Biden Defends US Military Action In Iraq

Those responsible for defending the country and its borders “have strayed from their main responsibility” which has created suitable grounds for terrorists, Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, the conservative former head of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Relations Committee, told the reformist Etemad newspaper about the January 3 terrorist attack in Kerman that killed at least 90 and injured over 200.

“What happened is that the enemies of Iran and Martyr Soleimani were much more prepared than the security officials inside Iran. While the relevant officials in Kerman were preoccupied with propaganda work, the enemies were doing operational planning,” he added.

“There is very high possibility of incidents like this given that Iran has many enemies,” he said while pointing out that local authorities had also failed in planning for Soleimani’s burial ceremony in January 2020 when a stampede killed around sixty participants and injured over two hundred others.

In a statement posted on its affiliate Telegram channels Thursday, a branch of the Islamic State (ISIS or Daesh) in Afghanistan claimed responsibility for the explosions. The statement named two suicide bombers as Omar Al-Mohed and Saif Allah Al-Mujahid and said they had detonated their explosive belts in the middle of the crowd, “resulting in the death and injury of more than 300 polytheists”.

Earlier Thursday, the official news agency IRNA had cited an informed source as saying that conclusive evidence, including CCTV footage, indicated that suicide bombing was responsible for the first of the two explosions.

Calling the Iranian government “inefficient and corrupt”, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IRH) criticized the regime for using its resources to persecute people for hijab and dissent instead of guaranteeing their security and warned about an increase in “executions and repression of citizens under the pretext of this terrorist act as in the past.”

Ahmad Zahedi-Langaroudi, a prominent journalist and member of Iran's banned Writers’ Association, in a tweet said the government should be held responsible irrespective of who perpetrated the terrorist attack. "They have employed numerous audacious mercenaries to oppress women. Both provincial and national security and military officials have not only failed to take responsibility, apologize, or resign, but they have also been boasting and deflecting responsibility!" he wrote.

Many on social media accused Iran's own security and intelligence agencies of perpetrating the bombing to buy sympathy for the regime. They claimed Soleimani’s own family and high-ranking Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) officials were warned not to attend the ceremony.

“The government should have at least explained the absence of Qassem Soleimani's family and IRGC commanders at the Kerman ceremony,” Turkmen Sahra, an account dedicated to Iran's Sunni Turkmen region tweeted. “The Kerman scenario is an excuse for executions and new arrests.’

Citing various scenarios after the bombing, an IRGC-linked news agency, Tasnim, had claimed Wednesday that the two bombs in handbags or backpacks that tore through the crowd 300 meters apart were hidden inside trash cans and remotely detonated.

Hardliners including some lawmakers and Kayhan daily, known as the voice of Khamenei, had pointed fingers at Israel while others held the Taliban, and various ethnic militants such as the Baluchi Jundullah responsible for the attack.

In a brief message Wednesday, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei condemned the attack and threatened a hard response and punishment. Accordingly, banners have sprung up all over Iranian cities promising “hard revenge”.

The defense minister's call is an intensification of Iran's rhetoric against Israel's existence. Previously, officials were targeting "Zionists" but this is the first time a high-ranking person has called for expelling Jews from the region.

Former ultraconservative president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on a few occasions had called for Europe "to take back" Jews that he said were sent to Palestine by European powers.

The statement appears to be a reaction to the Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's remark that after the war, Hamas would no longer have control over Gaza. Gallant stated that non-Hamas Palestinians would govern the enclave as long as there was no threat to Israel.

While Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other Iranian officials have commended Hamas for initiating the attack on Israel and their goal of eradicating the Jewish state, they deny any direct involvement in the attack. Initially, the Iranian government celebrated the invasion on October 7, praising it and ordering street celebrations. Large banners were erected promptly, suggesting foreknowledge of the attacks, resulting in 1,200 deaths, mostly civilians, and 240 or more taken hostage in Gaza.

However, as the conflict escalated and the US dispatched warships to the region, Tehran officials tempered their public rhetoric. Ali Khamenei, among others, repeatedly denied the Islamic Republic's role in Hamas's attack, stating during a military event in Tehran that "This was carried out by Palestinians themselves."

Many Iranians find it unacceptable that the country's resources are directed toward supporting proxy forces in the region, including those in Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Yemen.

Facing an imminent threat of execution in connection with the 2022 popular uprising, Kourkour received the distressing news on December 24 that the Supreme Court had affirmed his conviction and death sentence. With an increase in nationwide executions, his sentence has been slated for implementation while he remains in solitary confinement, enduring repeated incidents of torture, including severe beatings.

“If he is charged with a recognizable criminal offence, proceedings must meet international fair trial standards without recourse to the death penalty and exclude coerced confessions,” said Amnesty in a letter to Iran’s Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei.

The human rights organization further implored the Iranian regime to grant Kourkour immediate access to his family, independently chosen lawyer, and adequate medical care.

The rights group also urged Iran to permit independent observers' access to capital trials linked to protests and establish an official moratorium on executions with the eventual goal of abolishing the death penalty.

In early April 2023, Iran's judiciary sentenced Kourkour to death for charges including "enmity against God" (moharebeh), "corruption on earth," and "armed rebellion against the state." His trial was marred by severe unfairness, with authorities denying him access to his chosen lawyer, and coerced "confessions" broadcasted by Iranian state media shortly after his arrest in late December 2022.

Accused of involvement in the killing of a child named Kian Pirfalak during protests in Izeh, Khuzestan province, on November 16, 2022, Kourkour's case revealed the use of unlawful lethal force by plainclothes security officials during the Izeh protests. Despite authorities attributing the incident to "terrorists," the boy's family publicly rejected the claims, placing responsibility on the authorities.

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry announced that arrests had been made a few hours after the attack, and one of the two alleged suicide bombers was a Tajik national.

“The first operation was carried out in the evening of the day that terror attacks happened,” Iran’s intelligence ministry said in a statement, “resulting in the arrest of those who transported the terrorists into the country.”

A few hours later, Reuters reported that “intercepts” collected by the United States proved that the Afghanistan branch of ISIS had carried out the twin attacks, in which 91 people were killed, a quarter of them children.

"The intelligence is clear-cut and indisputable," Reuters quoted an anonymous US source familiar with the intelligence who did not offer more details.

The bombers struck a memorial service for Iran’s most powerful –and best known– military and intelligence figure, General Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by a US drone strike in Baghdad four years ago.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack for almost 30 hours, when reports appeared –first at Reuters then others– that ISIS (or Daesh) had issued a statement posted on the chat app Telegram.

In the statement, ISIS said two operatives wearing explosive suicide belts had carried out the attack.

Many questions were raised, both from officials and state-affiliated activists –who blamed US and Israel– as well as ordinary Iranians –who pointed the finger at the regime itself.

On Friday, authorities in Iran announced that 11 people had been arrested in connection with the bombings, including people who have helped the perpetrators enter the country and hide in a place outside Kerman.

IRGC’s commander in chief Major General Hossein Salami confirmed the role of ISIS but laid the ultimate responsibility on Israel and the US.

“They [ISIS] can only act as agents and mercenaries of America and Zionism,” he said. “But we give them this warning; if you are brave enough, fight us, why are you killing defenseless women and children?

Israel and the US have not officially commented on the role of ISIS. But officials from the Biden administration have denied any involvement in the bombings.

“The United States was not involved in any way, and any suggestion to the contrary is ridiculous,” the State Department’s spokesperson Matthew Miller said Thursday, “and we have no reason to believe that Israel was involved in this explosion."

Inside Iran, people seem to be concerned more about the repercussions of the bombings than the identity of its perpetrators. And for good reason.

Barely a day after the attack, cyber agents of the regime started a campaign targeting ordinary Iranians who had ridiculed or criticized Soleimani and his memorial service on their anonymous social media accounts.

The campaign has led to several arrests, as the agents keep identifying and exposing the citizens behind anonymous accounts.

On Friday, Iranian activists launched a counter-campaign to raise awareness about the cyber agents’ activity on X, which they say breaches the platform's codes.

Thousands have used the hashtag #BanTerroristAccounts, many mentioning X’s owner Elon Musk, hoping that he takes note and moves against Iran’s cyber agents, whose accounts are still mostly active, allowing them to identify more people and effectively hand them to authorities.

As part of the online campaign, several people were arrested in what appears to be a broader intimidation effort against those critical of the regime. Despite widespread reporting and warnings about the severity of the matter, the accounts of Iran’s cyber agents behind such actions remain active.

No one knows how the regime agents uncover anonymous users' identities and expose them on social media, or send messages to them to silence them. It could be the result of a vast and sophisticated intelligence operation, where accounts are scrutinized for clues, and detailed cross referencing leads to identifying users. Also, individuals who use Iranian social media platforms expose their personal information to the government, who controls these platforms.

The so-called "cyberies" employ various methods, with one of the most commonly used techniques being the creation of simple trends, such as "share a black&white photo of yourself" or "what is difficult about your job?". In these trends, individuals innocently share photos or details about their lives, unwittingly assisting in the identification of their accounts.

Another method involves the use of paid accounts on X, which allows calling Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Calling APIs allows the X user to access servers and retrieve all data on individuals interacting with his/her posts, helping them narrow down information to identify the actual person behind the account. According to IRGC’s Basij paramilitary chief Gholamreza Soleimani, there are a significant number of these cyber units, with him stating in 2021 that there were "3,500 cyber battalions" supporting the regime online. Additionally, Iranian applications used for everyday activities like banking services and online shopping serve as another key source of information. 

“The Islamic Republic’s accounts used in this campaign have been reported to X by thousands of people alongside warnings about the gravity of the matter,” read a post by the activist account 1500 Tasvir, which runs popular Instagram and Twitter accounts. Highlighting that the failure to deactivate these accounts directly endangers Iranian lives, the group said, “Nevertheless, all of these accounts are still active in pursuit of this nasty act of oppression.”

For years, the Islamic Republic has blocked Twitter for Iranians while exploiting the platform for its propaganda, with senior officials and leaders openly – yet hypocritically – actively using it. Millions of Iranians are paying monthly fees for VPNs to skirt the blocking of X and other platforms.

However, recent developments indicate the regime is now using X as a tool to help identify, interrogate and consequently detain dissidents. Addressing tech tycoon Elon Musk -- the X owner, 1500 Tasvir said that the Islamic Republic has “weaponized” the platform into a tool of suppression.

An Iranian online activist told Iran International that the regime's cyber agents exposed her identity after she posted criticisms of the Islamic Republic's propaganda campaign regarding the twin blasts in Kerman. Despite exercising caution to avoid sharing personal information online, the activist revealed that the cyber agents went ahead and disclosed her identity, hometown, educational history, and workplace, warning her that she is under the regime's watch.

Earlier in the week, the Prosecutor's Office in Yazd province announced the arrest of an individual for posting messages on X regarding the Kerman explosions and casualties. The account holder was identified by the cyber agents of the Intelligence Ministry and was transferred to prison. The Prosecutor's Office has accused the individual of having ties to Israel and alleges that they "published insulting tweets about the martyrs of Kerman."

Also on Friday, Iran’s prosecutor-general threatened legal action against individuals publishing norm-breaking content about the twin bombing in Kerman. The bombing targeted a large public gathering commemorating Qasem Soleimani, the late commander of the IRGC's Quds Force, who was killed by a US drone strike in January 2020. Nearly 90 people were killed in the incident and 284 were injured.

Despite the warning, numerous individuals have taken to social media to express their dissatisfaction with the government's perceived inadequate security measures leading to the deadly incident in Kerman. Critics argue that the failure to ensure the safety of public gatherings resulted in this deadly attack.

Another victim of the new intimidation campaign was Nasrin Shakarami, whose 16-year-old daughter Nika was found dead 10 days after she left home to take part in an anti-government protest on September 20, 2022. The cyber agents threatened to disclose her home address in the city of Karaj, near the capital Tehran. They said they would take her from her home, force her into a naked walk of shame around town, and kill her. Shakarami had published a post after the Kerman incident, pointing out that how come none of senior officials or even the family members of Soleimani were not attending the ceremony at his burial site.

As a countermeasure, Iranians have launched a campaign to raise global awareness about the exposures through the hashtag #BanTerroristAccounts. Dissidents plead for support in reporting government accounts revealing personal information, emphasizing the life-and-death stakes for those affected. Individuals and organizations are urged to join the global effort to shed light on the critical issue and shut down government-affiliated accounts using the hashtag.