Iran Focus

London, 27 August – Anyone using social media to incite people to “insult sanctities” or “damage public property” will be punished, warned Iranian Police Commander Hossein Ashtari when he spoke at a ceremony in Yazdel, in Isfahan Province. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Brigadier General said, “People behind social media call-ups should leave the illusion aside that people will follow them.”

“anyone who insults Islamic sanctities or any of the Great Prophets or [12] Shi’ite imams or the Holy Fatima shall be executed if the insult is considered saab ul-nabi (insulting Prophet Muhammad); otherwise, they shall be sentenced to one to five years’ imprisonment,” stipulates Article 513 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code. Iran’s security and intelligence forces have always aggressively confronted what they call “insulting sanctities” and “blasphemy” in speeches, essays, books, and media.

Iran Focus

London, 27 August – Tech giant Google announced on Thursday that it had uncovered a “state-sponsored phishing attack” connected to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), which is the first time that the company found a direct link between the state-run media outlet and misinformation attacks from Iran.

A blog post from Google stated that a number of YouTube channels, blogs and Google+ accounts linked to the IRIB that had disguised their relationship whilst sharing English-language political content in the US had been “identified and terminated”.

Iran Focus

London, 24 August – On Tuesday, at a ceremony in Tehran to mark Defense Industry Day, the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) displayed what it claimed was its first domestically-designed and manufactured fighter jet.

While the unveiling garnered local media attention, observers have pointed out that the twin-seater Kowsar bears a striking resemblance to the F-5 designed by Northrop in the 1950s, which was used by US forces in the 1960s.

The event was attended by President Hassan Rouhani, defense minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami, and several other officials. Rouhani was photographed in the cockpit of the aircraft at the launch.

By Pooya Stone

Social media giants Facebook and Twitter announced on Tuesday that they had removed hundreds of fake accounts used in a covert Iranian influence campaign.

The Iranian propaganda campaign pushed posts that criticised Donald Trump and Israel, while promoting the Iran nuclear deal, according to an investigation by cyber security firm FireEye, who discovered the malign operation.