US Security Advisor Denounces Iran’s Brutal Repression Of People

Axios cited senior Israeli officials as saying that Israel's deputy director general for Eurasia Simona Halperin visited Kyiv with the Israeli ambassador on September 7 to establish a “dialogue channel” with Ukraine about Middle East issues in order to share information and intelligence and coordinate positions. 

According to the unnamed officials, the Israelis held a meeting with Maksym Subkh, Ukraine's special representative for the Middle East, in which he stressed that Ukraine is opposed to the lifting of sanctions on Iran if a nuclear deal is signed, saying it will enable greater military cooperation between Tehran and Moscow.

Subkh also told the Israeli diplomats that Ukraine expects Israel to take a much clearer position regarding the Russian aggression and unequivocally support Ukraine, which Israel has avoided because of their own relations with Russia.

"The Israelis gave us some intelligence, but we need much more," a senior Ukrainian official confirmed, saying that Halperin asked Subkh for intelligence on Iranian involvement in the war. 

Calling it "a collaboration with evil," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that at least eight Iranian-made unmanned aerial (UAVs) vehicles had been shot down so far in the conflict.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan warned in mid-July that Russia was preparing to acquire military drones from Iran. Later reports indicated a Russian delegation visiting Iran and assessing the potential of Iranian drones in its war in Ukraine.

In a video message published on Sunday, the group announced it has hacked the website of the parliament as part of its ongoing operation against the government of Iran in solidarity with the popular protests triggered by the death in custody of the 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini. 

“Our support for the Iranian protests will continue. As you all know, the government is trying everything to stop you. Don’t give up,” said a distorted voice on the video. “Do not leave the streets. Do not stop the revolution.”

“The Iranian parliament supports the dictator when it should support the people, so we are releasing the personal information of all of them,” the group said. 

On Saturday, the hacking collective took down the website of Iran's state-run Arabic news network Al-Alam, a few days after it attacked the official website of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei amid the nationwide protests in the country. Both the Persian and English versions of Khamenei’s website are still down.

A number of state-run websites in Iran, such as IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency and the news website of the state broadcaster have limited access to their pages from abroad over fears of being attacked by the hacktivist group. 

If Iran government blocks the people from accessing the internet, Anonymous will block the government from accessing the internet, the group has said.

In its 20:30 special bulletin, the IRIB claimed that Tehran and many other cities had a “quiet night” while reports and footage on social media at the same hour indicated fierce protests confronted by security forces on the streets in the northern and western neighborhoods and suburbs of the capital.

Iran Human Rights (IHR) said Saturday at least 54 protesters had been killed by then. In many cases, handing over the bodies of the victims to their families was made contingent on agreeing to secret burials, IHR reported.

Protesters blocked roads, set fire to trash cans, and chanted slogans against the regime and the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who in his only public appearance Wednesday made no mention of the death of Mahsa Amini whose death in custody sparked the protests last Friday.

A video from Shiraz has captured the moment when an anti-riot police officer violently shoving a young woman and hit her head on the curb. Another video from Shiraz showing a young woman standing on a car with her hair falling on her shoulders and waving her headscarf leading the other protesters’ chanting “Down with the Dictator” has gone viral on social media.

Internet and even phone lines have been completely cut off in Oshnavieh, a town of around 40,000 in northwestern West Azarbaijan Province, where protesters drove the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) out of its barracks and seized three bases used by the Basij, a militia controlled by IRGC, taking control of the town, with Kurdish majority population, on Friday.

Very little is known about the situation in Oshnavieh, but informed sources told Iran international that military forces are surveilling the town and its surrounding villages with helicopters and drones while preparing to deploy to the area.

State media, officials, Friday prayer leaders, and pro establishment social media users in the past few days have tried to claim that protesters attack or torch ambulances and public transportation buses.

Protesters have published several videos showing security forces using these vehicles for getting close to the heart of the protests or transporting those they arrest such as a video from Mashhad that shows an ambulance driving into a police station.

They have also claimed that protesters have torched mosques, burned the Quran and set fire to a religious banner used in ceremonies to mourn Imam Hussain, a Shia saint.

Many protesters believe these were perpetrated by agents of the state to incite religious people. A popular former national football (soccer) team player, Ali Karimi, who lives in the UAE, has called on protesters not to attack banks, women clad in black veils, and respect the Quran.

“Don’t join in with anyone who does these things because these are some of the plots of [regime agents to discredit] you my dear people,” Karimi tweeted Thursday. Videos posted on social media show protesters chanting Karimi’s name.

Authorities have resorted to what global Internet watchdog NetBlocks has called “curfew-style cellular network disruptions” to interrupt contact among protesters and leaking of footage from the protests. they have also restricted Instagram, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, and Skype as well as some popular videogames such as Clash of Clans the chatrooms of which could be used for communication among protesters, at the national level.

Hacktivists sympathizing with protesters have also been at work targeting the websites of the government and its affiliates including the website of the ministry of foreign affairs.

The official website of Iran’s government IRNA reported on Sunday that Simon Shercliff was called in by the ministry on Saturday to convey Tehran’s protest to the UK government for hosting the media channels. 

There are three London-based major Iranian satellite TV channels beaming programs into Iran; Iran International TV, Manoto TV and BBC Persian.

During the meeting, the British envoy was told that by hosting these media outlets, London is interfering in Iran’s affairs, and that Tehran considers this an action against the national sovereignty of our country.

The ministry said that in recent days the media channels have put “incitement of violence and spread of riots” on top of their agenda, referring to the nationwide unrest following the death of Mahsa Amini, the young woman who died in the hands of hijab enforcement police. 

The Iranian Foreign Ministry also summoned the Norwegian ambassador over “meddlesome” remarks by the Parliament President, Masud Gharahkhani, an Iranian-Norwegian in support of and solidarity with Iran’s protests, saying his "prejudgment” about the unrest is “wrong” and “unconstructive”.

Numerous protest rallies also have taken place outside the Islamic Republic’s embassies and consulates in cities around the world. 

On Saturday night, two motorcycle-riding men threw a bottle of Molotov cocktail at the building of Iran’s embassy in the Greek capital Athens. 

“We told them to realistically translate their words into action so that we can reach a deal,” he said on Saturday, referring to a final agreement on the revival of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Amir-Abdollahian, who is still in New York holding meetings on the sidelines of the 77th UN General Assembly session, highlighted that he has made it clear to representatives of the European Union and signatories to the JCPOA that Iran possesses the required will and determination to reach an agreement.

“It is now the American side that must have the courage to take a decision in order for us to talk about striking a good, strong, and durable agreement,” the Iranian foreign minister pointed out.

Since the start of the popular protests in Iran over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in custody of hijab police, the prospect of restoring the deal seems even dimmer. 

US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley said Saturday, “While Iran’s government brutalizes peaceful demonstrators and tries to choke off Iranians’ access to the global internet, the United States is taking action to help the Iranian people communicate with one another.”

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said earlier in the day that the US Treasury's move to issue a General License to boost support for internet freedom in Iran is an effort to "violate Iran's sovereignty" and will not remain unanswered.