Iran, Pakistan Return Ambassadors Shortly After Border Tensions

Shargh newspaper raised questions in a recent report, pondering how the group managed to attend the matches if Iran had not officially introduced them to the Asian Football Confederation.

Last week, Iran International released images from the halftime break of the Iran-Hong Kong match, revealing Iranian women from the Bahar group engaging in dance and singing performances.

The state broadcaster refrained from airing the program, despite it being held on the sidelines of Iran's matches in the Asian Cup.

In response to the video's release, Iranian authorities sought to downplay the group's presence in Qatar, labeling it as "uncoordinated."

Ensieh Khazali, Vice President for Women and Family Affairs in Ebrahim Raisi's government, called for punishment for the women involved in the group.

Amid ongoing controversies surrounding the event, Shargh newspaper published a report delving into the ambiguities and questions surrounding the government's denial.

The newspaper inquired, "If the group was not officially introduced by Iran, then what cultural programs has the Iranian Cultural Committee executed in the Asian Cup under the name of Iran?"

Highlighting a historical precedent, Shargh emphasized that this isn't the first time a women's group has participated as an Iranian music ensemble in football and international competitions. The Bahar group also performed during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Prior to Iran International's release of the Bahar women's group's performance video, the sports authorities of the Islamic Republic had remained silent on the matter.

Over the past days, a video has gone viral in Iran which shows Hossein Amir-Abdollahian being unable to read aloud an English text during a UN Security Council meeting on the situation of the Middle East held on January 23.

His inability to pronounce simple English words was received negatively by the Iranian public, with many saying they felt embarrassed and crestfallen by the incident.

Referring to the video, reformist commentator Abbas Abdi taunted Amir-Abdollahian by saying that he has even a bigger problem than “not knowing English.”

We should ask how familiar Amir-Abdollahian is with international and foreign affairs, Abdi pointed out.

Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a senior aide to former President Mohammad Khatami, wrote on X that many presidents and foreign affairs ministers speak in their mother tongues at international organizations.

“Simultaneous interpretation is available. Why does Mr. Amir-Abdollahian insist on speaking English and bringing disgrace to the country?” Abtahi stressed.

Meanwhile, Yaser Jebraili, a politician close to Iran’s political establishment, stressed that the Islamic Republic officials should not use Arabic, English, and other languages to speak at international organizations.

They should be obliged not to speak in any language other than Persian, he said.

Etemadonline, a news website, juxtaposed Amir-Abdollahian’s speech at the UN and a video of an Iranian Baloch old man explaining in English about the tradition of using hand fans in their region.

Some social network users in Iran have also drawn analogies between Amir-Abdollahian and Reema bintBandar, the Saudi Ambassador to the US, whose fluent English while defending a ceasefire in Gaza has grabbed the attention of many Iranians.

There have also been several references to the language proficiency of many former Iranian officials during the reign of Pahlavi, including Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi himself who could speak fluently in English and French.

Hardliners, however, have defended Amir-Abdollahian, saying a foreign minister should not necessarily be judged by his knowledge of foreign languages.

Ahmad Khoei, a political analyst close to the regime, called Mohammad Reza Shah, King Abdullah of Jordan, and some other officials of the region as “apprentices of colonization” and said they know English because they were “trained” in the universities of “Western occupiers.”

“If one doesn’t speak the colonial language like one’s mother tongue, they will be under attack from the beginning,” Khoei added in defense of Iran’s foreign minister.

An active card-carrying member of the IRGC’s Basij paramilitary force, Amir-Abdollahian is considered to be very close to the inner circle of power in the Islamic Republic.

Iran’s foreign minister is also an affiliate of the IRGC Quds Force and has been accused of being involved in planning meetings in Beirut and Tehran prior to the Hamas October 7 onslaught on Israel, which saw at least 1,200 killed and 240 more taken hostage.

Fadahossein Maleki, a member of the National Security Committee of the Parliament, said on Saturday that "Our strategy is to prevent the region from further escalation into war, but rest assured that Iran will give a timely and heavy response to Israel."

Earlier on Thursday, he stated that “the fact that military commanders exercise prudence does not mean they don’t want to respond.”

The incident occurred on January 20 when an Israeli airstrike targeted a residential building in Damascus's Mazzeh neighborhood, as reported by Syria's state-run SANA news agency. Initially, four IRGC personnel lost their lives: Hojatollah Omidvar, Ali Aqazadeh, Hossein Mohammadi, and Saeed Karimi. Subsequently, a fifth officer, Mohammad-Amin Samadi, succumbed to injuries sustained in the attack.

Razi Mousavi, responsible for logistical and military coordination for the IRGC in Syria, was killed in a similar attack near Damascus in December, marking a continuation of Israeli strikes targeting Iranian interests in the region.

Iranian-backed Hamas in Gaza declared war on Israel on October 7. Subsequently, support from Iran-backed groups like the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon swiftly followed. Despite repeated threats against Israel from the Iranian government, Tehran has abstained from direct attacks, opting instead to support proxies encircling Israel.

Moussa Salimi, the secretary of the election office in South Khorasan, announced Friday that of the five people that had registered to run in the election, one withdrew and three others were disqualified by the Guardian Council.

The decision leaves Raisi as the only remaining candidate in the province who can be voted for. The Guardian Council has followed a similar policy with regard to the Assembly of Experts election in other provinces as well.

In Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, only one candidate is allowed to run; in Qazvin, three seats are available for the assembly and only three candidates have been approved; in Gilan and Mazandaran, five candidates will compete for the four seats of the assembly; and in Eastern Azerbaijan, the Guardian Council has approved only six candidates while there are five seats.

The announcement came two days after Iran’s former president Hassan Rouhani, once considered to be one of the candidates for succeeding Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was barred from running for re-election at the Assembly of Experts that is tasked with electing the next leader.

Iran International TV analyst Mehdi Mahdavi Azad argued that the Iranian people are indifferent to Rouhani's disqualification after his disappointing allegiance with Khamenei and his supporters.

The cyber group “Black Shadow” (“Saye-ye Siah” in Persian), which targeted Ziv Medical Center in the northern Israeli city of Safed in November is in fact a tech company which works under the registered name of “Raahkarha-ye Fanavari-e Etela’at-e Jahatpardaz.”

According to Iran International’s investigative journalist Mojtaba Pourmohsen, the two operational offices of the “Black Shadow” cyber group are located in Tehran.

The website of the company states that a group of “faithful and committed youth” has launched it in line with “The Second Step of the Revolution.”

The Second Step of the Revolution was a statement issued by Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, in 2019, on the 40th anniversary of the Islamic revolution. It provides “instructions” on how to progress the revolution and its ideas.

The company has not yet responded to Iran International’s request for comment.

Israel’ National Cyber Directorate announced on December 18 that the Islamic Republic and its proxy group Hezbollah were behind the cyberattack on Ziv Medical Center.

“The attack was stopped at an early stage, thereby preventing the attempt by Iran and Hezbollah to harm the functioning of the hospital and the potential for humanitarian harm to civilians,” read a statement by the directorate, further admitting that “the attackers managed to take materials from the hospital and started posting them on social networks.”

According to Iran International’s report, Iran-backed “Black Shadow” also targeted Israel’s tech sector and higher education facilities for 10 months in 2022 to pave the way for the Ministry of Intelligence to steal identity information and sensitive data in a cyberattack.

The group used Wiper malware to erase their tracks in the operation, the report added.

“Black Shadow” is also known by such other names as “AGRIUS” and “Pink Sandstorm.”

Earlier in November, Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) reported that Iran has intensified its cyberattacks and influence operations since 2020, targeting Israel and other countries. The report also warned that Iran, Russia and China are likely to plan to influence the upcoming elections in the United States and other countries in 2024.

In December, Iran-linked hackers targeted a water facility in the rural area of County Mayo in Ireland, leaving the residents without water for two days. The attack was carried out by pro-Iran Cyber Av3ngers group which claimed that the facility was attacked because it used an Israeli-made piece of equipment.

Last week, Assistant Commissioner Matt Jukes, the UK’s head of counter-terrorism policing, announced that a new unit was established in the British police to deal with threats posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, Russia and China ahead of the UK’s general election.

The unprecedented volumes of online misinformation have raised concerns among the British security officials ahead of the election. Just last year, Britain’s Home Secretary called Iran the country’s number one threat, with the head of MI5 revealing multiple plots foiled on UK soil since 2022.