Iran’s State TV Tries To Feign Hack To Undermine Popular Protest

The #Mahsa_Amini hashtag and its Persian version are being used by a large number of people in Iran as well as many people abroad. 

The tally is about 10 times more than the trendiest hashtags on twitter, a feat achieved thanks to the cooperation of numerous celebrities and political figures as well as human rights activists and organizations. 

The number of retweets could have been even higher if the Islamic Republic had not shut down internet access in many parts of the country or had not blocked most pathways people use to circumvent filtering and sign in to Twitter. 

On Thursday, Hacktivist group ‘Anonymous’ took down the official website of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as nationwide protests were raging in the country. 

The hacking group targeted many other state-run websites and services and claimed that more than 2,000 street surveillance cameras were also hacked. 

While the government has cut internet access in the country, the group is also trying to raise awareness about the ways Iranian protesters can keep using the net to make their voices heard in the world, mainly through Tor, short for The Onion Router, a free and open-source software for enabling anonymous communication.

The group started its cyber operations against the Islamic Republic in solidarity with the ongoing protests over the death of Mahsa Amini who died following repeated blows to the head reportedly by hijab enforcement police. 

If the Iranian government blocks the people from accessing the internet, Anonymous will block access to the government, the group said.

Iran International reporters filmed workers of the Millennium Hilton Hotel -- where the Iranian delegation stayed -- loading a truck with luggage reportedly belonging to Raisi’s retinue that went viral on Friday. 

Located a few steps from the United Nations headquarters, the Millennium Hilton is one of the most expensive hotels in Manhattan. In addition to the extravagant stay, people are talking about the packages that Raisi and his accompanying delegation took back to the country, which is a scene of fierce clashes between protesters and security forces.

Apart from suitcases, there were numerous newly wrapped packages of different kinds of goods that Raisi’s team have obviously bought during their stay, such as home appliances and dietary supplements, as well as baby diapers and prams. 

In April, a trip to Turkey by the family of Iran’s parliament speaker to buy baby clothes and accessories prompted calls for the resignation of Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a seasoned professional in weathering scandals.

Ghalibaf’s wife, daughter and son-in-law arrived at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport from Istanbul with apparently a large layette set they bought in Turkey. While a 45-percent inflation and a nine-fold drop in the value of Iran’s currency have impoverished tens of millions of middle-class people, the trip drew a barrage of criticism and made the hashtag ‘SismuniGate’ trendy, a portmanteau of the word for layette in Persian and the suffix for political scandals.

A video posted on Twitter shows a crowd of pro-establishment protesters marching on Enghelab (Revolution) Ave in central Tehran, a short distance of 700 feet, following Friday prayers at the campus of Tehran University who chant “Hypocrite Seditionists Must Be Hanged!” Some Tehran residents tweeted that the crowd was much smaller than in previous government-organized rallies.

In his sermon, Tehran’s Friday prayer leader Kazem Sadighi accused protesters of “unveiling Muslim women and torching the Quran” and urged the judiciary to punish “the leaders of the riots” who he called murderers.

The accusations by the Friday Imam are not substantiated by reports and video footage form the anti-government protests. There have been no reports of the Quran being burned and many women in the rallies still have their heads covered.

Iranian authorities usually call the opposition “seditionists”. They always attribute “seditions” to foreign powers such as the United States and Britain or the exiled Mojahedin Khalq organization, known as MEK, which in official rhetoric of the Islamic Republic are always rereferred to as ‘Hypocrites’.

The IRGC-linked Tasnim news agency said Friday morning that Iranians “will unanimously condemn riots” and published calls from various officials including Friday imams in various cities to rally against protesters after the prayers but footage and photos of such rallies are conspicuously very rare on social media and state affiliated news agencies.

Government-organized pro-establishment rallies have a long history in the Islamic Republic. On December 30, 2009, extensive government-sponsored rallies took place after months of opposition protests to show support for the clerical regime and justify suppression of dissent. Thousands mobilized by the state were bussed in to designated rally venues from government offices, schools, the military, and even factories. Officials and pro-establishment media refer to the occasion which has turned into an annual pro-establishment march as the "Dey 9 Epic”.

Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei on Thursdaysaid that the Judiciary would investigate the case of Mahsa Amini, the woman whose death in police custody triggered the popular protests, while threatening to take decisive action “without any leniency” against “rioters”. The Intelligence Ministry has also threatened protesters with legal prosecution.

Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) also reacted over the protests Thursday after five days of mysterious silence by accusing and threatening the protesters. In its statement, the IRGC said it appreciated the efforts of the people and police in recent days against “enemies’ organized plots” and “protecting Iranians’ lives, assets and families”.

Iran's regular army (Artesh) also warned in a statement Friday thatit would "confront the enemies" to ensure security and peace in the country. Referring to the protests in the past few days, the army said,"these desperate actions are part of the evil strategy of the enemy to weaken the Islamic government" and expressed support for the Police and law enforcement forces.

The Army has long taken the back seat to the IRGC, with almost all its commanders and officers coming from the Revolutionary Guard.

The army’s statement came a day after a popular former national football (soccer) team player, Ali Karimi, called on Artesh, which is much less involved in politics or crackdown on protesters than the Revolutionary Guard, to side with the people to prevent “bloodshed” during current protests.

Karimi, 44, who lives in the UAE has also called on protesters not to attack banks, women clad in black veils, and respect the Quran. “Don’t join in with anyone who does these things because these are some of the plots of [regime agents to discredit] you my dear people,” Karimi tweeted Thursday. Videos posted on social media show protesters chanting Karimi’s name and cheering him in some areas of Tehran Thursday evening.

In a letter to Yellen published on Thursday, the lawmakers wrote that the SpaceX CEO “recently stated that SpaceX would seek a license to provide its satellite based Starlink Internet service to Iran,” urging the Treasury Department to facilitate such an action. 

The letter was led by Representatives Claudia Tenney, a New York Republican, and Tom Malinowski, a New Jersey Democrat, and signed by several other lawmakers in the House.

“Congress is calling on the Treasury Department to do everything in its power to help the Iranian people stay connected to the Internet,” Tenney said in a statement. “We need to cut through any bureaucratic red tape and get this done.”

They made the move in reaction to a tweet by Musk, who had asked for an exemption to be able to send the necessary equipment to the Islamic Republic. 

The move was prompted after Iran has cut internet or slowed it down and filtered almost all platforms that protesters can use to make their voice heard, but the elephant in the room is how exactly Musk can send equipment legally to the country that opposes such technology and how people will be able to use it under the clenched control of the regime.

The US Treasury Department said a day earlier that satellite internet equipment are not under Washington’s sanctions and can be exported to Iran, suggesting that a license is not needed to provide the firm's Starlink satellite broadband service in the country.

The statement by the Treasury did not specify whether the license would apply to Musk's plans, so the lawmakers also asked Treasury to clarify its policies for fostering communications access in sanctioned countries and urge the department to issue any necessary “comfort letters” to entities that may seek to provide communications services under previously issued general licenses.

World leaders’ reactions to the ongoing protests in Iran over the death of a hijab victim are pouring in on the backdrop of President Ebrahim Raisi’s visit to the UN General Assembly. 

The Australian foreign ministry told Iran International’s correspondent that Canberra is deeply saddened by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman killed in hijab police custody, and also voiced concerns over the Islamic Republic’s crackdown on the popular protests for basic freedoms. 

"Treatment of women in Iran continues to be a matter of grave concern and we regularly raise our concerns over Iran’s significant discrimination against women with officials in both Tehran and Canberra and in multilateral forums," a spokesperson said in response to Iran International. 

On Thursday, the US Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen described the death of Mahsa Amini as “yet another act of brutality by the Iranian regime’s security forces against its own people,” after announcing sanctions against Iran’s Morality Police and some security officials. 

The remarks came a day after President Joe Biden said in his address to the UN General Assembly that “Today we stand with the brave citizens and women in Iran who right now are demonstrating to secure their basic rights.”

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan also said on Thursday that "Today, the United States is sanctioning Iran’s so-called 'Morality' Police responsible for the death of Mahsa Amini. We will continue to hold Iranian officials accountable and support Iranians’ ability to protest freely."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also touched upon the new measures, saying that Washington “sanctioned the entity responsible for the arrest and death of Mahsa and designated seven other Iranian security officials responsible for suppressing non-violent protests.” He had earlier called on the Iranian government to end its systemic persecution of women and to allow peaceful protest. 

Earlier in the day, White House National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby told our correspondent that "President Biden was very clear about our desire to see peaceful protests. We're going to continue to stand up for civil and human rights."

Senior US Democratic Senator from Vermont Patrick Leahy said, “We should all stand with brave women of Iran and their supporters protesting the human rights abuses of the Iranian government and demanding basic rights for women.” “Their courage gives me hope for a brighter future in Iran.”

Also on Thursday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock denounced "the brutal attack against the courageous women" who have been demonstrating in Iran, calling the crackdown on the ongoing protests "an attack on humanity,” adding that Berlin will ask the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to deal with the crackdown as a violation of human rights.

Voicing solidarity with the Iranians’ protests, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said, “Sweden stands with all those who mourn Mahsa Amini in Iran and elsewhere.” He also expressed deep concerns about reports of injured and dead in connection with ongoing protests. “Women of Iran should be heard. Human rights for all Iranians, including the right to peaceful protest, must be ensured.”

In his speech at the General Assembly, Chile's President Gabriel Boric also condemned the death in detention of Amini by Iranian police, saying that the international community must "mobilize efforts to stop violence against women whether it be in Iran, in memory of Mahsa Amini, who died at the hands of the police this week, or anywhere in the world".

Unlike President Raisi who ignored Amini’s death and the current protests in his country during his address, Israeli Prime Minister said, “Iran’s regime hates Jews, hates women, hates gay people, hates the West. They hate and kill Muslims who think differently, like Salman Rushdie and Mahsa Amini.” “Their hate is a way of life. It is a way to preserve their oppressive rule,” he added. 

The Oslo-based NGO Iran Human Rights said on Thursday that the death toll of the protests across Iran has risen to 31. Iran's state broadcaster earlier confirmed the deaths of 17 people, including security forces and protesters, but the real number is expected to be higher.