Nine Pakistanis Killed In Iran's Southeast Amid Reconciliation Efforts

The pro-Iranian cyber army is “gaming the platform’s limited moderation controls in English and especially Arabic to suppress criticism and amplify their own narrative,” wrote Geneva-based Samara Azzi in the “Fikra Forum” section of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy website.

Referring to the “unprecedented” level of misinformation about the world conflicts, particularly the war in Gaza, Azzi warned that the attempts to report false information and misattributed videos on Arabic X runs the risk of confronting the reactions of the cyber army of the “axis of resistance,” including the supporters of the Islamic Republic’s proxy groups in the region such as Hamas, Hashd al-Shaabi and Hezbollah.

In the case of marking posts and comments critical of the “axis of resistance,” Iran's regional militias, pro-Iran users will report them in a coordinated manner in an attempt to shadow ban, block and eventually de-platform activists, she added, further stressing that the cyber army is fed upon “the deep pockets of their Iranian backers.”

Ever since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict on October 7, activists, politicians and security experts have warned of the alarming level of misinformation on social media. On October 30, the Associated Press reported a “flood” of misinformation regarding the war, saying that it is not easy for users “to sort fact from fiction.”

“In the fog of war, rumors and lies are especially dangerous, capable of taking on the veneer of fact and affecting decisions,” warned a New York Times article published on Thursday.

Samara Azzi stated that the situation is further exacerbated for Arabic users of X as they face both a misinformation campaign and a coordinated pro-Iran cyber army. The unwholesome result is self-censoring for many users as they choose to avoid making controversial remarks so as not to incur the wrath of Hezbollah and Hamas sympathizers, she stated.

Azzi also took to task X’s “moderation failures,” accusing some of the platform’s Arabic language moderators of backing pro-Iran proxy groups. According to her, several workers in X’s MENA offices in Dubai have voiced their support for the Free Patriotic Movement, a Lebanese political party and a Hezbollah ally.

There have been reports of a similar problem in other social networks as well. In 2022, three human rights groups called on Meta, the owner of Instagram and Facebook, to alter its Persian-language content review procedures for Iran. The groups voiced their concerns over the company censoring content by Iranian dissidents and democracy advocates.

Some Iranians also complained that their Instagram posts were being restricted. BBC’s sources then alleged that pro-regime employees of the German branch of Telus International, a Canadian contractor which provides content moderation to Instagram, are responsible for restricting anti-government content of Iranian users.

Azzi also criticized X for allowing Hezbollah agents to operate freely in the platform, saying they tweet with impunity.

Much to our dismay, things have only worsened regarding the representation of Middle Eastern politics after Elon Musk bought Twitter, she noted, adding, “There is also little clarity about what future efforts will be undertaken to address this issue.”

Reza Amiri Moqadam, Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, arrived in the capital city Islamabad on Saturday, reported Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the IRGC.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian will pay an official visit to Islamabad on Monday at the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart, the report added.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Mudassir Tipu, Pakistan’s ambassador to Tehran, handed over his credentials to Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi.

Iran and Pakistan have “unbreakable bonds” which are rooted in their common religion, culture and civilization, Raisi told the ambassador, further stressing that the border between the two countries must be protected against “insecurities.”

United Nations Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric hailed as “a positive development” the resumption of “good relations” between Iran and Pakistan, adding that it will benefit the stability in the region.

On January 17, the IRGC attacked several positions in Iraq’ Kurdistan region, Syria and Pakistan in what it called an attempt to target terrorists and Israeli agents. Pakistan retaliated by attacking locations in southeastern Iran.

The insurgent Sunni Baluch group known as Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) has been a source of tension between Iran and its nuclear neighbor, Pakistan, for years.

Iranian officials have on several occasions in the past decade, including in 2019, complained that Islamabad has taken no action against the members of Jaish al-Adl finding refuge in its territory despite Iran's provision of relevant information, including locations of the militants’ hideouts.

Shargh newspaper raised questions in a recent report, pondering how the group managed to attend the matches if Iran had not officially introduced them to the Asian Football Confederation.

Last week, Iran International released images from the halftime break of the Iran-Hong Kong match, revealing Iranian women from the Bahar group engaging in dance and singing performances.

The state broadcaster refrained from airing the program, despite it being held on the sidelines of Iran's matches in the Asian Cup.

In response to the video's release, Iranian authorities sought to downplay the group's presence in Qatar, labeling it as "uncoordinated."

Ensieh Khazali, Vice President for Women and Family Affairs in Ebrahim Raisi's government, called for punishment for the women involved in the group.

Amid ongoing controversies surrounding the event, Shargh newspaper published a report delving into the ambiguities and questions surrounding the government's denial.

The newspaper inquired, "If the group was not officially introduced by Iran, then what cultural programs has the Iranian Cultural Committee executed in the Asian Cup under the name of Iran?"

Highlighting a historical precedent, Shargh emphasized that this isn't the first time a women's group has participated as an Iranian music ensemble in football and international competitions. The Bahar group also performed during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Prior to Iran International's release of the Bahar women's group's performance video, the sports authorities of the Islamic Republic had remained silent on the matter.

Over the past days, a video has gone viral in Iran which shows Hossein Amir-Abdollahian being unable to read aloud an English text during a UN Security Council meeting on the situation of the Middle East held on January 23.

His inability to pronounce simple English words was received negatively by the Iranian public, with many saying they felt embarrassed and crestfallen by the incident.

Referring to the video, reformist commentator Abbas Abdi taunted Amir-Abdollahian by saying that he has even a bigger problem than “not knowing English.”

We should ask how familiar Amir-Abdollahian is with international and foreign affairs, Abdi pointed out.

Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a senior aide to former President Mohammad Khatami, wrote on X that many presidents and foreign affairs ministers speak in their mother tongues at international organizations.

“Simultaneous interpretation is available. Why does Mr. Amir-Abdollahian insist on speaking English and bringing disgrace to the country?” Abtahi stressed.

Meanwhile, Yaser Jebraili, a politician close to Iran’s political establishment, stressed that the Islamic Republic officials should not use Arabic, English, and other languages to speak at international organizations.

They should be obliged not to speak in any language other than Persian, he said.

Etemadonline, a news website, juxtaposed Amir-Abdollahian’s speech at the UN and a video of an Iranian Baloch old man explaining in English about the tradition of using hand fans in their region.

Some social network users in Iran have also drawn analogies between Amir-Abdollahian and Reema bintBandar, the Saudi Ambassador to the US, whose fluent English while defending a ceasefire in Gaza has grabbed the attention of many Iranians.

There have also been several references to the language proficiency of many former Iranian officials during the reign of Pahlavi, including Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi himself who could speak fluently in English and French.

Hardliners, however, have defended Amir-Abdollahian, saying a foreign minister should not necessarily be judged by his knowledge of foreign languages.

Ahmad Khoei, a political analyst close to the regime, called Mohammad Reza Shah, King Abdullah of Jordan, and some other officials of the region as “apprentices of colonization” and said they know English because they were “trained” in the universities of “Western occupiers.”

“If one doesn’t speak the colonial language like one’s mother tongue, they will be under attack from the beginning,” Khoei added in defense of Iran’s foreign minister.

An active card-carrying member of the IRGC’s Basij paramilitary force, Amir-Abdollahian is considered to be very close to the inner circle of power in the Islamic Republic.

Iran’s foreign minister is also an affiliate of the IRGC Quds Force and has been accused of being involved in planning meetings in Beirut and Tehran prior to the Hamas October 7 onslaught on Israel, which saw at least 1,200 killed and 240 more taken hostage.

Fadahossein Maleki, a member of the National Security Committee of the Parliament, said on Saturday that "Our strategy is to prevent the region from further escalation into war, but rest assured that Iran will give a timely and heavy response to Israel."

Earlier on Thursday, he stated that “the fact that military commanders exercise prudence does not mean they don’t want to respond.”

The incident occurred on January 20 when an Israeli airstrike targeted a residential building in Damascus's Mazzeh neighborhood, as reported by Syria's state-run SANA news agency. Initially, four IRGC personnel lost their lives: Hojatollah Omidvar, Ali Aqazadeh, Hossein Mohammadi, and Saeed Karimi. Subsequently, a fifth officer, Mohammad-Amin Samadi, succumbed to injuries sustained in the attack.

Razi Mousavi, responsible for logistical and military coordination for the IRGC in Syria, was killed in a similar attack near Damascus in December, marking a continuation of Israeli strikes targeting Iranian interests in the region.

Iranian-backed Hamas in Gaza declared war on Israel on October 7. Subsequently, support from Iran-backed groups like the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon swiftly followed. Despite repeated threats against Israel from the Iranian government, Tehran has abstained from direct attacks, opting instead to support proxies encircling Israel.