NCRI

Iran News in Brief – May 7, 2023

Sedighe Shahrokhi

iranian resistance activism 06052023

THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS

UPDATE: 10:00 PM CET

Group Threatens Ayatollah in Hack of Iranian Foreign Ministry, Then Leaks Trove of Sensitive Data

An Iranian “Hacktivist” group gained access to Iran’s Foreign Ministry servers and leaked a trove of data before defacing the ministry’s website.

The group, called GhyamSarnegouni, translated as “Rise to Overthrow,” announced on its website Sunday it was responsible for taking down websites belonging to Iran’s Foreign Ministry. The group also leaked a trove of data, including identification documents, ministry correspondence, phone numbers, and the names of over 11,000 of the ministry’s employees, according to a report from Iran International.

The official Iranian Foreign Ministry website remained down as of late Sunday morning, displaying a message that said it was “undergoing scheduled maintenance and upgrades.”

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UPDATE: 8:30 PM CET

Iran Uprising at a Glance

Based partially on reporting by PMOI (MEK) Network in Iran

Sunday, May 7, 2023 – 8 PM GMT + 1

As Sunday marked the 234th day of Iran’s nationwide uprising, people from all walks of life in different cities across Iran held protest rallies.

Members of the Iranian opposition, Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) Resistance Units network inside Iran, have launched a new campaign of anti-regime measures in numerous cities throughout the country.  This latest initiative is focused on the slogan of “Down with oppressors, be it the Shah or [Khamenei]!”

Pensioners and retirees of the regime’s Social Security Organization in the cities of Arak, Shush, and Kermanshah held rallies and marched on Sunday. They were protesting high prices, poverty, corruption, inflation, poor living conditions, and officials’ refusal to address their demands.

Medical personnel in the city of Qazvin held a gathering on Sunday protesting and demanding their delayed pensions be provided for.

Regime operatives launched a chemical gas attack targeting the all-girls Chamran Technical School in Shahrekord, southwest Iran, on Sunday, leaving several students poisoned and in need of urgent medical attention.

On Saturday night, People in the capital’s Shahrak-e Bagheri district were chanting anti-regime slogans, including:

“Down with Khamenei!”

Iranian dissidents took control over 210 websites, software applications, servers, data banks, and other aspects of the regime’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on Sunday. The front pages of these 210 websites and software apps associated with the mullahs’ Foreign Ministry and their embassies across the globe were defaced and replaced with images of the Iranian Resistance leadership and slogans calling for the regime’s overthrow.

UPDATE: 3:00 PM CET

State-affiliated Cleric Targeted in Central Iran

On May 6, the Friday prayer leader of the Ahmadabad village in Markazi province was attacked by a young man and was sent to the hospital.

State media identified the cleric as Ahmadi and added that the assailant who used a cold weapon was a 21-year-old. According to the state-run ILNA news agency, the cleric was attacked after finishing the prayer and leaving the mosque. He has undergone neck and groin surgery, the source suggested.

The semi-official ISNA news agency claimed that the aggressor has already been apprehended and tried to picture him as having mental problems.

Militias’ Expansion in West Euphrates Met by Military and Civil Confrontation

SOHR calls upon all international actors to intensify their efforts to expel Iran and its proxies from Syria and bring to justice all those who aided and abetted the killing and displacement of Syrian people.

Iran and its proxy militias have unprecedented influence in most areas under the “symbolic” regime control, as neither attacks by Israel and the International Coalition, nor the “cold war” with Russia could hinder the alarming entrenchment and expansion of these forces across Syria. Strengthening their presence and promoting their ideology, the Iranians are still carrying on with their systematic plan to change the demography of different areas throughout Syria’s geography.

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UPDATE: 12:30 PM CET

Iranian dissidents hack 210 Foreign Ministry websites and servers

Reports indicate that Iranian dissidents took control of 210 websites, software applications, servers, data banks, and other aspects of the regime’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on Sunday. The front pages of the websites and software apps associated with the MFA and their embassies worldwide were defaced and replaced with images of the Iranian Resistance leadership and slogans calling for the regime’s overthrow. According to the reports, the MFA’s servers and main data banks in Tehran have been destroyed, and tens of thousands of documents have been confiscated by Iranian dissidents. They have also taken control of the MFA’s internal coordination programs, including apps managing news and reports, visas, appointments and referrals, personnel, salaries, and other branches.

The regime’s embassies are acting as outposts of the mullahs’ Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). These embassies provide diplomatic cover for the regime’s diplomat terrorists. For instance, the Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi transferred explosives from Tehran to Vienna and personally delivered the package to an Iranian regime team in a plot aiming to bomb a massive rally of the Iranian opposition coalition NCRI back in 2018. Assadi and his three accomplices were arrested, found guilty, and are currently behind bars in Belgium.

Leaked documents also show that the MFA has been involved in security affairs since its inception. The regime’s Supreme National Security Council has established a “supreme committee” in the Intelligence Ministry to confront the MEK, an Iranian opposition group. The leaked documents also refer to a tweet by Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian opposition coalition NCRI, regarding “fake numbers of those killed and arrested [in the uprising that began in September 2022], and expanding the [uprising].”

The measures taken by the MFA to counter the MEK include preparing newsletters on MEK activities aimed at informing foreign governments and their diplomats, warning European countries with protest letters regarding the MEK’s new approach and strategy, and establishing a network of Resistance Units inside Iran. The MFA is also discussing the necessary actions needed to have the European Union designate the MEK as a terrorist organization. Other measures include monitoring contacts and meetings between current and former U.S. officials and members of Congress with the MEK, sending protest letters to the U.S. and targeted European countries regarding support for the MEK in their countries, and summoning various ambassadors.

UPDATE: 9:30 AM CET

Iran’s Baluchis Renew Major Anti-Regime Protests as Uprising Continues

Iran’s nationwide uprising is witnessing its 233rd day on Saturday following a major demonstration by the country’s Baluchi community on Friday. Brave locals in the city of Zahedan, the provincial capital of Sistan & Baluchestan, took to the streets in vast numbers following their weekly Friday prayer and began chanting anti-regime slogans. The demonstrators vowed to continue their struggle against the mullahs’ dictatorship and rejected any calls for a return of Iran to monarchial rule. People throughout Iran continue to specifically hold the mullahs’ Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei responsible for their miseries, while also condemning the oppressive Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and paramilitary Basij units, alongside other security units that are on the ground suppressing the peaceful demonstrators.

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April 2023 Report – Chemical Attacks on Iranian Schoolgirls

After five months, the chemical attacks on Iranian schoolgirls continue to threaten the lives of young women and girls in schools across Iran. The clerical regime has not taken any meaningful measures to stop the attacks. The chemical attacks on Iranian schoolgirls and students resumed after the Nowruz holidays, despite belated warnings from Ali Khamenei to arrest and punish the perpetrators of such heinous crimes. The clerical regime claimed to have arrested more than 100 individuals in early March. Still, they announced the names of only a few who appeared on TV making confessions that had been extracted from them under torture. The arrests failed to stop the chemical attacks on Iranian schoolgirls.

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The Devastating Impact of Government Policies on Iran’s Infrastructure

The Iranian regime has been plagued by widespread corruption for decades. This pervasive problem has led to significant economic hardship for ordinary citizens and undermined public trust in the regime’s institutions. Despite the efforts of successive governments to address this issue, it remains endemic within certain sectors of society. One area where corruption is particularly acute is among high-ranking officials within the regime. These individuals have used their positions of power to engage in various forms of graft, including embezzlement, bribery, and kickback schemes. Such practices have resulted in substantial financial losses for the state and contributed to a culture of impunity that allows such behavior to continue unchecked. In recent years, many Iranian regime officials have faced corruption allegations.

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Gothenburg, and Bremen—May 1, 2023: MEK Supporters Rally to Support the Iran Revolution

Gothenburg, and Bremen—May 1, 2023: Freedom-loving Iranians, supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) held rallies in support of the Iranian Revolution. The Iranian communities in Gothenburg and Bremen supported their rising compatriots and pledged to continue to call for freedom and democracy in Iran.

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Zurich, Switzerland—May 3, 2023: MEK Supporters Held an Exhibition in Support of the Iran Revolution

Zurich, Switzerland—May 3, 2023: Freedom-loving Iranians, supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) held an exhibition of the martyrs of the nationwide protests killed by the mullahs’ regime in solidarity with the Iranian Revolution.

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Cologne, Germany—May 3, 2023: MEK Supporters Rally to Support the Iran Revolution

Cologne, Germany—May 3, 2023: Freedom-loving Iranians, supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) held a rally in support of the Iranian Revolution. The Iranian community in Cologne supported their rising compatriots and pledged to continue to call for freedom and democracy in Iran.

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Also, read Iran News in Brief – May 6, 2023

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