Russia aids Iran with satellite imagery, cyber support, Ukraine says | Iran International
Russia aids Iran with satellite imagery, cyber support, Ukraine says
Russia has provided satellite imagery and cyber support to Iran to help it carry out attacks on US and regional targets, according to a Ukrainian intelligence assessment reviewed by Reuters.
The assessment said Russian satellites conducted at least 24 surveys of military facilities and critical sites across 11 countries in the Middle East between March 21 and 31, covering 46 locations including bases, airports and oil fields.
It said Iranian ballistic missile and drone strikes often followed within days of the satellite surveys, describing what it called a clear pattern.
A Western military source and a regional security source said their intelligence also pointed to increased Russian satellite activity in the region and imagery sharing with Iran.
The assessment said Russia and Iran also cooperated in cyber operations, with hacker groups from both countries interacting and stepping up activity targeting infrastructure and telecommunications in the Persian Gulf.
It said the imagery sharing was organized through a permanent communications channel between the two countries and could involve Russian military intelligence personnel in Tehran.
Iranian security forces have still not returned the body of 18-year-old protester Amirhossein Hatami to his family, four days after his execution, in what informed sources described as further pressure on relatives already reeling from his death.
Information obtained by Iran International shows that Hatami, who was executed on April 2, remains unburied as authorities continue to withhold his body.
Hatami was one of the defendants in a case linked to a fire at the Mahmoud Kaveh Basij base on Namjoo Street in eastern Tehran during the January protests.
Others in the same case included Mohammadamin Biglari, Shahin Vahedparast Kalur, Abolfazl Salehi Siavashani and Ali Fahim, all of whom were sentenced to death.
Biglari and Vahedparast were executed on April 5, while Fahim’s execution was carried out on Monday, April 6.
Informed sources told Iran International that Hatami’s body has not been released because his name appeared on a website linked to the Mojahedin-e Khalgh organization, an allegation his family strongly rejects.
Sources familiar with the case said Hatami was an industrial design student at the University of Tehran and was fluent in three languages.
A source with knowledge of the events of January 8 said the case involved seven defendants, none of whom had any role in starting the fire.
According to the source, Hatami and the others entered the Basij base with around 50 other people only after the fire had already broken out.
Minutes later, another fire began. Many managed to escape, but seven people, including Hatami, were unable to flee.
They went to the rooftop, where they were detained by Basij forces and severely beaten, the source said.
Judicial authorities later accused the defendants of trying to gain access to the armory.
After their arrest, the detainees were subjected to severe interrogations and then transferred to Ghezel Hesar prison.
They were denied in-person visits throughout their detention and were allowed only phone calls.
Their trial was presided over by Judge Abolghasem Salavati, and they were denied access to lawyers of their own choosing.
Death sentences were issued on February 7.
Sources told Iran International that the confessions in the case were extracted under pressure and coercion, and that the judicial process ended in executions carried out without the defendants and their families having full knowledge of the proceedings.
In the same case, 28-year-old Shahin Vahedparast was also executed on April 5, and his body, too, has still not been returned to his family, according to informed sources.
Those sources said Vahedparast’s wife was four months pregnant at the time of his execution.
Relatives said he had dreamed of opening a restaurant with her.
Iran’s nationwide internet blackout has entered its 39th day, with connectivity cut for more than 900 hours, NetBlocks said on Tuesday.
“The measure leaves most Iranians isolated from the global network known as the internet, with only a domestic digital service, or intranet, now available,” the internet monitoring group wrote on X.
Iranian state media said on Tuesday that Khorramabad airport in western Iran was hit in an air attack, with no casualties reported.
IRNA cited a provincial official in Lorestan as saying the Shahid Ashrafi Esfahani Airport in Khorramabad was targeted.
The official said the strike caused no loss of life.
State media said earlier on Tuesday that US and Israeli attacks also damaged communications infrastructure in rural areas of Selseleh and Delfan counties, leading to telecom outages.
China said on Tuesday it hopes parties will seize a chance for peace after a US proposal for a ceasefire involving Iran, and backed Pakistan’s mediation efforts.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Beijing “welcomes all efforts that are conducive to peace” and supports Pakistan’s active role in promoting talks.
China also urged relevant parties to bridge differences through dialogue.
Iran’s judiciary chief said on Tuesday that legal cases against people accused of helping the country’s adversaries should be handled more quickly.
Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said verdicts involving execution or confiscation of assets should be issued faster against “enemy agents.”
“The Islamic Iran is exercising its undeniable right to legitimate self-defense, and we will continue this defense in the most powerful manner possible until our national security is guaranteed,” he said.
His remarks came as Iran has intensified arrests since US and Israeli strikes began with the authorities detaining people accused of aiding adversaries.
