Sources: West Tells Opposition that Syria Strike Coming in Days

by Reuters, Michael Wilner

"The opposition was told in clear terms that action to deter further use of chemical weapons by Assad regime could come as early as next few days," sources who attend meeting between envoys, Syrian National Coalition say.

US destroyer fires Tomahawk cruise missile in Mediterranean 

[file] Photo: REUTERS

 

AMMAN/BEIRUT/BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN/WASHINGTON - Western powers told the Syrian opposition to expect a strike against President Bashar Assad's forces within days, according to sources who attended a meeting between envoys and the Syrian National Coalition in Istanbul.

"The opposition was told in clear terms that action to deter further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime could come as early as in the next few days, and that they should still prepare for peace talks at Geneva," one of the sources who was at the meeting on Monday told Reuters.

The meeting at a hotel in downtown Istanbul was between senior figures of the Syrian National Coalition, including its president Ahmad Jarba, and envoys from 11 core "Friends of Syria" alliance members, that included US envoy Robert Ford, the top US official handling the Syria file, the sources said.

Another source said Ford told Jarba at the gathering that the coalition should "expect appropriate action to deter more use of chemical weapons".

Jarba offered the 11 nations represented in the Friends of Syria core group a list of 10 proposed targets.

They included the Mezze Military Airport on the western outskirts of Damascus, the Qutaifa missile base north of the city and compounds of the Fourth Mechanised Division, a elite unit headed by Assad's feared brother Maher and composed mainly of members of his Alawite minority sect.

No order has been issued by US President Barack Obama, but his national security team has been told to operate under the assumption that he will move forward with the strike.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a television interview with the BBC on Tuesday that the US military is ready to act immediately should President Obama order action against Syria over a chemical weapons attack.

"We have moved assets in place to be able to fulfill and comply with whatever option the president wishes to take," Hagel said during a trip to Brunei, according to a partial transcript provided by the BBC.

Asked if the US military was ready to respond just "like that," Hagel said: "We are ready to go, like that." 



US allies were drafting plans for air strikes and other military action against Syria on Tuesday, as Assad's enemies vowed to punish a poison gas attack that Washington called a "moral obscenity".

Facing Russian and Chinese disapproval that will complicate hopes for a united front backed by international law, and keen to win over wary voters at home, Western leaders seem in no rush to pull the trigger. British Prime Minister David Cameron called parliament back from recess for a session on Syria on Thursday.

Cameron may push for a strike before that vote. During the allied campaign against Libya's Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Parliament did not address UK involvement until three days after the assault had already begun.

Western allies will likely coordinate the attack to avoid launching a new military campaign in the Middle East on Islam's day of prayer, jumu'ah, on Friday.

Therefore, if the attack is to last several days, it could begin on Saturday or, alternatively, within the next 24 hours.

UN experts trying to establish what killed hundreds of civilians in rebel-held suburbs of Damascus last Wednesday were finally able to cross the frontline on Monday to see survivors - despite being shot at in government-held territory. But they put off a second visit until Wednesday.

However, US officials said Obama already had little doubt Assad's forces were to blame. Turkey, Syria's neighbor and part of the US-led NATO military pact, called it a "crime against humanity" that demanded international reaction.

France said it is "on board" with taking action without unanimous support from the United Nations Security Council.

Ahead of the strike, Obama will first declassify an intelligence report put together by his national security team at his request, proving incontrovertibly that chemical weapons were used by Assad against his own people on a massive scale on August 21 in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta.

That report will be presented as both the moral and legal basis for action.

"This is about the large-scale, indiscriminate use of weapons that the civilized world, long ago, decided must never be used at all," Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday.

The secretary's comments were intended to lay the groundwork for the moral case for intervention, a US official told the Jerusalem Post.

"President Obama believes there must be accountability for those who would use the world's most heinous weapons against the world's most vulnerable people."

The Syrian government, which denies using gas, said it would press on with its offensive against rebels around the capital. Foreign Minister Walid Moualem said US strikes would help al-Qaida allies but called Western leaders "delusional" if they hoped to aid the rebels to create a balance of power in Syria.

In Britain, whose forces have supported the US military in a succession of wars, Cameron called for an appropriate level of retribution for using chemical weapons.

"Our forces are making contingency plans," a spokesman for Cameron told reporters. London and its allies would make a "proportionate response" to the "utterly abhorrent" attack.

Top generals from the United States and European and Middle Eastern allies met in Jordan for what could be a council of war.

"The Americans are tying any military action to the chemical weapons issue. But the message is clear; they expect the strike to be strong enough to force Assad to go to Geneva and accept a transitional government with full authority," a Syrian opposition figure said.

"The message to the opposition was to get a team ready for Geneva, and be prepared for the possibility of a transition. But we must also be ready for the possibility of the collapse of the regime. If the strike ends up to be crippling, and if they hit the symbols of the regime's military power in Damascus it could collapse," the source said.

Jarba said this month the coalition welcomed participating in Geneva without conditions, but it still expected the meeting to result in a transition that would remove Assad and his top aides from power.

Reuters, Michael Wilner

Source: http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Sources-West-tells-opposition-that-Syria-strike-coming-in-days-324411

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

Israel Readies Homefront for Possible Syrian Attack

by Gideon Allon, Hili Yacobi, Daniel Siryoti, Yael Branovsky, Nitzi Yaakov and Israel Hayom Staff

Patriot anti-missile batteries in Haifa put on alert • Netanyahu convenes security cabinet • IDF announces major drill on Golan Heights • Education Minister Shay Piron: School system ready for any deterioration of security situation.

A Patriot anti-missile battery in Haifa | Photo credit: Herzl Shapira

An Israeli receives a gas mask [Archive]

|

Photo credit: Yehoshua Yosef

With U.S.-led military action in Syria potentially imminent, the Knesset Homefront Preparedness Subcommittee will hold a special meeting on Wednesday to examine the homefront's readiness for a Syrian attack against Israel.

"The state's duty is to be ready for any scenario," MK Eli Yishai, the subcommittee chairman, said.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a surprise meeting of the security cabinet, apparently to discuss Syria, Army Radio reported.

Also on Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces began a pre-planned two-day drill in the Golan Heights involving security and emergency forces. The IDF said area residents might hear the sounds of gunfire and explosions.

In light of the situation in Syria, there has been a marked increase in demand by Israelis for gas masks. Due to an overwhelming number of phone calls on Monday, the Israel Postal Company, which is responsible for distributing gas masks, said Israelis could also use its website to register to receive gas masks [only in Hebrew]. In addition, citizens can call their hotline at 171 and order home delivery of gas masks. 

The Israel Postal Company has been in charge of distributing gas mask kits since February 2010. According to its data, 5 million Israelis have received their gas masks.

Meanwhile, Patriot anti-missile batteries in Haifa have been put on alert and aimed toward the north. During the First Gulf War in 1991, Patriot missile batteries in Israel were used to intercept Scud missiles fired by Iraq. 

The Patriot system is part of Israel's multilayered aerial defense network, which also includes the Iron Dome, among other components.

Education Minister Shay Piron said on Tuesday that Israel's school system is prepared for any deterioration of the security situation vis-à-vis Syria. 

More than 2 million students began the school year on Tuesday. Of these, about 149,000 are new students entering the first grade. 

The Education Ministry said that despite tension over Syria, schools are operating normally and await any change of instructions. 

With school getting back underway, Magen David Adom emergency medical service Director Eli Bin instructed medical teams to be on alert and ready to respond to any situation that comes up.

Gideon Allon, Hili Yacobi, Daniel Siryoti, Yael Branovsky, Nitzi Yaakov and Israel Hayom Staff

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=11603

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

Destroying Islam's Holiest Shrine for Assad?

by Irfan Al-Alawi

They treat Mecca as if it were comparable to Las Vegas or the London City Financial Centre, rather than a focus of faith.

In mid-August, the Muslim world was shocked when Fayez Shukr Sraha, regional head of the Ba'ath Party in Lebanon, declared in an interview with the Lebanese OTV television channel that he would be willing to "destroy the Ka'bah for the sake of Bashar Al-Assad."

The Ka'bah, a black stone cube at the center of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, is Islam's holiest shrine. It is that location, called the qibla, to which all Muslims turn when they pray. In addition, millions of pilgrims in the Islamic hajj pilgrimage, which takes place during four days in Dhu'l Hijjah, the concluding month of the Islamic lunar year, walk around the Ka'bah as a central event of the experience.

Participants in the regular hajj are supplemented by millions of Muslims who participate in umrah, a briefer religious excursion that may be undertaken at any time of year, but in which circumambulation of the Ka'bah remains a required practice.

Fayez Shukr Sraha, regional head of the Ba'ath Party in Lebanon.

The Lebanese Ba'athist, Shukr, as he is generally known, is notorious for his provocative demeanor. In 2011, defending Al-Assad, he engaged in a physical fracas on another Lebanese station, MTV – different, obviously, from the Western pop-music network – with a former member of the Lebanese parliament, Mustafa Alloush, who represented the non-sectarian Future Movement.
The year before, Shukr tried to incite Lebanese Muslims against Christian leaders. And he sought to obstruct the work of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which is investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. The Tribunal has also been denounced by Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah terrorists – four of whose members have been indicted in the murder of Hariri. Hezbollah forces have been fighting alongside Al-Assad's troops in Syria.

In the recent OTV interview, Shukr proclaimed that the Ka'bah is a mere pile of rocks and that its value is inferior to that of a human – in this case, presumably, Bashar Al-Assad – but without acknowledging that in Syria, some 100,000 people have been killed because of Al-Assad's tyranny.

Following the Iranian propaganda line – according to which the combat in Syria is controlled through Saudi Arabia by the U.S. and Israel – Shukr further warned that Syria and its supporters would destroy the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and the Saudi commercial metropolis, Jedda.

Historic preservation of the Ka'bah and the Grand Mosque in Mecca is already a major issue in the Muslim countries; the Saudi Arabian monarchy has altered the architecture of the Ka'bah and redesigned the district around them.

A gigantic clock tower now overshadows the Grand Mosque, in comparison with which the Ka'bah is reduced to a tiny object. In addition, the Grand Mosque is now surrounded by skyscraper hotels and malls. Before the takeover of Mecca by Wahhabis in 1924, down through centuries of Ottoman rule over the holy city, the walls of the Grand Mosque were no higher than the Ka'bah. But in the years since, the Saudis have expanded the Grand Mosque ambitiously and heedlessly, and destroyed important elements of the Islamic architectural and cultural heritage in its structure and surroundings.

An aerial view of the Grand Mosque of Mecca and its surroundings.

Mecca is being commercialised, in a perverse form of modernisation through which the Saudi kingdom seems to want to prove its progress by emulating the least prudent and most vulgar excesses of Western entertainment and commercial design. They treat Mecca as if it were comparable to Las Vegas or the London City Financial Centre, rather than a focus of faith.

During the 1930s, Wahhabi hardliners were rumoured to desire the demolition of the Ka'bah and Grand Mosque. In their bizarre, ideologized version of Islam, which despises tradition, preservation of the Ka'bah and the Grand Mosque had transformed them into "idols," thereby meriting their destruction. They were prevented from so extreme an action mainly by the outcry of Indian Muslims. They did, however, uproot the grave markers, and level the shrines in the two cemeteries of Jannat ul-Baqi in Medina and Jannat al-Mualla in Mecca, based on the consistent Wahhabi condemnation of grave-markers, tombs, and shrines also as "idols."

The Wahhabis further succeeded in "renovating" such buildings as the house in which Muhammad was believed to have been born, which was turned into a cattle market and then covered by a library, as well as many similar buildings associated with Muhammad's family and companions, and a group of historic mosques dated back to Muhammad's lifetime.

17th-century Ottoman porticos in Mecca's Grand Mosque (foreground), before they were demolished this year.

17th-century Ottoman porticos in Mecca's Grand Mosque, during the construction that demolished them.

In some Muslim lands, Wahhabi vandalism of cultural monuments has become common. The world was shocked by the Wahhabi invasion of Timbuktu last year, in which the ancient mosques, shrines, and libraries of one of Africa's most distinguished cities were demolished, and many of their precious manuscripts destroyed. The Wahhabi outbreak in Mali was preceded by bombings and arson against Muslim sanctuaries and memorials in Pakistan, other South Asian countries, Egypt and Libya, and even in the European country of Macedonia.

In addition, Wahhabis have committed such acts against non-Muslim historical heritage as the artillery bombardment of the Bamiyan Buddha statues in Afghanistan in 2001. Recently, adherents of Egypt's deposed Islamist president, Muhamed Morsi, have attacked churches in that country, while Morsi's allies had earlier called for "covering up" the Pyramids and other pre-Islamic components of the country's past.

Shukr's outrageous bluster against the Ka'bah expresses more than the intense zealotry of Al-Assad's supporters, and the growing probability that the Syrian civil war will renew the conflict that tormented Lebanon from 1975 to 1990. Western media describe the Syrian Ba'athist dictator and his hardcore defenders, members of the "Alawite" or "Nusayri" sect, as an offshoot of Shia Islam; the Shia clerical regime in Tehran backs Al-Assad. Yet Shias, no less than Sunnis, are concerned with protecting Mecca and the Ka'bah, and for years Shias have been among the most strident protestors against Wahhabi vandalism of the Islamic legacy in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.

Given the large body of Shia rhetoric against Saudi-Wahhabi cultural vandalism, the hypocrisy of the "Alawites'" rhetoric, warning that they may wreck the Ka'bah, should be obvious. Until the 20^th century, however, the "Alawites" were not even considered Muslims. Their beliefs were regarded as originating in pre-Islamic cults; they included the doctrine that the universe, humanity, and Muhammad were created by Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib – the cousin and son-in-law, and fourth caliph (successor to Muhammad as leader of the global Muslim community) – who was assassinated in 661 CE.

The "Alawites" now ruling Syria, drowning it in blood, and seeking apparently to spread their war throughout the Middle East, were argued to be Muslims in the interest of Arab unity in the 1930s, but were officially accepted by Shias (but not by Sunni authorities in any country) only in the 1970s, during Lebanese war.

In bloodshed and ruination, the "Alawites" presently seem to be exceeding the Saudi-inspired Wahhabis and other fundamentalists claiming the mantle of Sunnism. The Al-Assad regime has already devastated the city of Aleppo, including its Umayyad mosque, where the minaret was leveled. Aleppo's Umayyad mosque housed a shrine to Zechariah, honored as a prophet by Jews, Christians, and Muslims, and believed by the latter two communities to have been the father of John the Baptist.

The Al-Assad regime has also seriously damaged a synagogue that is more than 2,000 years old and was built to honor the prophet Elijah – like Zechariah, praised by Jews, Christians, and Muslims – in Damascus.

Although we do not yet know who might replace the Al-Assad dictatorship if it is overthrown, the threat of Al-Assad's Lebanese subordinate, Fayez Shukr, should not be ignored or viewed as trivial. It nevertheless expresses the grave danger the Syrian regime continues to pose to the region, if not the world.


Irfan Al-Alawi

Source: http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3948/destroying-mecca-mosque

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

Concealing Racist Black Violence

by Colin Flaherty

 

Black mob violence is now so frequent and intense that even big city editors can’t  keep it out of the news anymore.

The latest high-profile story, now familiar to many, is the recent beating and killing of the 88-year-old World War II veteran Delbert Belton at the hands of two black people in Spokane. Allegedly.

A few days before, two black people stalked and killed Chris Lane, the 23-year-old Australian college student in Oklahoma. Allegedly.

A few days before that, three black people stalked and killed 27-year-old nurse David Santucci in Memphis. Allegedly.

A few days before that, a black mob in St. Paul beat Ray Widstrand with a sock full of rocks that will leave him with permanent brain damage. Allegedly.

In St. Louis this week, a black mob hit a hot dog vendor in the head with a hammer. In Chicago, this weekend, a black mob attacked a police officer, fracturing his skull with a baseball bat.

And in the space between the time I started this article and when I finished it, I received the worst video I’ve ever seen: Several young black people bully and beat up a three-year old girl. “After the footage was taken, the 12-year-old cameraman went onto Facebook and posted the video with the title “When white people piss black people off,” reported Kristin Tate of MrConservative.com.

Watch it here: When white people piss black people off.

Many of the 800 people who commented said the same thing: How can this be happening?
These events might be shocking. But they are hardly rare. Or even unusual.

Pick a number from 1 to 1000. That is how long this list of recent victims of black mob violence could be. Or you could ask a cop. Any cop. They know.

Some of the mobs are small. Some are big. Some people die. Those who live are changed forever. No matter how often the local papers assure us their injuries are “minor.” Or it was just a theft, not a beating.

Some scenes of racial violence are familiar: Chicago. Baltimore. Philadelphia. Most are not: Peoria — the middle of middle America. Des Moines, where they had a Beat Whitey Night at the Iowa State Fair. Springfield. Greensboro. Indianapolis. Seattle. Portland. Dayton. Louisville. Dallas. Denver. Rochester. Utica. Miami Beach. Green Bay. Cedar Rapids.

Minneapolis and Milwaukee and Indianapolis have some of the most intense and frequent cases of black mob violence in America. If you lived there and depended only on local media, you would think only “unruly teenagers” are responsible.

Local and national media are loathe to report racial violence. It is an eerie experience to see a video of a local newscaster blame an episode of black mob violence in Milwaukee on just a “few people,” while he talks over B roll showing a large black mob pulling passengers out of two cars and beating them.

Editors like Steve Chapman at the Chicago Tribune insist they are color blind. Only a racist, he says, would wonder why his newspaper refuses to report how black mob violence is so stratospherically out of proportion.

Chapman could be speaking for an entire generation of news managers who say they do not report racial violence because they have “no evidence it is racially motivated.”  That is what the editor of the Virginian-Pilot told Bill O’Reilly’s producers last year when they pressed him to explain why he did not report that two of his reporters were attacked by a mob of 50 to 100 black people.

That means unless the predators issue a press release or carry signs saying saying “Death to White People,” editors have no way of knowing if race has anything to do with the crimes.

Maybe because it’s a black thing the editors just don’t understand.

Or maybe they think the overwhelming patterns of black mob violence are not evidence. When that is the strongest evidence of all.

This “we are color blind” mantra is strange coming from the same people who every day write about black caucuses, black colleges, black businesses, black churches, black music, black neighborhoods and on and on and on.

So much so that today, we are living in the most race-conscious country in the world.

Many of these stories are written by members of the National Association of Black Journalists.

But all over the country as victims of black mob violence pile up one after another, day after day, week after week, so do the reporters who ignore, condone, excuse and deny it.

This week, Salon produced its monthly news story saying all the recent attention on black crime is some kind of conservative conspiracy.  A few months ago Salon blamed it on White Girl Bleed a Lot: The return of racial violence to American and how the media ignore it.  As did MSNBC a few nights ago.

Liberals in and out of the media always — yes, always — say the same two things about black mob violence. Always in the same breathe: One, it is not happening. Two, here is why it is happening.

Ten years ago, liberals could — and often did — get away with that obfuscation. But not today: Too much of this black mob violence is on YouTube. Salon might deny it, but many of the people responsible celebrate it on video, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, World Star Hip Hop, and lots of other places.

It’s what happens when white people piss black people off.

The next edition of White Girl Bleed a Lot will feature QR codes that will allow a reader to use their smart phones to watch the violence on video as it is described in the book. Salon is going to hate that.

One of the alleged perpetrators of the Oklahoma killing bragged on Twitter about how much he hated white people and how much he enjoyed “playing golf.” Short for hitting woods. Short for hitting “peckerwoods.” Short for playing the Knockout Game on white people.

The Baltimore Sun says racial violence is not that bad and that people should just get used to it. Meanwhile, Pat McDonough, the Maryland state legislator who last year was scorned for observing black mobs were “terrorizing downtown” is now being hailed as a prophet as violence continues to the point where one of that city’s largest employers is threatening to move.

We don’t have to ask any hypothetical questions about what would happen if the roles were reversed: If hordes of white people were stomping through downtown Baltimore assaulting and robbing black visitors. We already know: A few days ago, a black student at the University of Texas claimed someone threw a balloon full of bleach at him. He did not save the balloon or present anything to corroborate his story. But that has not stopped hundreds of news outlets from reporting it.

Same with a story of two dozen diners who say on Facebook they were unfairly kicked out of a restaurant in South Carolina. The liberal media will enthusiastically report on anything that affirms stereotypes of whites as racist and violent towards non-whites, even when the evidence is tenuous.

Meanwhile, as the real evidence of black mob violence mounts, so does the urgency — and absurdity — of the those who would deny it. Al Sharpton recently declared it was “open season on black people.” Attorney General Holder said black people receive longer sentences for the same crime as white people. MSNBC hosts love to proclaim that black people and white people smoke the same amount of marijuana, but black people are arrested four times more often.

All as true as a Tawana Brawley affidavit.

A University of Michigan study recently stated that most white people are racist because they do not like racial quotas. Which is also what panels full of pundits declare on MSNBC with regularity.

The only time they mention violence is to shrug it off as a “racist meme.” Virulent black racism is the new normal.

The psychiatrists tell us we are only as sick as our secrets. Nothing inspires more secrecy than race. And no one is trying to keep the secrets more than the liberals who run the newsrooms and city halls across the country.


Colin Flaherty

Source: http://frontpagemag.com/2013/colin-flaherty/concealing-racist-black-violence/

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

IRGC Claims Iran Can Hack Enemy's Advanced Weapons Systems

by Y. Mansharof

Introduction

The Iranian regime views the cyber arena as an active warzone with the U.S. and its allies, and in recent years has invested substantial efforts in it, for both psychological warfare and physical sabotage of Western infrastructure. The cyber arena is also used by the regime as a tool for spreading its ideology, by exporting the Islamic Revolution and by preparing for the arrival of the Hidden Imam (the Shi'ite messiah).

Regime officials and mouthpieces often depict Iran as defending itself against a Western cultural onslaught, with the cyber arena – chiefly social networks – being one of the main elements of the "soft warfare" being waged against the regime. For that reason, the regime blocks Facebook and Twitter in the country, even though many Iranian users know how to circumvent this using special software.[1]

Regime spokesmen often state that Iran's cyber capabilities are aimed at protecting regime infrastructure from Western cyber-attack, and deny that the regime is involved in Iranian cyber-attacks on Western infrastructure.[2] However, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claims that Tehran has developed cyber capabilities that enable it to penetrate the enemy's advanced military infrastructure. Thus, alongside its defensive cyber system, the regime has also established an offensive cyber system, which includes organized hacker groups as part of the Basij, as well as independent groups, working in concert with the regime. This system has been behind a series of cyber-attacks on websites and infrastructure outside Iran in recent years, including against the NASA website.

IRGC and Basij officials have repeatedly boasted about the regime's offensive cyber capabilities. Abdolreza Azadi, the IRGC commander in Hamedan, said in 2011, during Friday prayers: "On the instructions of Leader [Khamenei], the IRGC and the Basij have conquered the Internet arena and have to a large extent shut down the enemy's cyber force."[iii] Basij deputy commander Ali Fazli said in March 2013: "Just as there are cyber-attacks against us, our cyber corps – which comprises experts from the instructor, student, religious student, and sisters' Basij – attacks enemy websites... Warfare, especially cyber warfare, is bilateral, and defense will be successful if it is accompanied by a planned and calculated offensive."[4]

This paper will review the Iranian regime's preparations in the cyber arena, with a focus on its offensive capabilities.

The Iranian Regime Sets Up Its Cyber System

Establishing Cyber Institutions, Conducting Cyber Maneuvers

The importance that the Iranian regime places on the cyber arena was clearly illustrated in statements by Gholam Reza Jalali, director of the Passive Defensive Organization, which is the regime's emergency system plan and which is tasked with managing the civilian cyber system. In August 2012, he said, "The world is currently heading towards cyber warfare."[5]

In October 2011, the Passive Defense Organization established the Cyber Headquarters, which oversees these activities as well as the defense of the country's infrastructure, and which is deployed nationally via cyber headquarters that have been set up in various cities.

In addition to the Passive Defense Organization, cyber headquarters in the Iranian military and IRGC are also in operation. In October 2009, Iran founded the Cyber Police, a body that tracks regime opponents on the web and arrests them.[6]

From time to time, the Passive Defense Organization conducts cyber maneuvers in an attempt to institute and establish the cyber system and to improve its defensive capabilities against cyber-attacks. In early July 2013 Jalali said that the regime would soon conduct national cyber maneuvers, and that his organization would set regulations for vital infrastructure in Iran in order to attain complete cyber safety.[7] In August 2011, the Passive Defense Organization conducted a national drill aimed at testing state organizations' and institutions' vulnerability to cyber-attacks.[8] Jalali even said that between March 2011 and March 2012, the organization had conducted 500 cyber maneuvers across the country.[9]

Regime officials have claimed that Iran has attained cyber warfare capabilities matching and even surpassing those of the U.S. In February 2011, Ali Saeedi, Khamenei's representative in the IRGC, said that Tehran was ahead of Washington in terms of cyber-warfare;[10] in February 2013, Saeedi's deputy, Mohammad Hossein Sepehr, called Iran "the world's fourth biggest cyber power;"[11] and in May 2012, the commander of the IRGC in Qom, Ebrahim Jabbari, claimed that "the IRGC has managed to establish the second [strongest] cyber army in the world."[12]

Recruiting Hackers For Regime Activity

In an attempt to centralize cyber activity, regime organizations began recruiting hackers for a "Basij Cyber Council." In November 2010, Tehran IRGC commander Hossein Hamedani stated that "the Basij Cyber Council has trained 1,500 cyber-warriors who have assumed their duties and will in future carry out many operations."[13]

IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari said in February 2011 that his organization extensively utilizes the Basij's cyber capabilities: "[The IRGC's] cyber army operates in the virtual arena, which many countries today use for defensive, security, political, and cultural purposes. In light of the capabilities of Basij experts, and with attention to the link between the IRGC and the Basij and forces of the revolution [i.e. the regime], there are no limits with regard to the scope of the forces specializing in cyber warfare, and we use those forces extensively. The assistance from these forces is the reason the IRGC is successful."[14]

On another occasion, Jafari also implied that Iran is receiving help from foreign hackers for cyber-attacks: "It is possible that many cyber war soldiers and officers from other countries will assist us in this war."[15]

In March 2011, Gholam Reza Jalali called on hackers loyal to the regime to join its cyber ranks, saying: "We welcome hackers who wish to work for the Islamic Republic with motivations of good will and revolutionary activism."[16] In June 2011, the IRGC weekly Sobh-e Sadeq called on the regime to recruit hackers for government activity in order "to train an expert force and to pay close attention to the role played by information technology and communications in dealing with the enemy... Establishing cyber headquarters and recruiting revolutionary hackers are vital steps that are appropriate for this."[17]

In addition, the regime is preparing to train skilled academic manpower. In March 2012, various universities in Iran opened cyber defense schools, as part of a program launched by the Passive Defense Organization.[18] At a February 8, 2012 student conference, then-deputy head of Iran's National Security Council, Ali Baqeri, called on students "to play a key role in the cyber area" and boasted that "a document recently published by the U.S. intelligence apparatus said that Iranian intelligence operations against the U.S. have increased in recent years, and so have [Iran's] cyber capabilities."[19] He added: "Your actions in the cyber arena can be highly effective, as was proven in the Islamic Awakening [the Iranian term for the Arab Spring], when [Iranian] students spontaneously contacted Islamic Awakening activists and achieved very important results."[20]

Iranian Regime-Backed Hacks Of Websites Outside Iran

In recent years Tehran has shown offensive cyber-warfare capabilities, as manifested by its hacking of opposition websites inside and outside Iran, and websites of foreign media outlets it considers hostile such as Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Zamaneh, and even government websites in the Gulf, U.K., and U.S., and well as websites in France.[21]

Various Iranian functionaries have encouraged hacking. Vice President Elham Aminzadeh, who was at the time a former Majlis member, said, "It is Iran's right to respond to cyber-attacks with reciprocal attacks, if Iran does not receive the cooperation of international organizations in preventing them."[22] In May 2011, then-intelligence minister Heydar Moslehi called on Iranian citizens to carry out "the necessary actions with regard to the Farsi-language Facebook page opened by the Israeli Foreign Ministry, thus showing their revolutionary spirit."[23] In addition, the cultural director at Lorestan University in Western Iran, Mohammad Reza Khodaei, offered 10 million rials for students who manage to hack into and shut down "immoral" websites, explaining, "Today the enemy is waging soft warfare against divine morality... Today we are dealing with bestial Western culture."[24] In addition, Khodaei asked the science-oriented Informatic student association at Lorestan University to "make it top priority to hack into websites spreading immoral values that operate inside and outside Iran."[25]

Hacker Groups Working For The Regime

Several hacker groups operate as part of the regime; the main ones are the Iranian Cyber Army (ICA), Ashiyane, and Virtual Anonymous Jihad. Smaller groups include the Hezbollah Cyber Army,[26] Shabgard, and Simorgh.

 Ashiyane – Hacking Into NASA And Infrastructure Websites In U.S., U.K, France, And Gulf

Behrouz Kamalian, the head of the Ashiyane hacker group,[27] which in recent years has targeted regime oppositionist websites operating outside Iran, said in October 2009 that his group works in concert with governmental and military organizations.[28]

In May 2008, Kamalian said that the group had hacked into websites in the Gulf, to protest against their use of the term "Arabian Gulf" instead of "Persian Gulf," and added that it had "planted an announcement with a map of Iran with the caption 'The Persian Gulf' on the websites of various companies in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, and Iraq."[29] The Iranian website Tabnak stated that the websites hacked were those of the UAE newspaper Al-Khaleej; the Arabian Gulf League, which is the UAE soccer league; Iraq's Ministry of Higher Education; the Abu Dhabi Police website; Mayadin University in Saudi Arabia; and Oman's gas company.[30]

In 2010, Kamalian said that to mark the regime's Fight Against Terrorism Day, the group had hacked, over the course of two days, 1,000 important websites in the U.K., the U.S., and France – notably the official websites of the State of Louisiana and of the city of Pevensey in the U.K., the website of the U.K. company Logmein, and the website of a web security company in France.[31]

In January 2009, Kamalian claimed that in 2005, his group began hacking websites outside of Iran in response to statements by U.S. officials that Iran was involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He explained: "In protest, we attacked the website of NASA, and managed to hack into it and plant an announcement stating 'Iranians and Muslims are not terrorists' in English alongside an Iranian flag."[32]

 

Announcement planted by Ashiyane on websites in the U.S., U.K., and France[33]

Kamalian also said that in recent years, Ashiyane had hacked hundreds of websites, including ones hosted in Denmark in response to the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, Arabic-language websites in response to the use of term "Arabian Gulf" instead of "Persian Gulf," and Wahhabi websites in retaliation for a cyber-attack on websites belonging to senior ayatollahs Ali Sistani in Iraq and Makarem Shirazi in Iran. He said that the group had also hacked hundreds of Israeli websites during the second Lebanon war in 2006 and Operation Cast Lead in Gaza in 2009.[34]

In 2010, Kamalian said that his group operates independently and spontaneously, but acknowledged: "We cooperate with [Iranian] military apparatuses in advising and improving security... Many countries are waging cyber-wars because this type of war is more worthwhile with regard to cost, time, and loss of life. Therefore, the world's most powerful governments, such as Russia, China, Iran, and the U.S., need to have organized groups for cyber-warfare. We have always operated in the framework of the goals of the state, the nation, and the religion, and have never conducted projects against the Iranian country and people."[35]

The Iranian Cyber Army (ICA) – Operating Under IRGC Command

In February 2011, Khamenei's representative in the IRGC, Ali Saeedi, acknowledged that the Iranian Cyber Army (ICA) was operating on behalf of the IRGC. After the hacking that month of the VOA Farsi-language website, Saeedi said: "The attack on the VOA website by the ICA and the message left there ['We have proven that we can' – see image below] for U.S. Secretary of State [Hillary Clinton] reflects the IRGC's capability and strength in the cyber arena."[36] He added that the hack was in response to the U.S.'s support of Iran's Green protest movement.[37]

ICA hacks VOA Farsi-language website[38]

In December 2009, the ICA hacked Twitter, likely in response to the widespread use of the microblogging service in the organization of protests following the June 2009 elections in Iran, and caused it to shut down for two hours.[39] A statement left by the group on the Twitter website (see image below) read: "If Leader [Khamenei] gives the order – we will attack. If he asks us – we are willing to sacrifice our lives. If he asks us for restraint – we will obey."

 Announcement left by the ICA on Twitter[40]

Twitter's announcement that it was hacked[41]

In recent years, the ICA has hacked websites associated with Iranian regime opponents, mainly those who operate abroad. In January 2010 it was reported that the group had hacked Baidu, China's largest search engine,[42] and the website of Radio Zamaneh, which operates out of the Netherlands.[43] In February 2010, the group hacked the website of Mohsen Sazegara, an IRGC founder who defected to the U.S.;[44] Jaras, which is associated with supporters of the Green Movement and operates out of Virginia;[45] and Kaleme.org, which is associated with supporters of Mir-Hossein Mousavi, one of the leaders of the Green Movement. In November 2010, the ICA hacked the website of Farsi1, a channel for expatriate Iranians.[46] In February 2012 it was reported that the ICA had hacked the website for the Azerbaijan Broadcast Authority and the website for Azerbaijan Airlines, due to the tension between the two countries.[47]

In the run-up to the June 2013 presidential election, the ICA hacked into 13 regime opponent websites operating outside Iran, among them Alahwazvoice.com and Freeahwaz.com, which belong to the Ahwaz separatist opposition; the blog of Iranian journalist Arash Sigarchi, who works for VOA; and the websites Iranglobal.info and Iranbriefing.net, which are associated with regime opponents.[48]

Virtual Anonymous Jihad – Hacking Websites Belonging To Saudi Government, Exiled Regime Opponents

In June 2013, Iranian human rights activist and Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi revealed that "the hacker group Virtual Anonymous Jihad, which took responsibility for several attacks on websites operating outside Iran, is run and guided by Iranian regime members."[49]

In February 2013, the group hacked and shut down the websites Enghelabe-eslami.com and Banisadr.org, which are associated with former Iranian president and regime opponent Abu Al-Hasan Bani Sadr, who is in exile in France.[50] Also, in March 2013, the group hacked Mef.edu.sa, belonging to the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education, to protest against Saudi Arabia's involvement, beginning in 2011, in the Bahraini government's ongoing suppression of Shi'ite protests in Bahrain. (see image below). In May 2013, it also hacked Irtv.com, belonging to an Iranian oppositionist TV channel operating in the U.S., and the Facebook page of BBC Farsi journalist Siavash Ardalan (May 2013).

Hacked Saudi government website: "Bahrain in blood, Saudi is criminal"[51]

On June 13, 2013, the day before Iran's presidential election, the group hacked and shut down prominent regime opponent websites operating outside Iran, among them Digraban.com, Khodnevis.org, and Ostanban.com. On some of the hacked websites, the group posted the message: "To those who talk nonsense, and to the mercenaries of the foreigners – there is no safe place. Anywhere you are – you are within range of Hezbollah [Iran] forces."

Message left by the group on Ostanban.com

Article In IRGC Weekly: Iran Has The Power To Hack The Enemy's Advanced Weapons Systems

A February 4, 2013 article in the IRGC weekly Sobh-e Sadeq explained the importance of the cyber arena in the struggle between Iran and the U.S., and detailed Iran's offensive capabilities in this area. Following are excerpts from the article:

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the most important targets of American cyber-attacks, and accordingly, there have already been several [U.S.] attacks [against Iran]. Among the American-Zionist cyber-attacks on Iran should be noted the insertion of the Stuxnet, Flame, and Duqu viruses. Just as in the real arena, the U.S. and Zionism aim to take over the cyber arena, and the struggle with Iran is one of their most important goals. However, just as in the real arena, the Islamic regime managed to challenge the American and Western lust for power in the cyber arena, as well as via [the ongoing] resistance and steadfastness...

"The list of topics in Iran's resistance in the cyber arena is lengthy, and is not restricted to technical defense or retaliatory attacks on websites that attack [Iran], but also includes spreading the Islamic culture and school of thought in the cyber arena in an attempt to challenge the West and its materialistic and anti-human culture. Therefore, spreading the Islamic values in the cyber arena is in itself the greatest challenge to Zionism and the U.S. At this time, there are many Islamic and Shi'ite websites that spread the religious values and beliefs in many languages. The Internet is not safe [for Iran] from interference by American and Zionist elements, but at the same time it provides an opportunity to disseminate Islamic values.

"In terms of cyber technology, Iran has made great strides in recent years, and U.S. security and intelligence sources believe that right now Iran has the means and technical capabilities to fight the U.S. in a cyber-war... Iran's cyber capabilities are not merely a slogan but also a fact that outside observers cannot deny. Iran can hack into military computers of enemy countries, and crack passwords for aircraft and missile guidance, and even for ship-to-ship communications systems. Likewise, after the Stuxnet virus attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, the Zionists created the Stars virus to carry out another attack, but Iran's capabilities prevented this virus from having an impact...

"Thus far, the ICA has managed to identify and thwart various cyber activist networks that operated against the religion, morality, and human rights. An example of this is the most important operation from February-March 2009 known as the Gerdab Project – in which the IRGC managed to arrest the main elements behind 90 immoral Farsi-language websites and shut them down. Iran's activity in the cyber arena and its resistance and steadfast position in culture and technology in the face of the U.S.'s and Zionism's materialistic ideology and lust for power have thus far been highly successful."[52]

Commander Of Cyber Headquarters Of Iranian Army: "The Cyber Arena Is Actually The Arena Of The Hidden Imam"

In an April 20, 2013 interview with the Iranian Mersadnews.ir, the commander of the Cyber Headquarters of the Iranian Army, Behrouz Esbati, discussed the dissemination of the values of the revolution via the cyber arena: "The virtual arena... is in fact the chief means for preparing the first steps towards the appearance of the reformer of the world and the one who will establish the rule of the just [i.e. the Hidden Imam]. Today, the Western world has reached a dead end in [its attempts to] present a [new] path for human society – from lifestyle to political, cultural, and social discourse...

"This [Western] society – with all its empty viewpoints – is crumbling. Under these conditions, the path is paved for those who want to show [the world] the Islamic school of thought and its logic, who aspire to establish a regime of divine values – which will in turn prepare the conditions for the appearance of the Hidden Imam.

"The cyber arena is actually the arena of the Hidden Imam. Some believe that Iran does not have the initiative in this arena, and that it is the enemy who holds the [real] capabilities. However, others who are much greater in number – and they include the enemy itself – believe that the rapidity of Iran's conquest of the cyber arena is dizzying. We play a substantial role in the virtual arena, and our impact in the 'soft warfare' front has made the enemy's head spin... The Iranian youth has shown its might in this area."[53]

* Y. Mansharof is a Research Fellow at MEMRI.

[1] The regime also set legal penalties for bloggers and websites posting links to Facebook and Google+. Snn.ir, February 11, 2013.

[2] In January and May 2013, U.S. officials accused Tehran of being behind cyber-attacks on computer networks of U.S. energy companies and banks. Nytimes.com, January 8, 2013, May 24, 2013. In October 2012, Washington accused Tehran in an August 2012 attack on computers belonging to the Saudi ARAMCO. Nytimes.com, October 24, 2012. Washington also accused Tehran of being behind September 2012 cyber-attacks on U.S. banks, but the director of Iran's Passive Defense Organization denied involvement. Fars (Iran), September 23, 2012.

[3] Fars (Iran), July 1, 2011.

[4] Mehr (Iran), March 14, 2011.

[5] Mehr (Iran), August 11, 2012.

[6] Tabnak (Iran), October 30, 2009. See cyberpolice.ir. The Cyber Police arrested regime opponent blogger Sattar Beheshti, who was tortured to death during his arrest. See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 5057, Iranian Blogger Who Told Supreme Leader Khamenei 'Your Judicial System... Is Nothing But A Slaughterhouse' Tortured To Death In Prison, November 19, 2012.

[7] Press TV (Iran), July 6, 2013.

[8] Mashregh (Iran), August 21, 2011.

[9] Fars (Iran), September 26, 2011.

[10] IRNA, Fars (Iran), February 22, 2011.

[11] Fars (Iran), February 2, 2013. The Secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, Mehdi Akhavan Bahabadi, even said that Iran is a world leader in cyber defense, and that it is willing to assist its neighbors protect their oil companies based on its extensive experience. Mehr (Iran), October 14, 2013.

[12] Fars (Iran), May 20, 2012.

[13] ISNA (Iran), November 21, 2010.

[14] Hamshahri (Iran), February 7, 2011.

[15] Mehr (Iran), July 4, 2011

[16] Jalali added: "I warned the group of hackers that wishes to harm the people. We follow their activity and we deal with them harshly." Bultannews.com, March 6, 2011. In May 2013, the head of the National Iranian Oil Company, Ahmad Qale'bani said that the company intends to hire hackers to help defend against cyber-attacks on Iran's oil infrastructure. Fars (Iran), May 31, 2013.

[17] Sobh-e Sadeq (Iran), June 27, 2011.

[18] IRNA (Iran), March 24, 2012.

[19] Fars (Iran), February 8, 2012. Fars explained that Baqeri meant that "students should join the cyber arena to contend with the U.S."

[20] Fars (Iran), February 8, 2012.

[21] The management of Radio Farda, which operates in Europe, accused the Iranian regime of being behind cyber-attacks on Facebook pages belonging to Iranian journalists that it employs. Irangreenvoice.com, January 30, 2013. For the BBC Farsi's claim that it was attacked by Iran and for more on the Cyber Police's activity as part of the IRGC, see MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 2794, In Run-Up To Islamic Revolution Day 2010, Iranian Regime Steps Up Oversight, Censorship On Media, Citizens, February 5, 2010.

[22] Resalat (Iran), May 29, 2012.

[23] Fars (Iran), May 11, 2011.

[24] Snn.ir, July 9, 2012.

[25] ISNA (Iran), June 28, 2012.

[26] It was reported in February 2010 that this group hacked into the website of the Iranian oppositionist party The Association of Combatant Clerics.

[27] The group's website is ashiyane.ir.

[28] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 2794, In Run-Up To Islamic Revolution Day 2010, Iranian Regime Steps Up Oversight, Censorship On Media, Citizens, February 5, 2010.

[29] Tabnak (Iran), May 29, 2008.

[30] Tabnak (Iran), May 29, 2008.

[31] Fars (Iran), August 30, 2010.

[32] Ashiyane also published a communique on its website taking responsibility for the attack on the NASA website, listing the five subdomains that it hacked: Mola.gsfc.nasa.gov, Lvis.gsfc.nasa.gov, imagers.gsfc.nasa.gov, gimms.gsfc.nasa.gov, and neespi.gsf.nasa.gov. For Ashiyane's communique, see Ashiyane.ir/archive.php?id=2.

[33] Fars (Iran), August 30, 2010.

[34] Inn.ir, January 25, 2009.

[35] Dw.de, September 17, 2010.

[36] Mashregh (Iran), February 22, 2011.

[37] IRNA, Fars (Iran), February 22, 2011.

[38] Fars (Iran), February 22, 2011.

[39] Wsj.com, December 18, 2009.

[40] Tabnak (Iran), December 18, 2009.

[41] Tabnak (Iran), December 18, 2009.

[42] Telegraph.co.uk, January 12, 2010.

[43] Fars (Iran), January 31, 2010.

[44] Tabnak (Iran), February 10, 2010.

[45] Tabnak (Iran), February 12, 2010; Kaleme (Iran), February 13, 2010.

[46] Medianews.ir, November 17, 2010.

[47] Dw.de, February 23, 2012.

[48] Mehr (Iran), June 14, 2013; hra-news.org, June 15, 2013.

[49] Humanrights-ir.org, June 22, 2013. See also MEMRI Special Dispatch 5405, Iranian Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi To President Rohani: End Iranian Regime's Assault On Human Rights And Freedom Of Information And Expression, August 13, 2013. 

[50] Emadnews (Iran), February 13, 2013.

[51] Mef.edu.sa/wp-hack.php.

[52] Sobh-e Sadeq (Iran), February 4, 2013.

[53] Mersadnews.ir, April 20, 2013.

Y. Mansharof

Source: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&shva=1#inbox/140bb07c8ca4d2d6

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