Iran’s Military Warns About Border Changes In The Region

The son of Mowlavi Fat’hi Mohammad Naqshbandi made a revelation on Saturday, asserting that his elderly father had endured torture involving the use of an "electroshock weapon" and a hot iron at the Zahedan Intelligence detention center.

Abdolqaffar Naqshbandi, in a post on the X social network, lamented, "I received news about a month after my elderly father's detention that he is once again being subjected to physical and psychological torture in Zahedan, the very same place where both he and I endured four years of torment."

The Sistan-Baluchistan Judiciary, August 20th, officially announced the arrest of Mowlavi Naqshbandi on charges that included "disrupting public opinion through false speeches, slander, and defamation against the Islamic Republic of Iran's regime, engaging in activities against national security, and engaging in the unlawful occupation of national lands."

Simultaneously, the Baluchestan news website, Halvash, reported that Naqshbandi had been detained under circumstances involving "humiliation and insult."

In recent months, the situation in Sistan-Baluchestan has markedly deteriorated, with cities in the region experiencing heightened tension, especially on Fridays when residents voice their grievances against the regime through protests.

There have been numerous reports of attacks targeting military and government forces within the province in the months following the tragic death of Mahsa Amini in custody last year, which triggered nationwide protests.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday, described Riyadh's expressed interest in acquiring nuclear weapons as a "factual statement," but he deemed it unlikely for the country to pursue the path.

Lavrov's remarks were in reference to a statement made by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. In his interview with Fox News, the Saudi Crown Prince referring to Iran’s nuclear program stated, “If they get one, we have to get one, for security reasons and the balance of power in the Middle East.”

However, the Russian foreign minister said Moscow believes that "Iran will not have nuclear weapons, so Saudi Arabia won’t be tempted to obtain them."

Furthermore, Lavrov accused Western countries of escalating tensions in international conflicts and expressed the view that the West is making every effort to prevent the formation of a multipolar world.

There have been reports that Mohammed bin Salman has approached the Biden administration seeking assistance in establishing a civilian nuclear program for his country. Some US officials harbor concerns that such a program could potentially serve as a guise for developing nuclear weapons as a countermeasure against Iran.

The hacker group Ghiyam ta Sarnegouni (Uprising till Overthrow) which is affiliated to the People's Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MEK) made the announcement Saturday, the first day of the new academic year in Iran and said it had acquired access to over 20,000 documents. 

Some of the documents hackers have published on their Instagram and Telegram accounts are related to purging academics who are critical of the government or have supported the Women, Life, Freedom movement. 

The purge has opened the way for hiring 15,000 pro-regime professors and other staff in universities. Authorities also plan to adopt new student selection procedures and expelling thousands of students who have been part of the protest movement. They have even greenlighted the acceptance of Iraq’s Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi militias and other proxies in Iranian universities.

The ministry’s public relations in a statement Saturday claimed “vigilant technical experts” had managed to repel the cyber-attack and shut down the ministry’s website temporarily to investigate the incident. 

In the past year, MEK-affiliated hackers have targeted the portals of several other government agencies including Tehran Municipality, the state broadcasting corporation (IRIB), the Presidential Office, and the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, and Islamic Guidance and published thousands of documents. 

A "very confidential” document published by hackers this time reveals the proceedings of a Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution meeting including demographic data about last year’s nationwide protests based on data from intelligence agencies, including the Ministry of Intelligence and the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Intelligence Organization (SAS). 

Dated October 5, 2022, approximately three weeks after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in custody sparked nationwide anti-government protests, the document emphasizes that 82 percent of detainees in the first two weeks of the protests were teenagers and young people under the age of thirty, with men comprising the majority at 88 percent of all detainees.

The document also states that authorities had no records related to 93 percent of detainees and that protesters promoted civil disobedience in places such as bazaars, metros and city buses. According to the same document, “hatred towards the Islamic Republic, hostility and civil disobedience” had been observed among protesters. 

In a classified letter to President Ebrahim Raisi that hackers claim to have accessed, Higher Education Minister Mohammad-Ali Zolfigol says some university chancellors were reluctant to cooperate with security bodies in suppressing the students and that some academic officials who had signed statements against such measures had been fired. 

Zolfigol said in the letter that Sharif University of Technology, one of the top universities in Iran, “had come completely under the control of rioters” and added that the National Security Council (NSC) and Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) officially demanded the chancellor of the university to be sacked. 

Sharif University required “fundamental changes” without which it could not be controlled if there was more unrest in the future, the minister said in his letter to the President. 

Students in at least 150 universities across Iran held protests during last year’s several-month-long unrest and in many cases were supported by their professors. Documents acquired by hackers from the IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency in December indicated that at least 51% of the students at state universities had participated in Women, Life, Freedom protests. 

The recent purge of academia in Iranian universities dubbed as ‘the second cultural revolution’ has shaken many Iranians who are already grappling with various pressures. The purge comes amid loss of hope in improvement of the country’s circumstances, including its economy, relations with the international community and removal of sanctions, as well as even relative social and political freedoms.

The ministry claimed that the arrests prevented a plot involving "30 simultaneous terrorist bombings" in densely populated areas of Tehran, with the intended objective of “destabilizing national security.”

According to the ministry's statement, the detainees have a documented history of having spent time in Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraqi Kurdistan, where they purportedly received training and support for their activities.

The arrests were reported to have taken place in recent days across various regions, including Tehran, Alborz, and West Azerbaijan provinces. However, specific details regarding the precise timing of the arrests have not been revealed.

The Iranian regime has a history of periodically claiming the apprehension of individuals linked to terrorism, espionage, or sabotage activities, often citing affiliations with entities such as Israeli intelligence agencies or ISIS. However, detailed information, public court appearances, or comprehensive trial updates pertaining to these detainees are notably rare. Consequently, verification of such claims remains challenging.

Furthermore, the ministry of intelligence highlighted that during a raid on one of the suspects' safehouses, an attempted "suicide operation" was thwarted, resulting in injuries to two members of the ministry's personnel.

The ministry has not released any photographs or official documents to substantiate its claims regarding the arrests and the thwarted plot.

The announcement follows the Iranian government's attribution of two previous armed attacks to ISIS—one in October 2022 and another in August—both of which targeted the Shah Cheragh Shrine in Shiraz.

Ali Asghar Shalbafian, the Deputy for Tourism at the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, said tourism is a priority in the plan, and in the first phase, a list of "approved" travel agencies will be provided with uncensored internet.

All international messaging apps and social media platforms, as well as tens of thousands of websites are blocked in Iran and users must deploy VPNs to circumvent the restrictions.

Shalbafian also emphasized that under the plan, unfiltered SIM cards will be provided to foreign tourists visiting Iran. In addition to tourists, hotel staff and tour guides will also have such SIM cards.

The news of providing unrestricted SIM cards to foreign tourists was first published in late February by the government. Strong reactions to the news led the government to delete the tweet a few hours after its publication.

Following that, Issa Zarepour, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, explained that foreign tourists were facing difficulties due to the blocking of platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp.

Ezzatollah Zarghami, the Minister of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, also emphasized that providing free access to the internet for foreigners is a “necessity.”

With the approval and implementation of the plan, it seems that the Iranian authorities are taking another significant step toward tiered internet access.

Although it's not the first time that certain individuals in the country have had access to the internet without restrictions, the clear distinction between Iranian citizens and non-Iranians is a matter that some have described as digital segregation.

Currently, employees of government ministries, members of parliament, university professors, and members of some associations and guilds, including specific groups, are among those who benefit from tiered and uncensored internet access in Iran.