generalspeaking

Terror Reciprocated

"I could see two bullet wounds on his body and the extent of his injuries indicated that he had been assassinated from a close range with a pistol."
Witness, relating to Alborz website

"Iran's cyber attacks on Israel and elsewhere in the region are a rising threat and a growing threat, but it hasn't yet been seen as a major and sustained onslaught, so it would be pretty novel and significant to take this step in the field of cyber warfare at this time."
Shashank Joshi, Royal United Services Institute, London

Dead, the chief of Iran's cyber warfare program. Mojtaba Ahmadi, commander of the Cyber War Headquarters discovered dead near the town of Karaj, north-west of Tehran, in a wooded area. The count is steadily rising, Someone is issuing a deadly message. Responding to the deadly messages emanating from the Islamic Republic of Iran, actually.

So far five Iranian nuclear scientists and the head of the ballistic missile program of Iran have met their deaths since 2007. As far as the Islamic Republic is concerned, the agent is no mystery. Mossad, Israel's external intelligence agency has been named. A website linked to the Revolutionary Guard Corps, Alborz, has reported the assassination.

A website linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said the cyber chief was shot dead. Here, Revolutionary Guards march past President Hassan Rouhani on Sept. 22. Getty Images Files

Two people on a motorcycle are held to have been responsible for the killing. The Cyber War Headquarters Facebook confirms Mr. Ahmadi was their commander. On it, messages of condolence have been posted. Stop, says Alborz; anyone is capable of accessing that book of condolence. What appears there could be of harm to the country's national security:

"Stop giving more information about him. The counterterror revolutionaries will take advantage of his murder. It sounds like a hit job for a security officer of this importance", read one posted comment of caution.

The Imam Hassan Mujtaba division of the Revolutionary Guard warned against speculating "prematurely about the identity of those responsible for the killing" while the investigation is ongoing. Mr. Ahmadi was a leading specialist in cyber defences. Deeply involved in his country's cyber attacks. This seems a peculiar caution given the conviction Israel is involved.

Including helpful outreach to Syria's regime, enabling it to hack Western targets through the Syrian Electronic Army. So on the one hand 'outside powers' are busy carrying out targeted assassinations of the country's security apparatus, hitting key figures and creating great consternation in the Republic's administration, infuriating the Republican Guard.

And on the other the charm offensive of Hasan Rowhani is meeting its objective, as the West fawns over the quietly reassuring words of a president who has wisely eschewed the full-blown belligerence of his predecessor, acknowledging how pathetically susceptible the West is to murmurings of peace and goodwill, even as practises inimical to both forge full steam ahead.

Labels: Crisis Politics, Cyberwarfare, Iran, Islamism, Nuclear Technology

posted by Pieface @ Friday, October 04, 2013