Twitter, Facebook Block Iranian Disinformation Network

The unprecedented first three assaults, including a missile attack on Monday during a visit by Israel's president, were launched by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis in an escalation with a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia, which includes the UAE.

The Houthis have not taken responsibility for the latest attack, which was claimed by a little-known group calling itself the "True Promise Brigades", according to US-based SITE Intelligence Group, which follows jihadist websites.

The group's only other claim was in January 2021, when it said it launched a drone at Saudi Arabia.

If confirmed, the claim by the "True Promise Brigade" could indicate an upswing in violence involving militias seeking to help Iran oppose Western and Gulf Arab adversaries, according to some analysts.

"If Alwiyat al-Waad al-Haq came out of hibernation and did launch drones at the UAE ... then this was likely an Iran-directed or at very least Iran-tolerated operation," Michael Knights at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy said in a Twitter post, using the group's Arabic name.

Sunni Muslim Gulf powers have called on global powers trying to salvage a nuclear pact with Iran to also tackle Shi'ite Iran's regional proxies and missiles program.

Iran's foreign minister discussed Yemen with his Emirati counterpart by telephone on Wednesday.

The UAE largely reduced its military presence in Yemen in 2019 and has been engaging with Tehran under de-escalation efforts largely driven by economic priorities.

According to a report by the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which is the political wing of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), the new naval militia is part of the Qods (Quds) force, which operates outside of Iran’s borders.

"The Qods Force has been recruiting mercenaries for newly created, armed and trained terrorist units to attack ships and maritime targets in the region," it said, alleging that the naval unit is recruiting people from Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Africa.

The 55-page report says the IRGC is training the units in the Caspian Sea district of Zibakenar in the northern province of Gilan before deploying them to the Arabian Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait between Yemen and the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea.

The group said the mission of the new unit is to "disrupt maritime navigation of commercial ships, to attack ports, conduct ship hijackings and plant mines", and provided examples of such operations using small boats off Yemen's Red Sea port of Hudaydah.

It is not immediately possible to verify the claim, but the IRGC has an active military academy in the coastal county of Zibakenar since 2015.

Earlier last month, the US seized thousands of weapons destined for the Houthi rebels in Yemen from the Iranian port of Jask.

Both Iranian and Chinese flags were beamed onto the well-known landmark for several hours during a ceremony Sunday attended by the Chinese ambassador. Tehran municipality officials said the ‘video-mapping’ had been proposed by the Iran-China Friendship Association.

Foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian posted a photo of the event on Twitter Sunday evening, offering good wishes to the Chinese government and people for New Year and over hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics. "We will implement the comprehensive cooperation plan between the two countries with vigorous energy, so that the second 50-year-old Iran-China relationship will be even more powerful!" Amir-Abdollahian wrote in his tweet.

But the display of the Chinese flag was too much for some social media activists who detected a sign of "concessions" to Beijing and "Iran's colonialization by China."

"God on the same level as the Communist stars?” one Twitteratus opined. “Do you know what you are doing Mr. Abdollahian? Haven't you seen the Iranian people's reaction? Or maybe it's more important to keep the Chinese happy rather than us people…?”

Twitterati left angry comments under Amir-Abdollahian's post, with one using the hashtag No-to-Chinese-Globalism and evoking the 1979 slogan "Neither West, Nor East.”

"You have dressed the symbol of Iranian's freedom and independence in the flag of a foreign power and felicitate them on colonizing you. Happy anniversary of the Revolution!" another angry comment read.

While some Iranians take umbrage at Iran’s efforts to expand relations with China, and especially at the 25-year cooperation pact agreed in March, China’s regional role is growing fast.

The New York Times noted Tuesday that “in January alone, five senior officials from oil-rich Arab monarchies visited China,” and suggested that for a range of Middle Eastern countries “China promises to be a long-term buyer of oil and gas and a potential source of investment, without the political complications involved in doing business with the United States.”

Some Twitterati defended the display of the Chinese flag, noting that video-mapping national monuments with other countries' flags or symbols on suitable occasions was done widely around the world. One posted a photo of video-mapping of the Eiffel Tower in Paris in tribute to 16 Iranian firefighters who lost their lives in incident in Tehran in 2018.

The Islamic Republic's expanding relations and long-term partnership with China has stirred much controversy among Iranians, particularly since March 2021 when Iran and China signed a 25-year cooperation pact.

Built in 1971, the Azadi monument was originally named Shahyad (the Shah’s Monument) but renamed after the ruler was toppled by the 1979 Revolution.

According to a report by tech news website ZDNet on Tuesday, the Iranian advanced persistent threat (APT) group MuddyWater has penetrated the Turkish health and interior ministries as well as private companies to gain access to customer data.

An APT is a stealthy threat actor, typically a nation state or state-sponsored group, which gains unauthorized access to a computer network and remains undetected for an extended period.

Researchers at Cisco Talos Intelligence Group -- one of the world’s largest commercial threat intelligence teams -- said last week that the latest MuddyWater campaign dates to November 2021, when they sent phishing emails to many Turkish users.

The emails were spoofed to look they’re from the health and interior ministries and utilized malicious PDFs and Microsoft Office documents as an initial attack vector.

Since at least 2017, MuddyWater -- also known as Mercury or Static Kitten -- carried out attacks against organizations in the US, Israel, Europe, and the Middle East, including a months-long effort to breach government networks in Turkey, Jordan and Iraq.

Earlier in January, the US military officially confirmed that Iran's intelligence ministry is connected to the cyber espionage group.

Earlier on Tuesday, the US State Department announced up to $10 million reward on two Iranian cyber actors for trying to interfere with the 2020 presidential election.

Announcing Gantz's trip only after his arrival in Manama, Israel's Defense Ministry said he would sign a security cooperation agreement with Bahrain, which along with the UAE normalized relations with Israel in 2020.

The United Arab Emirates on Monday intercepted a missile during a visit by Israel's president, the third such attack in two weeks claimed by the Houthis.

In disclosing Gantz's official visit, the Israeli defense ministry made no mention of the Houthi attacks nor gave details of what a security accord with Bahrain would include.

Israel this week is taking part in a large Middle East naval exercise for the first time publicly joining Saudi Arabia and Oman, two counties it has no diplomatic relations with.

Gantz flew to Bahrain on an Israeli air force transport plane. It was the first time an Israeli defense chief had visited the Gulf nation or that an Israeli military aircraft had landed there.

"Honored to be here and looking forward to meeting the Kingdom's leaders," Gantz wrote on Twitter.

The US-brokered Abraham Accords signed by Bahrain, the UAE and Israel built on common commercial interests and worries about Iran.