Iran – Faith Matters

Iran clamps down again on headscarf offences

Faith Matters — Sun, 14 Apr 2024 01:34:37 +0000

Iran is again taking tougher action against violations by women of strict Islamic dress codes, with the start on Saturday of a new drive on observance of the regulations in the Gulf state.

Controls were tightened nationwide and women disregarding the requirement to wear a headscarf in public remain guilty of a criminal offence, the Iranian news agency Tasnim reported on Telegram, citing a police commander.

Since the mass protests led by women in the autumn of 2022, Iran’s notorious morality police have been less strict, partly because they experienced more resistance from the population.

Instead, security agencies stepped up video surveillance of offences. For example, cars belonging to women who were repeatedly caught driving without a headscarf were impounded.

Authorities also tracked offences online, including photos of women without headscarves posted on Instagram. Shops and restaurants whose customers disregarded the dress code were ordered to close.

Since 2022, more and more Iranian women have been ignoring the dress code, while religious hardliners have tried to fight the growing defiance.

A new bill passed by parliament provides for draconian punishments but has not yet come into force.

In the coming weeks, a revised version is to be resubmitted to Iran’s so-called Guardian Council, an arch-conservative, 12-member supervisory body.

The mass protests were triggered by the death of the young Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini after her arrest by police because of an allegedly ill-fitting headscarf.

An expert United Nations commission concluded that physical violence after the arrest led to her death.

US holds Iran accountable for presumed death of ex-FBI agent

Faith Matters — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 16:11:07 +0000

The Trump administration for the first time formally blamed Iran for the presumed death of retired FBI agent Robert Levinson, publicly identifying two Iranian intelligence officers believed responsible for his abduction.

Mr Levinson disappeared in Iran under mysterious circumstances more than a decade ago, and though US diplomats and investigators have long said they thought he was taken by Iranian government agents, Monday’s announcement in the final weeks of the Trump administration was the most definitive assignment of blame to date.

Besides blaming two high-ranking intelligence officers by name, US officials said the Iranian regime sanctioned the plot that led to Mr Levinson’s abduction and lied for years about its involvement in his disappearance through disinformation campaigns aimed at covering up the government’s role.

The announcement comes nine months after US officials revealed that they had concluded that Mr Levinson “may have passed some time ago” though they did not disclose at the time the information that led them to that assessment.

Officials on Monday would not describe any additional information that led them to believe Mr Levinson had died in captivity, except to say that all evidence they had pointed in that direction, or how they came to identify the role of the two individual intelligence officers.

Officials said they were acting now, one month before President Donald Trump leaves office, not for any political reasons but simply because they had finally accumulated enough information to formally hold Iran accountable.

They also said that no agreement with Iran should be reached without a deal to free the remaining handful of US citizens imprisoned in that country.

Mr Levinson vanished on March 9 2007, when he was scheduled to meet a source on the Iranian island of Kish.

For years, US officials would say only that Mr Levinson was working independently on a private investigation.

But a 2013 Associated Press investigation revealed that Mr Levinson had been sent on a mission by CIA analysts who had no authority to run such an operation.

The family received a video in late 2010 as well as proof-of-life photographs in 2011 in which he appeared dishevelled with a long beard and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit like those given to detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison.

Even then, his whereabouts and fate were not known, and the Iran government has persistently denied having any information about Mr Levinson.

US and Israel worked to track and kill al Qaida’s second in command

Faith Matters — Sun, 15 Nov 2020 22:30:55 +0000

A senior al Qaida operative was killed in Iran earlier this year by Israeli agents supported by US intelligence.

Abu Mohammed al-Masri was killed by assassins in Tehran during a period in which the Trump administration was ramping up pressure on Iran.

He was killed on August 7, the anniversary of the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Al-Masri was widely believed to have participated in the planning of those attacks and was wanted on terrorism charges by the FBI.

The US provided intelligence to the Israelis on where they could find al-Masri and the alias he was using at the time, while Israeli agents carried out the killing, according to two officials.

Another two other officials confirmed al-Masri’s killing but could not provide specific details.

His death is a blow to al Qaida, the terror network that orchestrated the September 11 attacks in the US and comes amid rumours in the Middle East about the fate of the group’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

The officials could not confirm those reports but said the US intelligence community was trying to determine their credibility.

Two of the officials – one within the intelligence community and with direct knowledge of the operation and another former CIA officer briefed on the matter – said al-Masri was killed by Kidon, a unit within the secretive Israeli spy organization Mossad allegedly responsible for the assassination of high-value targets.

The official in the intelligence community said al-Masri’s daughter, Maryam, was also a target of the operation.

The US believed she was being groomed for a leadership role in al Qaida and intelligence suggested she was involved in operational planning, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence.

Al-Masri’s daughter was the widow of Hamza bin Laden, the son of al Qaida mastermind Osama bin Laden.

Both the CIA and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, which oversees the Mossad intelligence agency, declined to comment.

Iran continues to stockpile and enrich uranium, says UN

Faith Matters — Thu, 12 Nov 2020 02:28:15 +0000

Iran has continued to increase its stockpile of low-enriched uranium and enrich it to a greater purity, far beyond the limits set in a landmark nuclear deal, the UN’s atomic watchdog agency has said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported in a confidential document distributed to member countries and seen by The Associated Press, that as of November 2 Iran had a stockpile of 2,442.9kg of low-enriched uranium, up from 2,105.4kg reported on August 25.

The nuclear deal signed in 2015 with the the UK, the United States, Germany, France, China and Russia, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) allows Iran only to keep a stockpile of 202.8kg.

The IAEA reported that Iran has also been continuing to enrich uranium to a purity of up to 4.5%, higher than the 3.67% allowed under the deal.

Amnesty International ‘very concerned’ for welfare of academic held in Iran

Faith Matters — Wed, 05 Aug 2020 08:24:48 +0000

Amnesty International says they are “very concerned” for the welfare of a British-Australian academic who is being held in detention in one of Iran’s most notorious prisons.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who was most recently a lecturer in Islamic studies at Melbourne University, had originally been held in Tehran’s Evin prison since she was reportedly given a 10-year sentence in September 2018 on charges of spying.

However, last week she was moved from Evin to the infamous desert prison Qarchak, reportedly as a form of punishment.

Nassim Papayianni, Amnesty International’s Iran campaigner, said: “Along with anyone held in Shahr-e Rey prison (also known as Qarchak), we’re very concerned for Kylie Moore-Gilbert’s welfare at this prison.

“We remain very concerned that Kylie may have been imprisoned solely for exercising her rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly – including through her work as an academic. If so, she should be released immediately and unconditionally.

“Kylie should at the very least be provided with regular access to her family through telephone calls, to a lawyer of her own choosing and to consular assistance, as well as being given all the medical care she needs.”

Mr Papayianni also said Ms Moore-Gilbert had made allegations of torture and those claims “must be immediately investigated and those suspected of responsibility brought to justice”.

He described the conditions at Qarchak, a former industrial chicken farm, as “appalling”.

He said: “According to reports and information provided to Amnesty, conditions in Qarchak are appalling and fall well below the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners.

“Prisoners at the jail have reported overcrowding and filthy conditions, including urine-stained floors, as well as self-harm and rampant drug use. The food has been described as inedible and the water not fit for drinking because it’s so salty.

“There are frequent reports from the facility of assaults against inmates both by other prisoners and by prison staff. This is placing Kylie in physical danger as well exposing her to the risk of infectious diseases.”

On Tuesday, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said Ms Moore-Gilbert had received a visit from ambassador to Iran Lyndall Sachs.

“Australia’s ambassador to Iran made a consular visit to Dr Moore-Gilbert in Qarchak Prison on 2 August,” DFAT said.

“Dr Moore-Gilbert is well and has access to food, medical facilities and books.

“We will continue to seek regular consular access to Dr Moore-Gilbert.”

Ms Moore-Gilbert’s family said they were “reassured” by the Australian consular visit.

“We, the family, have been reassured after the Australian embassy’s visit with Kylie on Sunday,” they said in the DFAT statement.

“We remain committed to getting our Kylie home as soon as possible and this is our top and only priority.”

Letters smuggled out of prison and published in January revealed the lecturer’s fears for her mental health.

She said: “I’m taking psychiatric medications, but these 10 months that I have spent here have gravely damaged my mental health.

“I am still denied phone calls and visitations, and I am afraid that my mental and emotional state may further deteriorate if I remain in this extremely restrictive detention ward.”

She also appeared to suggest she had been offered the chance to become a spy.

“I am not a spy. I have never been a spy and I have no interest to work for a spying organisation in any country,” she wrote.

All Faith Delegation Considers Going to Iran

Faith Matters — Mon, 13 Jan 2020 17:45:45 +0000

Labour’s Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) raised the idea of a possible all-faith delegation, saying: “If we want peace we have got to carry on speaking to the Iranians, and all of us who’ve been campaigning for the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and the other prisoners held, believe that perhaps speaking at a level of faith, an all-faith delegation going to Iran at the present time to speak to the faith leaders in Iran might actually… would he support that sort of delegation visiting Iran?”

Mr Sheerman said he had spoken to the Archbishop of Canterbury and it could take place.

Mr Raab said: “We need to keep the diplomatic lines of communication open… I sympathise very much with the spirit of the idea of an all-faith diplomatic initiative. I think right at the moment he will have seen that we advise through our Foreign Office travel advice against travel to Iran and I think for the moment that’s probably the safest bet.”

Tory Tom Tugendhat, foreign affairs committee chairman in the last parliament, said: “Reaching out through friends in the region… would be a good avenue for making sure that Iran, not only comes back into the fold and frees people from this awful tyranny, but perhaps also gives up the policy of hostage taking that has not just taken Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe away from her daughter, but many, many others and their families too.”

Twitter Takes Down Thousands Of Accounts Linked to Iran

Faith Matters — Thu, 13 Jun 2019 16:40:58 +0000

Twitter has removed almost 5,000 accounts it believes are linked to the Iranian government with the aim of manipulating conversations about political and social issues.

The social network has been cracking down on state-backed information operations as part of an effort to clean up its platform of fake news.

In its latest disclosure, Twitter removed more than 1,500 accounts which tweeted nearly two million times with global news content angled to benefit the diplomatic and geostrategic views of the Iranian state.

Another 2,865 accounts originating from Iran were taken down for using false personas to target conversations about political and social issues in Iran and globally, while another 248 accounts were banned for participating in discussions related to Israel specifically.

“We believe that people and organisations with the advantages of institutional power and which consciously abuse our service are not advancing healthy discourse but are actively working to undermine it,” said Yoel Roth, head of site integrity at Twitter.

“Our site integrity team is dedicated to identifying and investigating suspected platform manipulation on Twitter, including potential state-backed activity.”

The company also suspended 130 accounts linked back to Spain, which it discovered were directly associated with the Catalan independence movement, spreading content about the Catalan referendum.

Only four accounts linked to Russia were taken down this time round – down from the 518 Russian accounts it reported back in November – as well as 33 from Venezuela engaging in platform manipulation.

The move comes at a critical time for social networks, as they look to shake off accusations of not doing enough to tackle misinformation and the spread of harmful content, such as terrorism-related posts and hate speech.

Twitter’s legal, policy, and trust and safety lead, Vijaya Gadde, recently admitted that she has “no doubt” that content on Twitter and other social networks could contribute to radicalisation, while revealing that 1.6 million accounts have been taken down related to terrorism.

According to the executive, 90% of terror-related content taken down is detected by Twitter’s own technologies proactively without any users reporting it.

Iran: Khamenei says war unlikely but urges defence boost

Faith Matters — Mon, 03 Sep 2018 10:46:26 +0000

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday war was unlikely but called on Iran’s armed forces to boost their defence capacities, according to his official website, as the country faces increased tension with the United States.

On Saturday, Iran announced plans to boost its ballistic and cruise missile capacity and acquire modern fighter planes and submarines to boost its defences following the U.S. pullout from Tehran’s nuclear agreement with world powers.

“Ayatollah Khamenei emphasised that based on political calculations there is no likelihood of a military war but added that the armed forces must be vigilant … and raise their personnel and equipment capacities,” the website quoted Khamenei as telling commanders of Iran’s air defence forces.

“The Supreme Leader said … the air defence units were a very sensitive part of the armed forces and on the front line of confronting the enemy, and emphasized the need to increase their readiness and capabilities,” the website said in its report on the gathering, which was held to mark Iran’s Air Defence Day.

Saturday’s news of the military development plans came a day after Iran dismissed a French call for negotiations on Tehran’s future nuclear plans, its ballistic missile arsenal and its role in wars in Syria and Yemen.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said last month the Islamic Republic’s military prowess was what deterred Washington from attacking it.

Separately, a senior Iranian diplomat met visiting UK Junior Foreign Minister Alistair Burt and urged swift European action on a planned package of economic measures to offset the U.S. pullout from the accord and the reimpositions of sanctions by Washington, the state news agency IRNA reported.

“The imposition of (U.S.) sanctions and pressures and the lack of rapid action by Europe to fulfil their commitments will have serious consequences,” Kamal Kharrazi, a former foreign minister who heads a top foreign policy council, told Burt, IRNA reported.

Iranian officials have said they would decide whether to quit the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers after studying the European package of economic measures that could help offset U.S. sanctions.

“European countries have not been able yet to take necessary measures to secure Iran’s interests under the nuclear agreement,” Kharrazi said.

“(Burt) said Britain’s position is different from that of the United States and we are looking for a European mechanism to make the nuclear accord successful,” IRNA reported.

In a meeting with senior parliamentarian Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, Burt referred to the case of a British-Iranian dual national detained in Iran, IRNA reported.

“I thank Iran for its humanitarian act to grant Nazanin Zaghari furlough and her meeting with her family, and we hope that this approach will continue until the release and the pardon of such people,” Burt said, according to IRNA.

Britain is seeking the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation. She was arrested in April 2016 at Tehran airport as she was heading back to Britain with her daughter, now aged four, after a family visit. She was released for three days last month.

Burt, on the first visit by a British minister since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal, earlier met Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Saturday the talks with Burt had involved “access to banking resources and the sale of oil”.

Iran has been seeking commitment from European signatories of the nuclear deal that it will be able to access the Western banking system and continue to sell oil despite U.S. sanctions.

In a statement before his visit, Burt said: “As long as Iran meets its commitments under the deal, we remain committed to it as we believe it is the best way to ensure a safe, secure future for the region.”

US: Social media platforms dismantle disinformation campaigns

Faith Matters — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 13:00:39 +0000

Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc. collectively removed hundreds of accounts tied to an alleged Iranian propaganda operation on Tuesday, while Facebook took down a second campaign it said was linked to Russia.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the accounts identified on his company’s platform were part of two separate campaigns, the first from Iran with some ties to state-owned media, the second linked to sources which Washington has previously named as Russian military intelligence services.

Officials in Iran, where it is a holiday to mark the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival, were not immediately available to comment. Moscow has repeatedly denied using hacking or fake social media accounts to influence foreign elections. The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The move by Facebook and others is the latest attempt by global social media giants to guard against political interference on their platforms. It comes as concerns are rising about foreign attempts to disrupt the U.S. midterm elections in November.

The United States earlier this year indicted 13 Russians for alleged attempts to meddle in U.S. politics, but the latest alleged Iranian activity, exposed by cybersecurity firm FireEye Inc. suggests the problem may be more widespread.

“It really shows it’s not just Russia that engages in this type of activity,” Lee Foster, an information operations analyst with FireEye, told Reuters.

FireEye said the Iranian campaign used a network of fake news websites and fraudulent social media personas spread across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google Plus and YouTube, to push narratives in line with Tehran’s interests.

The Iranian mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment.

The activity was aimed at users in the United States, Britain, Latin America and Middle East up through this month, FireEye said, and included “anti-Saudi, anti-Israeli, and pro-Palestinian themes” as well as advocacy of policies favorable to Iran such as the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal.

FireEye said the Iranian activity did not appear “dedicated” to influencing the upcoming election, though some of the posts aimed at U.S. users did adopt “left-leaning identities” and took stances against President Donald Trump.

That activity “could suggest a more active attempt to influence domestic U.S. political discourse” is forthcoming, Foster said, but “we just haven’t seen that yet.”

‘DISTINCT CAMPAIGNS’

Facebook said the Russia-linked accounts it removed were engaged in “inauthentic behavior” related to politics in Syria and Ukraine. It said that activity did not appear to be linked to the Iranian campaign.

“These were distinct campaigns and we have not identified any link or coordination between them. However, they used similar tactics by creating networks of accounts to mislead others about who they were and what they were doing,” the company said in a statement.

Facebook last month removed 32 pages and accounts tied to another misinformation campaign without describing its origins, but which U.S. lawmakers said likely had Russian involvement.

Microsoft said this week that hackers linked to the Russian government sought to steal email login credentials from U.S. politicians and think tanks, allegations the Russian foreign ministry described as a “witch-hunt.”

FireEye said the U.S.-focused Iranian activity ramped up last year, just months after Trump took office, with websites and social media accounts posting memes and articles, some of which were apparently copied from legitimate U.S. and Iranian news outlets.

In some cases, the domains for the fake websites like “US Journal” and “Liberty Free Press” were originally registered years before the 2016 election, in 2014 and 2013, but most remained inactive until last year, FireEye said.

Arabic-language, Middle East-focused websites appear to be part of the same campaign, the company added.

The technology companies variously said they linked the accounts to Iran based on user phone numbers, email addresses, website registration records and the timing of account activity matching Iranian business hours.

FireEye expressed “moderate confidence” about the Iranian origins, but said it has not been able to tie the accounts back to a specific organization or individuals.

Hundreds of thousands of people followed one or more of the Facebook pages implicated in the campaign, Facebook said.

It shared examples of removed posts, including a cartoon depicting an Israeli soldier executing a Palestinian and a fake movie poster showing President Trump embracing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Postings cited by FireEye expressed praise for U.S. politicians and other Twitter users who criticized the Trump administration’s decision in May to abandon the Iranian nuclear pact, under which Iran had agreed to curb its nuclear weapons program in exchange for loosening of sanctions.

Some Twitter and Facebook accounts were designed to appear as if they were real people in the U.S., Britain and Canada, according to FireEye. The accounts used a combination of different hashtags to engage in U.S. culture, including “#lockhimup,” “#impeachtrump” and “notmypresident.”

Twitter, which called the effort “coordinated manipulation,” said it removed 284 accounts.

Facebook said it removed 254 pages and 392 accounts across its flagship platform as well as its Instagram service. Some of the accounts had events and groups associated with them.

The accounts spent about $12,000 to advertise through Facebook and Instagram using a variety of currencies, Facebook said. The company said it had notified the U.S. Treasury and State departments of the purchases, which may potentially violate sanctions.

Alphabet, which includes Google and YouTube, did not respond to a request to comment.

Saudi Arabia to admit Iranian diplomat

Faith Matters — Mon, 06 Aug 2018 10:09:58 +0000

Saudi Arabia has agreed to admit an Iranian diplomat to head an office representing Iranian interests in the kingdom, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported on Sunday, in a rare move after the rivals broke off relations in 2016.

“An informed diplomatic source said Sunday that Saudi Arabia had agreed to grant a visa to the head … of Iran’s interests section,” IRNA reported. “Observers saw this … as a positive diplomatic step in Tehran-Riyadh relations.”

The office is expected to be set up within the Swiss diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia, based on an agreement signed in 2017.

There was no immediate official Saudi reaction to the Iranian report.

The kingdom, the regional rival of mostly Shi’ite Iran, presents itself as the guardian of Islamic orthodoxy and custodian of its holiest places in Mecca and Medina.

Riyadh severed diplomatic relations after Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi Embassy in Tehran following the execution of a Shi’ite cleric in Saudi Arabia in January 2016.

Both countries agreed to Switzerland’s offer of its traditional policy of good offices and to act as a diplomatic channel between the two countries.

Saudi Arabia welcomed President Donald Trump’s decision in May to withdraw the United States from an international nuclear agreement with Iran and to reimpose economic sanctions on Tehran.

In an interview published on the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s website, the ministry spokesman said there had been a “breakthrough” in relations between the two regional rivals.

“Up until two weeks ago, no visa had been issued for the names that we had submitted a long time ago,” spokesman Bahram Qasemi said.

“But within the last week or two, there has been a breakthrough and I think there are indications that the office for the protection of interests will be opened,” he added.

Tension between the two countries have surged in recent years, with Saudi Arabia and Iran supporting opposite sides in wars in Syria and Yemen and rival political parties in Iraq and Lebanon.