Monday, March 26, 2018

Eye on Iran: US Charges 9 Iranians in Massive Hacking Scheme



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The Trump administration announced criminal charges and sanctions Friday against Iranians accused in a hacking scheme to pilfer sensitive information from hundreds of universities, private companies and American government agencies. The nine defendants, accused of working at the behest of the Iranian government-tied Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, hacked the computer systems of about 320 universities in the United States and abroad to steal expensive science and engineering research that was then used by the government or sold for profit, prosecutors said.


Saudi Arabia said its air defenses destroyed seven ballistic missiles late Sunday, fired from neighboring Yemen and targeting at least four Saudi cities including the capital, Riyadh... At least one civilian, described by Al Arabiya as an Egyptian national, was said to have died in the missile attack... The Saudis and the Americans have accused Iran of violating a United Nations arms embargo by providing military weapons and supplies to the Houthis, including missiles. Iran has denied the accusation but has defended the missile launchings, calling them a justified response to devastating Saudi-led aerial attacks.


Roadside bombs disguised as rocks in Yemen bear similarities to others used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and by insurgents in Iraq and Bahrain, suggesting at the least an Iranian influence in their manufacture, a watchdog group said on Monday.

NUCLEAR DEAL


Behind the scenes, President Trump has told a number of people he believes his current national security team has been out of whack with his own thinking and was slow to give him the options that he wanted. The big example: Iran.


The EU is looking to provide European companies trading with Iran access to emergency credit lines and funding support if Donald Trump presses ahead with his plan to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. A US pullout, leading to the reimposition of a tough sanctions regime, would expose multinational firms trading with Iran to potentially devastating loss of financial support by commercial banks.


President Obama always said that his nuclear agreement with Tehran wouldn't solve all the problems with the Iranian regime, and he certainly was right about that. It appears that for essentially the entire period of the negotiation, drafting and implementation of the accord by the Obama administration, Iran was simultaneously conducting a significant campaign to steal American property.

HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNAL DISCONTENT
  

The UN Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution extending the mandate on Iran, the Islamic Republic's official news agency IRNA reported.

ECONOMIC NEWS


Oil prices closed at the highest level in eight weeks on Friday, lifted by declining global supply along with the possibility of fresh Iran sanctions.

IRANIAN REGIONAL AGGRESSION


Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's March 21st New Year address mostly dwelt on domestic political issues. But the Iranian leader also made a few references to the most pressing foreign and security issues, none of which bode well for Iran's relations with the United States. Moreover, Khamenei tried to calm growing public anger amongst Iranians about the country's costly military interventions in the Middle East.

IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS


In Iran, the Reformists are becoming increasingly suspicious about the possibility that the centrist Hassan Rouhani administration will officially form a coalition with moderate conservative parliament Speaker Ali Larijani. This comes as many are saying that Rouhani's second-term Cabinet has been filled with figures from the president's inner circle instead of Reformists; at the same time, Reformist First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri's role appears to have diminished.

NORTH KOREA & IRAN


As President Trump prepares for direct negotiations with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un in the coming months, one of the administration's goals for this historic dialogue should be to permanently halt Pyongyang's arms sales to the Middle East. Since the 1990s, successive U.S. administrations have held exhaustive talks with the regime aimed at ending its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, with very limited success. But Washington has never placed a high priority on shutting down North Korea's foreign proliferation networks, according to current and former U.S. officials. The result is that Pyongyang continues to export dangerous military technologies to countries such as Iran, Syria, and Egypt, despite facing draconian international sanctions.

IRAQ & IRAN


A commander of the Iraqi paramilitary forces known as Hashd al-Shaabi has called for suspension of Asharq al-Awsat in Iraq, accusing the pan-Arab daily of propagating against the paramilitary forces. 

FOREIGN AFFAIRS 


Iran should strengthen ties with Russia and China to counter a tougher U.S. stance expected after President Donald Trump's appointment of John Bolton as national security adviser, a senior parliament member was quoted as saying on Saturday. 


Britain on Monday urged Iran to stop sending weapons into Yemen and instead use its influence to end the conflict, as the Saudi-led coalition's military intervention enters its fourth year. 


Recent media reports suggesting that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman plan to pay a historic visit to Iraq has alarmed Iran and its Iraqi allies.

ISRAEL AND IRAN


Chief Commander of the Islamic Republic's regular army has once again threatened Israel with total annihilation. Referring to a comment by the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi said, "We will finish off Israel's life within less than 25 years."


Outgoing Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Herzl Halevi on Sunday accused Iran of bringing instability to the Middle East in its quest for hegemony, a trend that he said would shape the region this year. Halevi implied that this effort by Iran was making it more likely that Israel would have to change its policy of limited involvement in the Syrian civil war raging to its north.

CYBERWARFARE


Iran on Saturday slammed new US sanctions against 10 of its citizens and an Iranian company over their alleged involvement in a massive state-sponsored hacking and intellectual property theft scheme. The US Treasury Department unveiled charges on Friday against nine Iranians along with sanctions against 10 individuals and the Mabna Institute, which it accused of hacking hundreds of universities on behalf of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.






Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran, Inc., a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Eye on Iran is not intended as a comprehensive media clips summary but rather a selection of media elements with discreet analysis in a PDA friendly format. For more information please email press@uani.com.

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons.  UANI is an issue-based coalition in which each coalition member will have its own interests as well as the collective goal of advancing an Iran free of nuclear weapons.

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