DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

The assailants had been monitoring the property and may have observed that she often shares flowers with her neighbors, she said. Omarov then sent those details to Mehdiyev, who lived in Yonkers, New York, prosecutors said. Amirov and Omarov then arranged for Mehdiyev to get $30,000 in cash, which he used to buy an assault rifle and ammunition, prosecutors said. Omarov, 38, was arrested in the Czech Republic earlier this month, and the United States is seeking his extradition. Iran accuses Western powers of fomenting the unrest, which security forces have met with deadly violence.

☆ Britain sounds alarm on Russia-based hacking group
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( James Pearson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - A Russia-based hacking group named Cold River is behind an expansive and ongoing information-gathering campaign that has struck various targets in government, politics, academia, defence, journalism, and activism, Britain said on Thursday. "There is often some correspondence between attacker and target, sometimes over an extended period, as the attacker builds rapport," the advisory said. A second, Iran-based, group known as Charming Kitten has deployed the same "spear-phishing" techniques to gather information, according to the NCSC. Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York said the Iranian government had no knowledge of the group. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Cold River has escalated its hacking campaign against Kyiv's allies, cybersecurity researchers and western government officials told Reuters.

☆ Cloudflare says White House asked tech firm to bypass Iran censorship, but US sanctions got in the way
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

In the case of San Francisco-based Cloudflare, Prince said the White House official suggested the company could be given a “license” to operate in Iran, but Prince replied that it was “too late” for that. Prince did not name the White House official. CNN has requested comment from the White House National Security Council. About 10% of Russian households use that anti-censorship Cloudflare technology, Prince claimed. The phone call from the White House, Prince said, illustrated a difficult “tradeoff” between sanctions meant to punish human rights-flouting regimes and the need to get technology into the hands of dissidents.

☆ Rapper who became the voice of the Iranian revolt is in danger of execution
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Sanam Mahoozi | Sanam Mahoozi Is A Freelance Writer Based In London. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Fear for his safety have also grown after Salehi’s official Twitter account posted Friday that despite being in danger of losing his eyesight, he was being repeatedly beaten. Iranian mourners march towards Aichi cemetery in Saqez in Iranian Kurdistan to mark 40 days since Mahsa Amini's death on Oct. 26, 2022. ESN / AFP - Getty ImagesUsing his voice and lyrics, Salehi came out in support of the anti-government protesters from the beginning. At the heart of the protests, and Salehi’s lyrics, is the conviction that the government must go. “This is Toomaj Salehi,” he wrote, reposting a Salehi video supportive of the protesters.

☆ Iranian Government Relies on Loyal Supporters as Bulwark Against Protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Benoit Faucon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

When Revolutionary Guard member Mohammed Zareh Mowaydi was killed fighting Iranian protesters last month, the military broadcast footage of his body, with a cleric holding up the dead man’s right hand—rough from years as a farmer. “Show us your palms,” the cleric shouted, addressing protest supporters. “You, who claim to free our people, are your palms covered in calluses, too?”

☆ Biden in newly surfaced video says the Iran nuclear deal is 'dead' but adds he won't announce that publicly
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Biden in a newly surfaced video says the Iran nuclear deal is "dead." In the video, Biden said the deal was "dead" but underscored that his administration couldn't announce this publicly. The Biden administration in recent months has also signaled that other issues pertaining to Iran have bumped the deal down its list of priorities. The 2015 deal was designed to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. Former President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal in May 2018 and reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran.

WASHINGTON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. military's Cyber Command hunted down foreign adversaries overseas ahead of this year's mid-term elections, taking down their infrastructure before they could strike, the head of U.S. Cyber Command said. "We understood how foreign adversaries utilize infrastructure throughout the world, we had that mapped pretty well, and we wanted to make sure that we took it down at key times." Nakasone's language suggests Cyber Command carried out both offensive and defensive cyber operations. He declined to identify which adversaries were targeted but acknowledged he saw the same kinds of foreign adversaries as he had in the past. "This is the idea of understanding your foreign adversaries and operating outside the United States," he said.

Hacking and repressionAfter Nika went missing, her aunt and other protesters told CNN that her popular Instagram and Telegram accounts had been disabled. On October 12, two of Nika’s friends noticed her Telegram account briefly back online, they told CNN. As with Negin’s case, the reactivation of Nika’s accounts raises questions about whether Iranian authorities were responsible for accessing her social media profiles, allegedly to phish other protesters or compromise her after her death. “Usually what happens is, they do the target phone number, then they send a login request to Telegram,” Rashidi told CNN. However, references in Iranian state media indicate authorities did access Nika’s Instagram account and direct messages, stating they had permission from the judiciary to access them.

Western and Middle East security officials have concluded that a three-month-old Iranian protest movement represents a lasting drive for change that will challenge the foundations of the Islamic Republic but isn’t an immediate threat to the government in Tehran. The security officials said the protest movement’s durability was surprising, given how quickly the Iranian government put down demonstrations in 2009, 2017 and 2019. Protests erupted in September after the death of a young woman detained for allegedly violating Iran’s female dress code and quickly transformed into demands for the end of the Islamic system that has ruled the country for 43 years.

☆ California woman admits to unwittingly funding foiled plot to kidnap Iran critic
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK — A California woman pleaded guilty on Thursday in connection with her unwitting role in a foiled plot to kidnap a prominent Iranian opposition activist living in New York City and take her back to Tehran. But authorities said four Iranians who plotted to kidnap the activist and paid an American private investigator to watch her used Bahadorifar as a go-between. Bahadorifar pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to violate U.S. economic sanctions on Iran by helping channel money to the investigator. Her lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, told The New York Times that Bahadorifar was herself a victim of a “cancerous” Iranian regime. An Iranian intelligence officer and others were charged in New York last year with attempting to kidnap Alinejad and take her back to Iran.

☆ U.S. blacklists Chinese firm selling video surveillance tech to Iran
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Dan De Luce | Dan De Luce Is A Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

“The Chinese Communist Party is weaponizing technology companies to further its geopolitical goals,” Rubio said in an email. Human rights advocates and lawmakers are concerned Iranian authorities could use Tiandy’s video surveillance technology to help squelch a wave of anti-regime protests in the country. The Biden administration last month effectively banned the sale or import of new equipment from a number of Chinese surveillance firms. China has strongly rejected U.S. criticism of Chinese tech companies and of its treatment of Uyghurs or other Muslim minorities in the country. But he said it was “absurd” to portray Chinese technology as a security threat.

He was convicted of “waging war against God” for reportedly killing two members of the Basij paramilitary force, and injuring four others on November 17, the outlet said. The charge of “waging war against God” carries the death penalty under the theocracy of the Islamic Republic since 1979. Rahnavard was hanged in a public execution in the northeastern city of Mashhad early Monday morning, it said. He is the second known person to be executed in connection to the 2022 protests. His death comes less than a week after Mohsen Shekari – the first known protester to be executed – who was hanged last Thursday.

CNN —Iran has executed a man for injuring a paramilitary officer in the first known execution linked to protests that have swept the country since September, state media reported Thursday. Mizan Online, a news agency affiliated with Iran’s judiciary, and the semi-official Tasmin news agency both named the protester as Mohsen Shekari. It is the first execution connected to the protests to be publicly reported by state media. At least 458 people have been killed in the unrest since September, according to Norway-based Iran Human Rights on Wednesday. In late November, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said Iran was in a “full-fledged human rights crisis,” and called for an independent investigation into violations of human rights in the country.

CNN —Iran’s former president Mohammad Khatami has urged the current government to be more lenient with protesters, amid ongoing nationwide demonstrations representing the biggest challenge to the Islamic Republic in decades. The anti-government demonstrations were sparked by the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman in September. Khatami, pictured in 2006, called on Tehran to "take a softer approach and listen to" anti-regime protesters. Public figures in Iran have solicited the government to listen to the grievances of anti-regime protesters. Middle East Images/APOther Iranian public figures have also recently called on the government to take action to listen and protect protesters.

☆ Iran's attorney general signals that morality police could be 'abolished'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Mithil Aggarwal | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Iran‘s Attorney General said Saturday that the country’s controversial morality police will be “abolished,” local media reported, amid ongoing nationwide protests. Montazeri's brief and unscripted comment came in response to a question about “why the morality police were being shut down,” the outlets reported. Iran’s Interior Ministry and police have not commented on the status of the morality police. Amini had allegedly failed to fully cover her hair and defied the country’s strict dress codes when she was arrested in Iran’s capital, Tehran. Police had said Amini died after she fell ill and slipped into a coma, but her family has said witnesses told them officers beat her.

On Monday, the White House said it backed the right of people to peacefully protest in China but stopped short of criticizing Beijing as protesters in multiple Chinese cities demonstrated against heavy COVID-19 measures. The Republican response was swift. Senator Ted Cruz called White House response "pitiful," adding in a tweet: "At a potentially historic inflection point, Dems shill for the CCP." Beyond this, say analysts, the U.S. wants to avoid language that allows China to pin the protests on U.S. interference. Daniel Russel, who served as the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia in the Obama administration, said the Biden White House would be focused on the next steps by Chinese authorities.

☆ Ali Karimi: Iranian soccer great alleges death threats made against him by the Iran government after supporting protesters
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Artemis Moshtaghian | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Iranian soccer great Ali Karimi has alleged that death threats have been made against him, while his family and close friends have been intimidated and harassed by the Iranian government following his support of ongoing protests in the country. Kai-Uwe Knoth/APDuring the frequent government induced internet blackouts in Iran, Karimi informed protesters on his social media accounts on how they could bypass internet restrictions using VPN and other workarounds. Increased threatsUntil nearly four months ago Karimi and his family resided in Iran but then left for Dubai. Karimi notes that the threats made against him, his family and friends are incomparable to the dangers that protesters in Iran are facing. “Reading those comments and posts gave me the courage to become active [on social media] again.”The Iranian government has not responded to the claims made in Karimi’s interview.

☆ Iran threatened families of its World Cup team after players refused to sing the national anthem, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Iran's World Cup team did not sing their country's anthem, in apparent solidarity with protesters. They were then told their families would met with "violence and torture" if they didn't sing, a source told CNN. They were told that their families would face "violence and torture" if they did not sing the national anthem, or if they protested at all, the source said. The team then sang the anthem during the build up to their second match, on November 25. "There are a large number of Iranian security officers in Qatar collecting information and monitoring the players," the source told CNN.

☆ A match like no other. When the US played Iran at the 1998 World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Aimee Lewis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

The US had qualified for the 1998 World Cup in France with ease. “Instantly, it was less about Germany, less about Yugoslavia, more about Iran,” Sampson told CNN Sport. “That was a bit of a distraction.”Over two decades later, the USMNT again faces Iran in the group stages of a World Cup. Gael Cornier/APThe USMNT had to face Germany, then the reigning European champion in its opening match, yet the Iran match, the second group game, was everyone else’s focus. “We had 150 armed police, which was unprecedented for a World Cup match.

☆ Iran state media wants the US banned from the World Cup after the team posted photos meant to show solidarity with Iranian protestors
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Iran state media has said it wants the US kicked out of the 2022 World Cup. The United States Soccer Federation briefly displayed an edited version of the Iranian Flag. The edited flag was a show of solidarity between the team and protestors in Iran. —Tasnim News Agency (@Tasnimnews_EN) November 27, 2022On Saturday, the United States Soccer Federation displayed the Iranian flag without the emblem of Iran in the center on its social media platforms, CNN reported. Soccer media officer Michael Kammarman told reporters Sunday the move was to indicate "support for the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights," Reuters reported.

☆ Niece of Iranian Supreme Leader calls out government
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

Farideh Moradkhani, the niece of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has released a video calling on foreign governments to cut all ties with the Iranian government.

Pro-Palestinian sympathies among fans have also spilt into stadiums as four Arab teams compete. Qatari players have worn pro-Palestinian arm-bands, even as Qatar has allowed Israeli fans to fly in directly for the first time. The first Middle Eastern nation to host the World Cup, Qatar has often seemed a regional maverick: it hosts the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas but has also previously had some trade relations with Israel. Arab fans have shunned Israeli journalists reporting from Qatar. Omar Barakat, a soccer coach for the Palestinian national team who was in Doha for the World Cup, said he had carried his flag into matches without being stopped.

☆ Iran's violent crackdown against protesters escalates in parts of the country
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Alex-Smith-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Alexander Smith | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

The group, which focuses on human rights in Iranian Kurdistan, said that at least 1,500 people have been injured. Scenes from reported clashes in the northeastern Iranian city of Javanrud, shared by a Kurdish human rights group on Tuesday. The regime-aligned agency blamed the violence on “rioters” and “Kurdish separatists” who infiltrated crowds of protesters and attacked an IRGC base. Some protesters have called for an overthrow of the regime and “death to the dictator” — meaning Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. These have been condemned by Kurdish officials and the Iraqi government, despite the latter being dominated by parties close to Iran.

☆ Iran says 40 foreigners arrested for taking part in antigovernment protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A protester holds a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration in support of Amini, a young Iranian woman who died after being arrested in Tehran by the Islamic Republic's morality police, on Istiklal avenue in Istanbul on September 20, 2022. Iran's judiciary spokesperson reportedly said Tuesday that 40 foreign nationals have been detained for participating in recent anti-regime protests. The individuals whose nationalities have not been revealed were arrested in accordance with Iranian laws, Iran's judiciary spokesman Masoud Setayeshi said in a regular news briefing, state media Mehr News reported. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had in earlier stages of the protest blamed foreign "enemies" for orchestrating what he termed as "riots." In late September, nine Europeans from France, Sweden, Italy, Germany among other countries were arrested by the Iranian government for their involvement in the protests.

☆ More protesters in Iran have been sentenced to death as political unrest continues
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Charmaine Jacob | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Iran's judiciary issued three more death sentences to people who were involved in anti-government protests following the death of a woman who allegedly broke the country's strict headscarf rules, the judiciary's website Mizan Online reported. This comes after Iran's Revolutionary Court issued its first death sentence on Sunday due to involvement in anti-regime protests. "A whole younger generation is challenging the rules like wearing a headscarf and the government in Iran has its hands fully trying to manage the protests," Nasr said. "The protests are beginning a great deal of American and European media attention, and severe criticism of Iran. This could potentially bring a whole new set of sanctions on Iran for its crackdown."

Search resuls for: "Iranian Government"

25 mentions found