitments.

The series takes an unconventional route by abstaining from assigning an actor to play Soleimani's role, the first instance where an ordinary person is set to be portrayed in a manner reminiscent of a holy figure, much like revered and saintly figures including Shia Imams and Prophet Muhammad.

Mojtaba Amini, the series producer stated, "No one will assume the role of Soleimani. In numerous films we've produced, we crafted various heroes whom the audience embraced, liked, and followed. However, in productions like 'Terror', the audience is already acquainted with the hero."

Qasem Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020, under the directive of then-President Donald Trump.

Soleimani held a pivotal role in Iran's external military and intelligence operations, overseeing support for militant proxy forces, including Hezbollah and Iraqi Shiite militias engaged in hostilities against US forces in the region.

Following Soleimani's death, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard member faced charges of orchestrating a plot to assassinate John Bolton, the former US National Security Advisor, as a reprisal for the IRGC commander's killing. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was also identified as a potential target within the same conspiracy.