type here...
Home Blog Page 15

Albania severs relations with Iran following cyberattack

crazydead
-
0
Albania severs relations with Iran following cyberattack

Albania has cut diplomatic ties with Iran and kicked out Iranian diplomats, following a July cyberattack blamed on Tehran.

What happened: Earlier today, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that the eastern European country was severing ties with the Islamic Republic, effective immediately.

He gave Iranian diplomats 24 hours to leave Albania. Rama said the order is in response to a July cyberattack that targeted Albanian state infrastructure and communications.

The Albanian government has not released further details on the incident. The Iranian government has also yet to comment.

Why it matters: Iran and Albania have a somewhat troubled relationship. Since 2016, the Iranian dissident group Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), has been based in Albania.

It opposes the Iranian regime and controversially fought alongside Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war.

Tehran designates the MEK as a terrorist organization and many Western observers describe the group as a cult.

The Iranian press sometimes reports critically on MEK’s presence in Albania. Last December, the semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported that members were arrested for allegedly trafficking drugs and people there.

Iran has allegedly been both the recipient and deliverer of cyberattacks. In October of last year, Iranian gas stations were hit by an apparent cyberattack.

A few months prior, Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility sustained an explosion resulting from a cyberattack.

Iranian authorities attributed the Natanz incident to Israel and have blamed other similar events on the United States.

On the other end, in January, the US military implicated Iran in several cyberattacks across the Middle East.

Some Israelis also suspect Iran of being responsible for cyberattacks on Israeli hospitals late last year.

Know more: The United States removed the MEK’s terrorist designation in 2012, following a concerted lobbying effort.

In recent years, some hawkish Republicans including former Bush and Trump administration officials have openly embraced the group.

The White House National Security Council condemned the alleged Iranian cyberattack today.

Iranian IRGC to acquire Russian Su-35 amid closer cooperation

crazydead
-
0
Iranian IRGC to acquire Russian Su-35 amid closer cooperation

According to its commander, Brigadier General Hamid Vahedi, the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) intends to acquire Russian Su-35 Flanker-E fighter aircraft. If approved, it would be Iran’s largest purchase of fighter aircraft in more than 30 years.

He emphasized that the Armed Forces General Staff Headquarters, not the air force, will make the final decision. The most potent military force in Iran, the paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), will likely need to give the IRIAF one more approval. The IRGC has always preferred alternative initiatives over importing weapons to upgrade Iran’s conventional armed forces, such as the development of domestically produced armed drones and ballistic missiles.

Early in 2021, it was revealed that Iran was looking to China for 36 J-10C aircraft. It’s interesting to note that the 60 aircraft total includes both the 24 Russian Su-35 Tehran apparently requested from Moscow later that year and the 36 4.5-generation Chinese fighters. If Tehran had intended to purchase both, that would have been in line with the very reasonable predictions made in recent years that Tehran might seek to provide itself with a hedge by purchasing a combination of contemporary Russian and Chinese jets rather than become overly reliant on either Moscow or Beijing.

The IRGC keeps its own ground troops and is a comparable service to the Ground Forces. In order to defend the theocratic system, the 100,000-strong Ground Forces of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution are less heavily equipped than the regular Iranian Army.

Scandal Unfolds As Top Ayatollah’s Relative Is Caught For Bribery

crazydead
-
0
Scandal Unfolds As Top Ayatollah’s Relative Is Caught For Bribery

A top cleric in Iran has tried to distance himself from a major bribery case as the man arrested red-handed for receiving a hefty bribe in euros is his relative.

Iranian analyst Ehsan Mehrabi told Iran International TV that the suspect, a chief inspector in the office of Roads and Housing Minister Rostam Ghasemi would have not been able to receive the bribe if he had not used his link to hardliner Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi.

Qasem Makarem Shirazi, a grandson of the Ayatollah’s brother was initially named as a candidate for the post of deputy minister of roads and housing, but intelligence organizations in Iran rejected his appointment.

Nontheless, the minister appointed him as an adviser and chief inspector, a post that did not need clearance from the intelligence authorities, reports from Tehran said.

A statement issued by the office of Makarem Shirazi made it clear that man was not his son or grandson but stopped short of saying that he was linked to him anyway.

The statement added that the bribe-taker had no business link to the ayatollah’s office and was never supported by that office in Qom. Bribery

Earlier, Vice President Mohammad Hosseini had confirmed that a high-ranking roads and housing ministry official was arrested but did not name anyone.

Later the ministry named the man and a lawmaker, Ardeshir Motahari, revealed at the that the detainee was arrested while receiving a bribe in euros.

Motahari wrote in several tweets that the minister should be summoned to the parliament and questioned about the case, but he was pretending to be ill.

Ghasemi’s pictures appeared in the media on a hospital bed while government spokesman Ali Bahadori was visiting him. The ministry said that Ghasemi had a back pain.

Meanwhile, Khabar Online reported that the minister appeared in public at a meeting with Vice President Mohammad Mokhber Saturday afternoon, only a few days after what he said was a spinal surgery.

US bombers fly near Iran in response to hijacked sea drones

crazydead
-
0
US bombers fly near Iran in response to hijacked sea drones

As tensions between Washington and Tehran remain high, the US military said on Monday that it had flown two nuclear-capable B-52 long-range US bombers over the Middle East as a show of force.

The Iranian navy last week intercepted two American sea drones in the Red Sea as diplomats haggled over the possibility of the nuclear agreement being revived.

That capture occurred only a few days after the nation’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a paramilitary organization, dragged another maritime drone before releasing it as an American vessel followed it. To monitor threats in the vital waterways, which have recently experienced a number of marine strikes, the US Navy has begun using ultra-endurance aerial surveillance drones.

On Sunday, the US bombers performed training sorties over the eastern Mediterranean, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Red Sea with Kuwaiti and Saudi jets before taking off from the Royal Air Force station in Fairford, England.

After recent clashes in the area between US soldiers and militias with Iranian support, tensions are still high. The IRGC-backed militias in eastern Syria retaliated last month after Washington carried out airstrikes there that were directed at those regions.

Threats against the United States and our allies will not be ignored. The senior US Air Force officer in the Middle East, Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich, made a statement. Missions like these demonstrate our capacity to work together to thwart and, if necessary, defeat our enemies.

Although Iran was not mentioned by the US Central Command in its statement, Washington often sent B-52 US bombers to the area as tensions between the US and Iran lingered. Such a flyover hadn’t occurred since June.

Iran Sentences Two LGBTQ Activists To Death For ‘Promoting Homosexuality’

crazydead
-
0
Iran Sentences Two LGBTQ Activists To Death For ‘Promoting Homosexuality’

A rights group says the Islamic Republic has sentenced two LGBTQ activists to death on charges of “corruption on earth through the promotion of homosexuality.”

Hengaw Organization for Human Rights said on Sunday that the verdict was issued by the Revolutionary Court of the city of Orumiyeh (Urmia), in West Azarbaijan province against Zahra Sedighi-Hamedani (31), known as Sareh, Elham Choubdar (24).

Another woman, Soheila Ashrafi (52), was involved in the joint case, but her verdict has not been issued yet.

In July, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said Sedighi-Hamadani has been slapped with new charges of “trafficking Iranian women” to Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan, referring to her as Zahra Mansouri Hamedani. She was first arrested on charges linked to an appearance in a BBC documentary on gay rights in Iraqi Kurdistan.

She was arrested while trying to cross the border and seek asylum in Turkey on October 27, 2021. She was held in solitary confinement for 53 days, during which, the Revolutionary Guard subjected her to intense interrogations, insulted her identity and appearance, threatened to execute her and to take away custody of her children.

On January 16, Sareh was accused of “spreading corruption on earth,” including through “promoting homosexuality”, “communication with anti-Islamic Republic media channels” and “promoting Christianity.”

Rights group Amnesty International appealed to Iran’s Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei on January 25, calling for release.

She was arrested while trying to cross the border and seek asylum in Turkey on October 27, 2021. She was held in solitary confinement for 53 days, during which, the Revolutionary Guard subjected her to intense interrogations, insulted her identity and appearance, threatened to execute her and to take away custody of her children.

On January 16, Sareh was accused of “spreading corruption on earth,” including through “promoting homosexuality”, “communication with anti-Islamic Republic media channels” and “promoting Christianity.”

Rights group Amnesty International appealed to Iran’s Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei on January 25, calling for release.

Minister Hospitalized, Allegedly To Evade Accountability In Corruption Case

crazydead
-
0
Minister Hospitalized, Allegedly To Evade Accountability In Corruption Case

A lawmaker suggested Iran’s roads minister is hospitalized to evade accountability in a corruption case involving his adviser, a relative of an influential ayatollah close to the Supreme Leader.

In a thread of tweets on Friday, Ardeshir Motahari, a lawmaker accused Rostam Ghasemi, the minister of roads and urban development, of taking advantage of his hospitalization as an excuse not to provide any response regarding the arrest of his adviser by intelligence ministry’s agents “exactly on the date he arranged to receive a bribe in euros.”

Ghasem Makarem Shirazi, the adviser, is the grandson or nephew of – according to different reports – of Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi, a well-known hardliner Shiite leader who is a close ally and staunch supporter of Ali Khamenei.

In the latest parliamentary election, the accused ran for office from the city of Shiraz but failed to garner enough votes. He has held several positions during his career and has always been close to Ghasemi.

“Since the arrest of his advisor and special inspector, instead of answering questions, he has been lying on the bed,” Motahari said.

He also implicitly accused the road minister’s son of collaborating with his father’s detained adviser, and mentioned some other names and a corruption case about a land grab in the district of Boumehen (Bumehen) west of the capital Tehran.

Last week, the administration of Ebrahim Raisi confirmed reports about Makarem Shirazi’s arrest, but said the minister is in hospital for a spinal surgery.

Relatives of top figures in the Islamic Republic are often appointed to jobs unrelated to their education and expertise and many of them take advantage of their connections to circumvent regulations to make profit or receive bribes.

Last week, the administration of Ebrahim Raisi confirmed reports about Makarem Shirazi’s arrest, but said the minister is in hospital for a spinal surgery.

Iran’s Navy claims it seized 2 US unmanned vessels in Red Sea

crazydead
-
0
Iran’s Navy claims it seized 2 US unmanned vessels in Red Sea

Iran’s Navy reported on Friday that it had located two US Navy “small data collecting vessels” “abandoned on the international trade route,” whereupon it captured them.

The Jamaran destroyer of the Iranian Navy came across multiple tiny data collection vessels, according to Iranian media, and urged the equipment’s controller to “stop this sort of behaviour and move and alter the direction of the movement.”

The destroyer eventually came across the vessels again after continuing to circle the area for a while, stopped, and assumed control of them before releasing them to assure the safety of navigation. “Stop this sort of behaviour and move and modify the direction of movement,” the Navy ordered the controllers.

The third time the vessel came into contact with the group of vessels, it “took steps to control and halt the vessels in order to avert probable terrorist attacks and the emergence of unanticipated incidents,” according to the Iranian Fars News Agency.

The ships were “sailing out of control, creating instability, and endangering the safety of boats,” according to the Iranian Navy.

The Iranian Navy seized the ships, put them in “a secure spot,” and the US Navy took control of them from there.

The US Navy said on Tuesday that it had stopped an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) support ship from seizing a US 5th Fleet unmanned surface ship in the Arabian Gulf on Monday night.

Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of the US 5th Fleet, US Naval Forces Central Command, and Combined Maritime Forces, characterised IRGCN’s conduct as “flagrant, unjustified, and inconsistent with the behaviour of a professional maritime force.” As they support a rules-based international order throughout the area, US naval forces “remain watchful and will continue to fly, sail, and operate whenever international law allows.”

Iran IRGC general threatens with weapons grade enriched uranium

crazydead
-
0
Iran IRGC general threatens with weapons grade enriched uranium

IRGC General Mohammad Esmail Kowsari, a hardliner politician in Tehran, has threatened that Iran can increase uranium enrichment to weapons grade 93 percent purity.

Speaking to Iran International TV, Iranian analysts said they thought the threat made by the IRGC General was meant to make Washington more eager than ever to reach a deal with Tehran.

According to Kowsari’s words, which were quoted by Etemad Online, Iran may increase uranium enrichment from the present 60% to the bomb-grade 93%. He continued by saying that rather than the other way around, the United States needs Tehran.

In the meanwhile, he rejected the notion that Iran’s faltering economy desperately needed the advantages of a deal that would end sanctions on its oil exports and foreign banks.

In a related event, the conservative website Nameh News stated in an editorial on September 1 that it is improbable that a deal will be reached in the next days, despite the optimism of authorities and media on both sides. The remark did point out that Iran will suffer as a result of the delay, and those who opposed the accord should be held responsible.

President Ebrahim Raisi’s remarks at a press conference earlier this week, according to Nameh News, were seen by many Iranians as an early “no” to a deal.

An IRGC Telegram channel had previously threatened to produce atomic warhead for missiles earlier in July.

The IRGC-linked Bisimchi Media (Radioman Media) Telegram channel published a video titled “When Will Iran’s Sleeping Nuclear Warheads Awaken,” according to the London-based Iran International news outlet.

Iranian IRGC failed hijacking of a U.S. Navy unmanned vessel

crazydead
-
0
Iranian IRGC failed hijacking of a U.S. Navy unmanned vessel

The US Navy claims that throughout the course of the night of August 29–30, in international waters in the Persian Gulf, it successfully thwarted an Iranian navy vessel from taking one of its unmanned surface boats.

The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) ship, according to the report, was attempting to “detain” a Saildrone Explorer unmanned surface vessel (USV) from the Fifth Fleet, but after cutting off a towing line, the IRGC ship left the region four hours later.

It said there had been no more incidents.

The commander of the US Navy Fifth Fleet described the conduct of the Shahid Baziar, an IRGC support ship, as “flagrant, unjustified, and inconsistent with the behavior of a professional maritime force” in a statement.

Iranian authorities at first gave no confirmation.

The US Navy stated that the USV technology is “commercially accessible and does not retain sensitive or classified information” and that sail drone-type vessel are often employed for mapping or data collection.

In the Persian Gulf, a crucial maritime route that is constantly guarded by American and Iranian military warships, reports of acts that were thwarted are very common.

Despite ongoing tensions over sanctions and regional influence, dangerous maritime confrontations involving the forces of the West and Iran have decreased in recent years.

Iran and the United States are still at odds over a faltering nuclear agreement and what Washington views as Tehran’s malicious activities.

In the Persian Gulf, a crucial maritime route that is constantly guarded by American and Iranian military warships, reports of acts that were thwarted are very common.

Despite ongoing tensions over sanctions and regional influence, dangerous maritime confrontations involving the forces of the West and Iran have decreased in recent years.

Iran and the United States are still at odds over a faltering nuclear agreement and what Washington views as Tehran’s malicious activities.

Iranian IRGC commander calls for ground war against Israel

crazydead
-
0
Iranian IRGC commander calls for ground war against Israel

A prominent Iranian IRGC commander claims that even though Israel may be militarily strong, a well-planned assault may still defeat it.

This month, an interview with IRGC commander Hossein Salami, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was published on the website of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Salami claimed that Hezbollah and the Palestinians needed to start a “ground battle.”

Salami praised the recent mini wars that have erupted in southern Lebanon and Gaza Strip because of Hezbollah and Palestinian rocket assaults on Israel, according to translations given by MEMRI. However, he said, “missiles are great for deterrence or for fighting static conflicts. They fail to free the lands.

The Palestinians must go beyond sporadic terrorist attacks and missile barrages if they are to accomplish their long-stated objective of destroying Israel and replacing it with the State of Palestine.

One could understandably question how in the world a ground army from the Palestinians and Hezbollah, especially one with thousands of soldiers, could possibly defeat the air force and armored forces at Israel’s disposal.

Salami thinks that despite its superior equipment, Israel’s army has the same degree of religious passion and conviction that distinguishes Hezbollah, the Palestinians, and the Islamic Republic.

The Palestinians are prepared for ground combat today, he continued. The main area of weakness for Israel is ground combat.

According to senior military analysts, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired over 600 rockets toward towns in Israel last month with the support of the world’s largest supporter of terrorism, the Iranian IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps).

1...141516...704Page 15 of 704