Shia Cleric Survives Assassination Attempt in Central Iran

Local media reported on Friday that Israel’s Privacy Protection Authority confirmed the incident, saying that it occurred two weeks ago.

Iranian hacker group, named Sharp Boys, claimed responsibility, saying in a photo posted on their Telegram channel that "Wherever you go, even on your trips, you are under our control. Remember our name."

The Privacy Protection Authority added following the hack it had immediately contacted the owner of Gol Tours LTD company, that owns over 20 popular travel booking websites, in an effort to address the security breach and make the necessary modifications but was met with a refusal to cooperate reportedly over the costs of the changes.

Authority officials raided the company’s offices on Thursday and seized its servers until the investigation over the cyberattack is complete.

The leaked data include telephone numbers, addresses, dates and locations of booked vacations, and sensitive medical information, the authority said in a statement.

Last week, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said a cyber unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard -- called “Shahid Kaveh” -- conducted research to damage ships, gas stations and industrial plants in several countries including Britain, the US, France and Israel.

Gantz hinted that Israel -- which is widely believed to have waged cyber war against Iran's nuclear facilities and other infrastructure -- may retaliate physically against enemy hackers.

Videos shared on social media showed fire and smoke billowing from the base.

Iranian official media and websites affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard have remained silent on the incident.

Since May, there have been several attacks and mysterious incidents against Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) officers. One key commander was assassinated in Tehran on May 22 in broad daylight, while another was said to have fallen from the roof of his house and died a few days later. Iran has blamed Israel, in what has damaged the reputation of Iran’s intelligence and security organizations.

In a statement, the exiled Iranian opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) claimed the attack was carried out by “revolutionary cells”, a term it often uses to characterize anti-regime acts and protests in Iran. The group which used large-scale violence in the 1980s and 1990s in its fight against the Islamic Republic, later distanced itself from armed attacks.

In early June, an Iranian hacktivist group reportedly affiliated with the Albania-based MEK, named ‘Uprising till Overthrow’ hacked into and deactivated over 5,000 surveillance cameras and 150 websites and online services of Tehran Municipality.

The MEK was listed by the US from 1997 to 2012 as a ‘foreign terrorist organization,’ but was subsequently removed from the list. The group has cultivated links with many politicians in the US and Europe, paying large sums for attendance or speeches at its rallies.

The audio interview with Hawza News, the news agency of Qom’s seminaries, was released on Friday in reaction to a Wednesday report by the New York Times claiming that Naseri was arrested a month ago on charges of spying for Israel. 

He said in the file that he is doing his job despite the allegations but did not mention where in the IRGC he is serving since he was removed from his post at the Guard’s counter-intelligence unit. The fact that there is no video footage of him or any recent reports about his activities as part of the IRGC, strengthens the speculations that he may be in fact in detention as Iran is notorious for extracting confessions and statements under duress.

The Times described Nasiri as “a senior commander in the Revolutionary Guard’s Protection of Information Unit, tasked with oversight and supervision of the organization’s work,” although the paper sourced this to an April 21, 2019 story from Radio Farda that Naseri had been replaced in that position. The Iranian Students News Agency also reported at the time that Naseri had been removed.

There had been suggestions at the time that Nasiri had fled the country, with the Washington Free Beacon claiming he had defected to an Arab state in the Persian Gulf taking with him secret documents. 

During her address to the Security Council during a meeting on Iran’s nuclear issue on Friday, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo said that “the debris of nine ballistic missiles and six cruise missiles had similar design, characteristics and parts consistent with those of missiles examined previously and assessed to be of Iranian origin.”

She also called on both the United States and the Islamic Republic “to quickly mobilize in the same spirit and commitment to resume cooperation under the JCPOA.”

Together with the UN Secretary General, she “appealed to the US to lift or waive its sanctions as outlined in the plan and to extend the waivers regarding the trade in oil with Iran.”

They also urged Iran “to reverse the steps it has taken that are not consistent with its nuclear-related commitments under the plan,” noting that the International Atomic Energy Agency estimates Iram’s stockpile of enriched uranium is more than 15 times the allowable amount under the JCPOA, including uranium enriched to 20 percent and 60 percent “which is extremely worrying.”

Moreover, in a Thursday statement ahead of a Security Council meeting on the implementation of resolution 2231 that endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal, the UK, France and Germany called on Iran to stop and reverse its nuclear escalation, return to full cooperation with IAEA and seize the offer on the table without further delay.

The USNI, a non-profit professional military forum that offers independent, nonpartisan info on security issues, published a photo of the vessel at Qeshm Madkandaloo Shipbuilding Cooperative Company shipyard on Thursday. It is visible in Airbus commercial satellite imagery shared publicly on Google Earth.

The unidentified catamaran, probably a missile boat, is seen next to another new multi-hulled missile watercraft -- a Shahid Soleimani-class missile corvette – and is characterized by a clean-angled form, appearing stealthier than earlier types. The new type bears some similarities with the Soleimani-class in overall form but is noticeably smaller, measuring about 50 meters (166 feet) long and 14 meters (46 feet) across.

The new vessel appears to lack the helipad that the Shahid Soleimani-class has, but since it is currently unfinished, it is difficult to assess the final fit. However, it does have two cut-outs in the aft deck that are indicative of pop-up missile tubes, likely for four to eight Noor or Qader anti-ship missiles, the Iranian versions of the Chinese C-802 family of sea-skimming missiles roughly equivalent to the US Harpoon and Neptune types.

Last week, IRGC Navy Commander Alireza Tangsiri said Shahid Soleimani-class missile corvette, which carries helicopters, will be added to the IRGC Navy's fleet in the near future.

Late in June, Iran repeated its tactic of harassing American naval vessels in the Persian Gulf, as three IRGC speedboats came dangerously close to US ships.