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  • Egypt and Iran complain about planned World Cup ‘Pride’ match in Seattle

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    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Egypt and Iran, two Middle East nations that target gays and lesbians, have complained to FIFA over a World Cup soccer match in Seattle that is planned to celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride.

    Leaders in the nation’s soccer federations publicly rebuked the idea of playing the match June 26 at Seattle Stadium, which local organizers say will include a “once-in-a-lifetime moment to showcase and celebrate LGBTQIA+ communities in Washington.”

    In Egypt, the soccer federation issued a statement late Tuesday saying it sent a letter to FIFA “categorically rejecting any activities related to supporting homosexuality during the match.”

    Seattle PrideFest has been organized in the city since 2007 by a nonprofit which designated the June 26 game for celebration before FIFA made the World Cup draw Friday.

    FIFA chose Saturday to allocate the Egypt-Iran game to Seattle instead of Vancouver, where the teams’ group rivals Belgium and New Zealand will play at the same time.

    Already, organizers in Seattle have promoted an art contest for the game, including one entry of a rainbow-flagged sun rising over Mount Rainier as a crab goalie goes for a soccer ball while holding a cup of coffee in its pinchers.

    “With matches on Juneteenth and pride, we get to show the world that in Seattle, everyone is welcome,” Seattle’s Mayor-elect Kate Wilson wrote on social media. “What an incredible honor!”

    FIFA controls only stadiums and official fan zones in World Cup host cities and should have no formal authority over community events like Seattle PrideFest.

    FIFA declined comment Tuesday to the Associated Press, and did not address a question if it would consider switching the Belgium-New Zealand game to Seattle.

    Angry response in Iran, Egypt

    In Iran, where gays and lesbians can face the death penalty, the president of Iran’s Football Federation Mehdi Taj criticized scheduling the match during an interview aired on state television late Monday.

    Taj said Iran would bring up the issue during a FIFA Council meeting in Qatar next week. The longest-serving member of the 37-person council chaired by FIFA President Gianni Infantino is Egypt’s Hany Abo Rida.

    “Both Egypt and we have objected, because this is an unreasonable and illogical move that essentially signals support for a particular group, and we must definitely address this point,” Taj said. State TV on Tuesday confirmed a complaint would be sent to FIFA.

    The Egypt soccer federation led by Ado Rida said of the pride celebration it “completely rejects such activities, which directly contradict the cultural, religious and social values in the region, especially in Arab and Islamic societies.”

    It urged FIFA to stop the celebration to “avoid activities that may trigger cultural and religious sensitivity between the presented spectators of both countries, Egypt and Iran, especially as such activities contradict the cultures and religions of the two countries.”

    Iran had threatened to boycott the World Cup draw in Washington, D.C. over complaints about five of its nine-person delegation, including Taj, not getting visas to enter the United States.

    Iranians are subject to a travel ban imposed by President Donald Trump’s administration and the U.S. in the past has denied visas for those with ties to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, like Taj. Iran ended up sending a smaller delegation including the team’s coach.

    Tensions remain high between Tehran and Washington over Iran’s nuclear program, particularly after American warplanes bombed atomic sites in the country during Israel’s 12-day war with the Islamic Republic in June. Unlike the 2022 World Cup, however, Iran is not scheduled to play the United States in the World Cup’s opening matches.

    Seattle’s response

    Asked about the complaint Wednesday, Seattle’s organizing committee said it was “moving forward as planned with our community programming outside the stadium during Pride weekend and throughout the tournament.”

    “The Pacific Northwest is home to one of the nation’s largest Iranian-American communities, a thriving Egyptian diaspora and rich communities representing all nations we’re hosting in Seattle,” spokesperson Hana Tadesse said in a statement. “We’re committed to ensuring all residents and visitors experience the warmth, respect and dignity that defines our region.”

    Iran, Egypt target LGBTQ+ community

    For years, Egyptian police have targeted gays and lesbians, sparking warnings even from the app Grindr in the past. Though Egypt technically does not outlaw homosexuality, authorities frequently prosecute members of the LGBTQ+ community on the grounds of “debauchery,” or “violating public decency.”

    Iran also has targeted the LGBTQ community and its theocracy is believed to have executed thousands of people for their sexuality since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Hard-line former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad once famously went as far as to claim during a 2007 visit to the United States: “We don’t have homosexuals like in your country.” A crowd at Columbia University responded by laughing and heckling the leader.

    FIFA dilemma

    FIFA risks being accused of a double standard if it sides with World Cup teams’ federations over the city of Seattle.

    At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, FIFA fiercely defended the right of the host nation’s cultural norms to be respected in full by visiting teams.

    A group of European federations wanted their team captains to wear a “One Love” armband with some rainbow colors that symbolized human rights and diversity, which FIFA and Qatari officials viewed in part as criticism of the emirate criminalizing same-sex relations. Some Wales fans had rainbow hats removed before entering the stadium.

    Qatar also will play in Seattle at the World Cup, on June 24 against a European opponent which could be Italy or Wales.

    ___

    AP Sports Writer Graham Dunbar in Geneva contributed to this report

    ___

    AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

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  • Efforts by Russia, Iran and China to sway US voters may escalate, new Microsoft report says

    Efforts by Russia, Iran and China to sway US voters may escalate, new Microsoft report says

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Foreign adversaries have shown continued determination to influence the U.S. election –- and there are signs their activity will intensify as Election Day nears, Microsoft said in a report Wednesday.

    Russian operatives are doubling down on fake videos to smear Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, while Chinese-linked social media campaigns are maligning down-ballot Republicans who are critical of China, the company’s threat intelligence arm said Wednesday.

    Meanwhile, Iranian actors who allegedly sent emails aimed at intimidating U.S. voters in 2020 have been surveying election-related websites and major media outlets, raising concerns they could be preparing for another scheme this year, the tech giant said.

    The report serves as a warning – building on others from U.S. intelligence officials – that as the nation enters this critical final stretch and begins counting ballots, the worst influence efforts may be yet to come. U.S. officials say they remain confident that election infrastructure is secure enough to withstand any attacks from American adversaries. Still, in a tight election, foreign efforts to influence voters are raising concern.

    Microsoft noted that some of the disinformation campaigns it tracks received little authentic engagement from U.S. audiences, but others have been amplified by unwitting Americans, exposing thousands to foreign propaganda in the final weeks of voting.

    Russia, China and Iran have all rejected claims that they are seeking to meddle with the U.S. election.

    “The presidential elections are the United States’ domestic affairs. China has no intention and will not interfere in the US election,” the Chinese Embassy said in a statement.

    “Having already unequivocally and repeatedly announced, Iran neither has any motive nor intent to interfere in the U.S. election; and, it therefore categorically repudiates such accusations,” read a statement from Iran’s mission to the United Nations.

    A message left with the Russian Embassy was not immediately returned on Wednesday.

    The report reveals an expanding landscape of coordinated campaigns to advance adversaries’ priorities as global wars and economic concerns raise the stakes for the U.S. election around the world. It details a trend also seen in the 2016 and 2020 elections of foreign actors covertly fomenting discord among American voters, furthering a divide in the electorate that has left the nation almost evenly split just 13 days before voting concludes.

    “History has shown that the ability of foreign actors to rapidly distribute deceptive content can significantly impact public perception and electoral outcomes,” Clint Watts, general manager of the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center, said in a news release. “With a particular focus on the 48 hours before and after Election Day, voters, government institutions, candidates and parties must remain vigilant to deceptive and suspicious activity online.”

    The report adds to previous findings from Microsoft and U.S. intelligence that suggest the Kremlin is committed to lambasting Harris’ character online, a sign of its preference for another Donald Trump presidency.

    Russian actors have spent recent months churning out both AI-generated content and more rudimentary spoofs and staged videos spreading disinformation about Harris, Microsoft’s analysts found.

    What to know about the 2024 Election

    Among the fake videos were a staged clip of a park ranger impersonator claiming Harris killed an endangered rhinoceros in Zambia, as well as a video sharing baseless allegations about her running mate Tim Walz, which U.S. intelligence officials also attributed to Russia this week. Morgan Finkelstein, national security spokeswoman for the Harris campaign, condemned Russia’s efforts.

    Another Russian influence actor has been producing fake election-related videos spoofing American organizations from Fox News to the FBI and Wired magazine, according to the report.

    China over the last several months has focused on down-ballot races, and on general efforts to sow distrust and democratic dissatisfaction. A Chinese influence actor widely known as Spamouflage has been using fake social media users to attack down-ballot Republicans who have publicly denounced China, according to Microsoft’s analysts.

    Candidates targeted have included Rep. Barry Moore of Alabama, Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, and Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, all of whom are running for reelection, the report said. The group also has attacked Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.

    All four politicians sent emailed statements condemning China’s aggression against American political candidates and its efforts to weaken democracy.

    In its statement, the Chinese embassy said U.S. officials, politicians and media “have accused China of using news websites and social media accounts to spread so-called disinformation in the US. Such allegations are full of malicious speculations against China, which China firmly opposes.”

    Iran, which has spent the 2024 campaign going after Trump with disinformation as well as hacking into the former president’s campaign, hasn’t been stymied by ongoing tension in the Middle East, according to the Microsoft report.

    Quite the opposite, groups linked to Iran have weaponized divided opinions on the Israel-Hamas War to influence American voters, the analysts found. For example, an Iranian operated persona took to Telegram and X to call on Americans to sit out the elections due to the candidates’ support for Israel.

    Microsoft’s report also said it observed an Iranian group compromising an account of a notable Republican politician who had a different account targeted in June. The company would not name the individual but said it was the same person who it had referenced in August as a “former presidential candidate.”

    The report also warned that the same Iranian group that allegedly posed as members of the far-right Proud Boys in intimidating emails to voters in 2020 has been scouting swing-state election-related websites and media outlets in recent months. The behavior could “suggest preparations for more direct influence operations as Election Day nears,” Watts said.

    Iran’s mission to the United Nations said in a statement that the allegations in the report “are fundamentally unfounded, and wholly inadmissible.”

    Even as Russia, China and Iran try to influence voters, intelligence officials said Tuesday there is still no indication they are plotting significant attacks on election infrastructure as a way to disrupt the outcome.

    If they tried, improvements to election security means there is no way they could alter the results, Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told The Associated Press earlier this month.

    Intelligence officials on Tuesday also warned that Russia and Iran may try to encourage violent protests in the U.S. after next month’s election, setting the stage for potential complications in the post-election period.

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    The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Iran was behind thousands of text messages calling for revenge over Quran burnings, Sweden says

    Iran was behind thousands of text messages calling for revenge over Quran burnings, Sweden says

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    COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Swedish authorities accused Iran on Tuesday of being responsible for thousands of text messages sent to people in Sweden calling for revenge over the burnings of Islam’s holy book in 2023. Iran denied the accusation.

    According to officials in Stockholm, the cyberattack was carried out by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which hacked an SMS service and sent “some 15,000 text messages in Swedish” over the string of public burnings of the Quran that took place over several months in Sweden during the summer of 2023.

    Senior prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said a preliminary investigation by Sweden’s SAPO domestic security agency showed “it was the Iranian state via the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC, that carried out a data breach at a Swedish company that runs a major SMS service.”

    The Swedish company was not named.

    The Iranian Embassy in Sweden in a statement rejected the accusation as “baseless” and said it was intended to “poison” relations between Tehran and Stockholm, the official IRNA news agency reported. The embassy expects the Swedish government to prevent the spread of such statements, the report said.

    In August 2023, Swedish media reported that a large number of people in Sweden had received text messages in Swedish calling for revenge against people who were burning the Quran, Ljungqvist said, adding that the sender of the messages was “a group calling itself the Anzu team.”

    Swedish broadcaster SVT published a photo of a text message, saying that “those who desecrated the Quran must have their work covered in ashes” and calling Swedes “demons.”

    The protests were held under the freedom of speech act, which is protected under the Swedish constitution. The rallies were approved by police. However, the incidents left Sweden torn between its commitment to free speech and its respect for religious minorities.

    The clash of fundamental principles had complicated Sweden’s desire to join NATO, an expansion that gained urgency after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine but needed the approval of all alliance members.

    Turkey and its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had temporarily blocked Sweden’s accession, citing reasons including anti-Turkish and anti-Islamic protests in Stockholm but Sweden finally became a NATO member in March.

    At the time, the Swedish government said it “strongly rejects the Islamophobic act committed by individuals in Sweden,” adding that the desecrations did not reflect the country’s stand.

    In July last year, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a statement saying that “the insult to the Holy Quran in Sweden is a bitter, conspiratorial, dangerous event” and that the desecrations have “created feelings of hatred and enmity” in Muslim nations toward the people burning the Quran and their governments.

    In a separate statement, SAPO’s operational manager Fredrik Hallström said Tuesday that the intent of the text messages was to “paint the image of Sweden as an Islamophobic country and create division in society.”

    He accused “foreign powers” of seeking to “exploit vulnerabilities” and said they were “now acting more and more aggressively, and this is a development that is likely to escalate.” He did not name any specific country.

    Meanwhile, Sweden’s justice minister, Gunnar Strömmer, told Swedish news agency TT “that a state actor, in this case Iran, according to (SAPO’s) assessment is behind an action that aims to destabilize Sweden or increase polarization in our country is of course very serious.”

    There is no law in Sweden specifically prohibiting the burning or desecration of the Quran or other religious texts. Like many Western countries, Sweden doesn’t have any blasphemy laws.

    “Since the actors are acting for a foreign power, in this case Iran, we make the assessment that the conditions for prosecution abroad or extradition to Sweden are lacking for the persons suspected of being behind the breach,“ Ljungqvist said.

    Ljungqvist, who is with the Sweden’s top prosecution authority, said that although the preliminary investigation has been closed, it “does not mean that the suspected hackers have been completely written off” and that the probe could be reopened.

    Sweden’s domestic security agency in May accused Iran of using established criminal networks in Sweden as a proxy to target Israeli or Jewish interests in the Scandinavian country.

    Iran’s Embassy in Sweden could not be reached for a comment on Tuesday.

    ___

    Associated Press writer Jari Tanner in Helsinki contributed to this report.

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  • Iran claims Yemen’s Houthi rebels will allow rescuers to salvage oil tanker ablaze in Red Sea

    Iran claims Yemen’s Houthi rebels will allow rescuers to salvage oil tanker ablaze in Red Sea

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    UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels have agreed to allow tugboats and rescue ships to assist a Greek-flagged oil tanker that remains ablaze in the Red Sea “in consideration of humanitarian and environmental concerns,” Iran’s mission to the United Nations claimed late Wednesday. However, the Houthis did not offer specific details and are believed to have blocked an earlier attempt to salvage the vessel and continue to attack shipping across the Red Sea.

    Last week’s attack on the Sounion marked the most serious assault in weeks by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, who continue to target shipping through the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. The attacks have disrupted the $1 trillion in trade that typically passes through the region, as well as halted some aid shipments to conflict-ravaged Sudan and Yemen.

    Iran’s U.N. mission said Wednesday that following the fire on the Sounion “and the subsequent environmental hazards,” several countries it didn’t identify reached out to the Houthis “requesting a temporary truce for the entry of tugboats and rescue ships into the incident area.”

    “Ansar Allah has consented to this,” the Iranian mission said, using another name for the Houthis. It offered no further details, nor did the Houthis, who have repeatedly attacked ships in the Red Sea, detained aid workers, deployed child soldiers and cracked down on dissent since holding Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014.

    Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam, in comments carried by the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency, said late Wednesday that the attack showed how serious the rebels took their campaign against shipping.

    “After several international parties contacted us, especially the European ones, they were allowed to tow the burning oil ship Sounion,” Abdul-Salam said, without giving further details.

    The Pentagon said Tuesday that attempts by an unidentified “third party” to send two tugboats to the stricken Sounion were blocked by the Houthis. Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters that the Houthis’ actions demonstrate “their blatant disregard for not only human life, but also for the potential environmental catastrophe that this presents.”

    Ryder said the Sounion appears to be leaking oil into the Red Sea, home to coral reefs and other natural habitats and wildlife. However, the European Union’s Operation Aspides, whose mission is to protect shipping in the area, said as recently as Wednesday the ship was not leaking oil.

    The Houthis in their campaign have seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a U.S.-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets.

    The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the U.S. or the U.K. to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.

    In the case of the Sounion, the Houthis have claimed the Greek company operating the vessel had other ships serving Israel. The Joint Maritime Information Center, a multinational organization overseen by the U.S. Navy, assessed that the Sounion “has no direct association with Israel, U.S. or U.K. within the company business structure” though other ships had “visited Israel in the recent past.”

    ——

    Weissenstein reported from New York

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  • FACT FOCUS: A look at claims made at the Republican National Convention as Trump accepts nomination

    FACT FOCUS: A look at claims made at the Republican National Convention as Trump accepts nomination

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    As former President Donald Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday he laid out his vision for running the country. He painted a dire picture of the state of the U.S. and outlined a range of actions he planned to take. But his comments were marked with a myriad of false and misleading information that distorted the facts around immigration, the U.S. economy and his previous accomplishments.

    Here are the facts.

    IMMIGRATION

    TRUMP: “The greatest invasion in history is taking place right here in our country — they are coming in from every corner of the earth, not just from South America, but from Africa, Asia and the Middle East — they’re coming from everywhere, and this administration does nothing to stop them. They are coming from prisons and jails, from mental institutions and insane asylums, and terrorists at levels never seen before.”

    THE FACTS: Trump spent much of his address discussing immigration and the mass influx of migrants into the U.S., repeating several false and misleading claims, including that it has caused a crime surge. He cited recent high-profile and heinous crimes allegedly committed by people in the country illegally as proof.

    But the suggestion there has been a spike in violent crime nationally as a result of the influx is not supported by facts. FBI statistics do not separate out crimes by the immigration status of the assailant, nor is there any evidence of a spike in crime perpetrated by migrants, either along the U.S.-Mexico border or in cities seeing the greatest influx of migrants, like New York. In fact, national statistics show violent crime is on the way down.

    Studies have found that people living in the country illegally are less likely than native-born Americans to have been arrested for violent, drug and property crimes. A 2020 study published by the National Academy of Sciences found “considerably lower felony arrest rates” among people in the United States illegally than legal immigrants or native-born citizens.

    There is also no evidence to support that other countries are sending their murderers, drug dealers and other criminals to the U.S.

    ECONOMY

    TRUMP: “We had the greatest economy in the history of the world.”

    THE FACTS: That’s far from accurate. The pandemic triggered a massive recession during his presidency. The government borrowed $3.1 trillion in 2020 to stabilize the economy and Trump left the White House with fewer jobs than when he entered.

    But even if you take out issues caused by the pandemic, economic growth averaged 2.67% during Trump’s first three years, which is pretty solid. But it’s nowhere near the 4% averaged during Bill Clinton’s two terms from 1993 to 2001, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In fact, growth has been stronger so far under Biden than under Trump.

    Trump did have the unemployment rate get as low as 3.5% before the pandemic, but the labor force participation rate for people 25 to 54 — the core of the U.S. working population — was higher under Clinton. The participation rate has also been higher under Biden than Trump.

    AFGHANISTAN

    TRUMP, on the U.S. troops from Afghanistan: “We also left behind $85 billion worth of military equipment.”

    What to know about the 2024 Election

    THE FACTS: Those numbers are significantly inflated, according to reports from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, which oversees American taxpayer money spent on the conflict.

    The $85 billion figure resembles a number from a July 30 quarterly report from SIGAR, which outlined that the U.S. has invested about $83 billion to build, train and equip Afghan security forces since 2001.

    Yet that funding included troop pay, training, operations and infrastructure along with equipment and transportation over two decades, according to SIGAR reports and Dan Grazier, a defense policy analyst at the Project on Government Oversight.

    “We did spend well over $80 billion in assistance to the Afghan security forces,” Grazier told the AP in August 2021. “But that’s not all equipment costs.”

    In fact, only about $18 billion of that sum went toward equipping Afghan forces between 2002 and 2018, a June 2019 SIGAR report showed.

    Another estimate from a 2017 Government Accountability Office report found that about 29% of dollars spent on Afghan security forces between 2005 and 2016 funded equipment and transportation. The transportation funding included gear as well as contracted pilots and airplanes for transporting officials to meetings.

    If that percentage held for the entire two-decade period, it would mean the U.S. has spent about $24 billion on equipment and transportation for Afghan forces since 2001.

    But even if that were true, much of the military equipment would be obsolete after years of use, according to Grazier. Plus, American troops have previously scrapped unwanted gear and, prior to the withdrawal, disabled dozens of Humvees and aircraft so they couldn’t be used again, according to Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command.

    Though no one knows the exact value of the U.S.-supplied Afghan equipment the Taliban have secured, defense officials have confirmed it is significant.

    HAMAS

    MIKE POMPEO, secretary of state under Trump, on Americans held hostage in the Gaza Strip by Hamas: “President Biden won’t even talk about the fact that Americans are still being held there by the Iranian regime.”

    THE FACTS: President Joe Biden has spoken multiple times about the Americans who were among the 240 people taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. Eight Americans are reportedly still in captivity, including three who were killed.

    For example, three days after the attack that started the Israel-Hamas war, Biden said, “we now know that American citizens are among those being held by Hamas.”

    Soon after, on Oct. 20, 2023, he said, “as I told the families of Americans being held captive by Hamas, we’re pursuing every avenue to bring their loved ones home.”

    Biden released a statement on Jan. 14, 2024, that described the day as “a devastating and tragic milestone — 100 days of captivity for the more than 100 innocent people, including as many as 6 Americans, who are still held being hostage by Hamas in Gaza.”

    More recently, on April 27, he wrote in a post on his official Facebook page: “I will not rest until every hostage, like Abigail, ripped from their families and held by Hamas is back in the arms of their loved ones. They have my word. Their families have my word.”

    ___ Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.

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  • What we know about suspected Iranian cyber intrusion in the US presidential race

    What we know about suspected Iranian cyber intrusion in the US presidential race

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Details emerged over the weekend of a suspected Iranian cyber intrusion into the campaign of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, potentially resulting in the theft of internal campaign documents.

    The FBI is investigating the matter as well as attempts to infiltrate President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, which became Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign after Biden dropped out of the race.

    Here’s what we know:

    What happened?

    Trump’s presidential campaign said Saturday that it had been hacked and that sensitive internal documents were stolen and distributed. It declared that Iranian actors were to blame.

    The same day, Politico revealed it had received leaked internal Trump campaign documents by email, from a person only identified as “Robert.” The outlet said the documents included vetting materials on Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance and Sen. Marco Rubio, who also was considered as a potential vice president.

    Two other news outlets, The New York Times and The Washington Post, also said they received leaked materials. None of them revealed details about what they had, instead describing the documents in broad terms.

    It’s still unclear whether the materials the news outlets received were related to Trump’s alleged campaign hack. Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung indicated they were connected, saying the documents “were obtained illegally” and warning that “any media or news outlet reprinting documents or internal communications are doing the bidding of America’s enemies and doing exactly what they want.”

    The FBI on Monday confirmed that it’s investigating the intrusion of the Trump campaign. Two people familiar with the matter said the FBI also is investigating attempts to gain access to the Biden-Harris campaign.

    Why is Trump blaming Iran?

    Trump’s campaign didn’t provide specific evidence showing Iran was behind the hack. But it pointed to a Microsoft report released Friday that detailed an Iranian attempt to infiltrate a presidential campaign in June.

    Microsoft’s report said an Iranian military intelligence unit had sent “a spear-phishing email to a high-ranking official of a presidential campaign from a compromised email account of a former senior advisor.” Spear-phishing is a form of cyberattack in which an attacker poses as a known or trusted sender, often to install malware or gather sensitive information.

    The tech company wouldn’t disclose which campaign or adviser was targeted, but said it had notified them. Since then, both Trump and a longtime friend and adviser of the former president, Roger Stone, have said they were contacted by Microsoft related to suspected cyber intrusions.

    “We were just informed by Microsoft Corporation that one of our many websites was hacked by the Iranian Government – Never a nice thing to do!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday.

    Grant Smith, an attorney for Stone, said his client “was contacted by Microsoft and the FBI regarding this matter and continues to cooperate with these organizations.” He declined further comment.

    What does the government say?

    U.S. State Department officials declined to speculate on allegations that Iran was behind the hack, but a spokesperson said it would be in keeping with Tehran’s past use of cyberattacks and deception.

    What to know about the 2024 Election

    “These latest attempts to interfere in U.S. elections are nothing new for the Iranian regime,” spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Monday.

    U.S. intelligence officials declined to comment on the incident and referred questions to the FBI, which has said only that it’s investigating.

    Iran’s mission to the United Nations, when asked about the claim of the Trump campaign, denied being involved.

    “We do not accord any credence to such reports,” the mission told The Associated Press. “The Iranian government neither possesses nor harbors any intent or motive to interfere in the United States presidential election.”

    However, Iran long has been suspected of running hacking campaigns targeting its enemies in the Middle East and beyond. Tehran also has threatened to retaliate against Trump over the 2020 drone strike he ordered that killed prominent Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

    Was Harris targeted too?

    Harris’ campaign has declined to say whether it has identified any state-based intrusion attempts, only saying it vigilantly monitors cyber threats and wasn’t aware of any security breaches of its systems.

    But two people familiar with the matter said the Biden-Harris campaign also was targeted in the suspected Iranian cyber intrusion. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the details of the investigation.

    At least three staffers in the Biden-Harris campaign were targeted with phishing emails, but investigators have uncovered no evidence the attempt was successful, one of the people said. The attempts came before Biden dropped out of the race.

    The FBI began investigating that cyber incident in June, and intelligence officials believe Iran was behind the attempts, that person said.

    Where have I heard this before?

    A suspected foreign hack-and-leak of campaign materials might sound familiar because it’s happened before — notably in 2016.

    That year, a Russian hack exposed emails to and from Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, John Podesta. The website Wikileaks published a trove of the messages, which were reported on extensively by news outlets.

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday noted the repeated use of the tactic against the U.S. and said it shows foreign adversaries are “intent on sowing chaos and undermining our democratic process.”

    “So we have to stand firm to ensure our cybersecurity can withstand such intrusions as we head into November,” he said in a statement.

    Experts say that the recent apparent hack of the Trump campaign is not likely to be the last such attempt to influence the U.S. election, either through cyberattacks or online disinformation. Both Iran and Russia, for example, have begun targeting Americans with fake news websites and other social media content that appears intended to sway voters, Microsoft and U.S. intelligence officials have said.

    The nation’s former top election security official, Chris Krebs, warned on the social platform X that Americans should take this threat seriously.

    “You might not like the victim here, but the adversary gives zero Fs who you like or don’t like,” he said of the Trump campaign hack. “American voters decide American elections. Let’s keep it that way.”

    ___

    Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer, David Klepper and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.

    ___

    The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Google confirms an Iranian group is trying to access emails linked to both US presidential campaigns

    Google confirms an Iranian group is trying to access emails linked to both US presidential campaigns

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Google said Wednesday that an Iranian group linked to the country’s Revolutionary Guard has tried to infiltrate the personal email accounts of roughly a dozen people linked to President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump since May.

    The tech company’s threat intelligence arm said the group is still actively targeting people associated with Biden, Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democratic candidate last month when he dropped out. It said those targeted have included current and former government officials, as well as presidential campaign affiliates.

    The new report from Google’s Threat Analysis Group affirms and expands on a Microsoft report released Friday that revealed suspected Iranian cyber intrusion in this year’s U.S. presidential election. It sheds light on how foreign adversaries are ramping up their efforts to disrupt the election that is now less than three months away.

    Google’s report said its threat researchers detected and disrupted a “small but steady cadence” of the Iranian attackers using email credential phishing, a type of cyberattack where the attacker poses as a trusted sender to try to get an email recipient to share their login details. John Hultquist, chief analyst for the company’s threat intelligence arm, said the company sends suspected targets of these attacks a Gmail popup that warns them that a government-backed attacker might be trying to steal their password.

    The report said Google observed the group gaining access to one high-profile political consultant’s personal Gmail account. Google reported the incident to the FBI in July. Microsoft’s Friday report had shared similar information, noting that the email account of a former senior adviser to a presidential campaign had been compromised and weaponized to send a phishing email to a high-ranking campaign official.

    The group is familiar to Google’s threat intelligence arm and other researchers, and this isn’t the first time it has tried to interfere in U.S. elections, Hultquist said. The report noted that the same Iranian group targeted both the Biden and Trump campaigns with phishing attacks during the 2020 cycle, as early as June of that year.

    The group also has been prolific in other cyber espionage activity, particularly in the Middle East, the report said. In recent months, as the Israel-Hamas War has aggravated tensions in the region, that activity has included email phishing campaigns targeted at Israeli diplomats, academics, non-governmental organizations and military affiliates.

    Trump’s campaign said Saturday that it had been hacked and that sensitive internal documents were stolen and distributed. It declared that Iranian actors were to blame.

    The same day, Politico revealed it had received leaked internal Trump campaign documents by email, though it wasn’t clear whether the leaked documents were related to the suspected Iranian cyber activity. The Washington Post and The New York Times also received the documents.

    While the Trump campaign hasn’t provided specific evidence linking Iran to the hack, both Trump and his longtime friend and former adviser Roger Stone have said they were contacted by Microsoft related to suspected cyber intrusions. Stone’s email was compromised by hackers targeting Trump’s campaign, a person familiar with the matter said.

    What to know about the 2024 Election

    Google and Microsoft wouldn’t identify the people targeted in the Iranian intrusion attempts or confirm that Stone was among them. Google did confirm that the Iranian group in its report, which it calls APT42, is the same as the one in Microsoft’s research. Microsoft refers to the group as Mint Sandstorm.

    Harris’ campaign has declined to say whether it has identified any state-based intrusion attempts, but has said it vigilantly monitors cyber threats and isn’t aware of any security breaches of its systems.

    The FBI on Monday confirmed that it’s investigating the intrusion of the Trump campaign. Two people familiar with the matter said the FBI also is investigating attempts to gain access to the Biden-Harris campaign.

    The reports of Iranian hacking come as U.S. intelligence officials have warned of persistent and mounting efforts from both Russia and Iran to influence the U.S. election through their online activity. Beyond these hacking incidents, groups linked to the countries have used fake news websites and social media accounts to churn out content that appears intended to sway voters’ opinions.

    While neither Microsoft nor Google specified Iran’s intentions in the U.S. presidential race, U.S. officials have previously hinted that Iran particularly opposes Trump. U.S. officials also have expressed alarm about Tehran’s efforts to seek retaliation for a 2020 strike on an Iranian general that was ordered by Trump.

    Iran’s mission to the United Nations, when asked about the claim of the Trump campaign, denied being involved.

    “We do not accord any credence to such reports,” the mission told The Associated Press. “The Iranian government neither possesses nor harbors any intent or motive to interfere in the United States presidential election.”

    The mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday about Google’s report.

    ___

    Associated Press writer Michael Weissenstein contributed to this report.

    ___

    The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • ‘Chaos agent’: Suspected Trump hack comes as Iran flexes digital muscles ahead of US election

    ‘Chaos agent’: Suspected Trump hack comes as Iran flexes digital muscles ahead of US election

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — With less than three months before the U.S. election, Iran is intensifying its efforts to meddle in American politics, U.S. officials and private cybersecurity firms say, with the suspected hack of Donald Trump’s campaign being only the latest and most brazen example.

    Iran has long been described as a “chaos agent” when it comes to cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns and in recent months groups linked to the government in Tehran have covertly encouraged protests over Israel’s war in Gaza, impersonated American activists and created networks of fake news websites and social media accounts primed to spread false and misleading information to audiences in the U.S.

    While Russia and China remain bigger cyber threats against the U.S., experts and intelligence officials say Iran’s increasingly aggressive stance marks a significant escalation of efforts to confuse, deceive and frighten American voters ahead of the election.

    The pace will likely continue to increase as the election nears and America’s adversaries exploit the internet and advancements in artificial intelligence to sow discord and confusion.

    “We’re starting to really see that uptick and it makes sense, 90 days out from the election,” said Sean Minor, a former information warfare expert for the U.S. Army who now analyzes online threats for the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future, which has seen a sharp increase in cyber operations from Iran and other nations. “As we get closer, we suspect that these networks will get more aggressive.”

    The FBI is investigating the suspected hack of the Trump campaign as well as efforts to infiltrate the campaign of President Joe Biden, which became Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign when Biden dropped out. Trump’s campaign announced Saturday that someone illegally accessed and retrieved internal documents, later distributed to three news outlets. The campaign blamed Iran, noting a recent Microsoft report revealing an attempt by Iranian military intelligence to hack into the systems of one of the presidential campaigns.

    “A lot of people think it was Iran. Probably was,” Trump said Tuesday on Univision before shrugging off the value of the leaked material. “I think it’s pretty boring information.”

    Iran has denied any involvement in the hack and said it has no interest in meddling with U.S. politics.

    That denial is disputed by U.S. intelligence officials and private cybersecurity firms who have linked Iran’s government and military to several recent campaigns targeting the U.S., saying they reflect Iran’s growing capabilities and its increasing willingness to use them.

    On Wednesday Google announced it had uncovered a group linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard that it said had tried to infiltrate the personal email accounts of roughly a dozen people linked to Biden and Trump since May.

    The company, which contacted law enforcement with its suspicions, said the group is still targeting people associated with Biden, Trump and Harris. It wasn’t clear whether the network identified by Google was connected to the attempt that Trump and Microsoft reported, or were part of a second attempt to infiltrate the campaign’s systems.

    Iran has a few different motives in seeking to influence U.S. elections, intelligence officials and cybersecurity analysts say. The country seeks to spread confusion and increase polarization in the U.S. while undermining support for Israel. Iran also aims to hurt candidates that it believes would increase tension between Washington and Tehran.

    What to know about the 2024 Election

    That’s a description that fits Trump, whose administration ended a nuclear deal with Iran, reimposed sanctions and ordered the killing of an Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, an act that prompted Iran’s leaders to vow revenge.

    The two leaders of the Senate intelligence committee issued a joint letter on Wednesday warning Tehran and other governments hostile to the U.S. that attempts to deceive Americans or disrupt the election will not be tolerated.

    “There will be consequences to interfering in the American democratic process,” wrote the committee’s chairman, Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, along with Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, the vice chairman.

    In 2021, federal authorities charged two Iranian nationals with attempting to interfere with the election the year before. As part of the plot, the men wrote emails claiming to be members of the far-right Proud Boys in which they threatened Democratic voters with violence.

    Last month, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said the Iranian government had covertly supported American protests against Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Groups linked to Iran’s government also posed as online activists, encouraged campus protests and provided financial support to some protest groups, Haines said.

    Recent reports from Microsoft and Recorded Future have also linked Iran’s government to networks of fake news websites and social media accounts posing as Americans. The networks were discovered before they gained much influence and analysts say they may have been created ahead of time, to be activated in the weeks immediately before the election.

    The final weeks before an election may be the most dangerous when it comes to foreign efforts to impact voting. That’s when voters pay the most attention to politics and when false claims about candidates or voting can do the most damage.

    So-called ‘hack-and-leak’ attacks like the one reported by Trump’s campaign involve a hacker obtaining sensitive information from a private network and then releasing it, either to select individuals, the news media or to the public. Such attacks not only expose confidential information but can also raise questions about cybersecurity and the vulnerability of critical networks and systems.

    Especially concerning for elections, authorities say, would be an attack targeting a state or local election office that reveals sensitive information or disables election operations. Such an incursion could undermine trust in voting, even if the information exposed is worthless. Experts refer to this last possibility as a “perception hack,” when hackers steal information not because of its value, but because they want to flaunt their capabilities while spreading fear and confusion among their adversaries.

    “That can actually be more of a threat — the spectacle, the marketing this gives foreign adversaries — than the actual hack,” said Gavin Wilde, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and former National Security Council analyst who specializes in cyber threats.

    In 2016, Russian hackers infiltrated Hillary Clinton’s campaign emails, ultimately obtaining and releasing some of the campaign’s most protected information in a hack-and-leak that upended the campaign in its final weeks.

    Recent advances in artificial intelligence have made it easier than ever to create and spread disinformation, including lifelike video and audio allowing hackers to impersonate someone and gain access to their organization’s systems. Nevertheless, the alleged hack of the Trump campaign reportedly involved much simpler techniques: someone gained access to an email account that lacked sufficient security protections.

    While people and organizations can take steps to minimize their vulnerability to hacks, nothing can eliminate the risk entirely, Wilde said, or completely reduce the likelihood that foreign adversaries will mount attacks on campaigns.

    “The tax we pay for being a digital society is that these hacks and leaks are unavoidable,” he said. “Whether you’re a business, a campaign or a government.”

    __

    Associated Press writer Ali Swenson contributed to this report from New York.

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  • Iranians facing economic crisis find little New Year’s cheer

    Iranians facing economic crisis find little New Year’s cheer

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    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s bazaars are packed ahead of the Persian New Year next week, but there’s little holiday cheer as customers survey the soaring prices of meat and holiday treats, wondering if they can afford either. Others are there to sell goods on the sidewalks to make ends meet.

    Crippling Western sanctions, on top of decades of economic mismanagement, have plunged the country into a severe crisis. Iran’s currency, the rial, recently dropped to a record low, essentially wiping out people’s life savings and making even some basic goods unaffordable.

    Months of anti-government protests failed to unseat the ruling clerics and prompted a violent crackdown that further dashed hopes of any return to the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which lifted sanctions in exchange for restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program.

    As they bid farewell to a trying year, Iranians have little expectation that the next will be better.

    “People are out on streets, they are shopping, but nobody is happy in their hearts,” said Azar, a 58-year-old housewife. “I have nothing to do (with politics) but I can perceive this feeling completely. I understand this when looking at the faces of our kids, our young people.”

    She and other Iranians gave their first names only out of fear of retribution.

    Reza used to work as a day laborer but had to stop because of an injury. Now the 33-year-old sells clothes on the sidewalk. “I became a vendor out of frustration,” he said. “I work in hot and cold weather outdoors because I have to.”

    “This year, the market is not good at all,” he said. “We were hoping the final days of the year would be better.”

    The rial plunged to an all-time low of 600,000 to the dollar last month, down from 32,000 to the dollar when the nuclear agreement was signed.

    Then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in 2018 and restored heavy sanctions, including on Iran’s vital oil industry. Iran responded by openly exceeding the deal’s restrictions on uranium enrichment and is now closer than ever to being able to build a nuclear weapon if it chooses to do so.

    Its decision to supply armed drones for Russia’s war on Ukraine, and Iran’s crackdown on protests, sparked by the death of a young woman in the custody of morality police in September, has further estranged it from the West. Talks on restoring the 2015 deal hit an impasse last summer.

    A strange wave of suspected poisonings in girls’ schools across the country has added to the sense of crisis. Nearly four months after the first incidents were reported, it remains unclear who might be behind them or even what chemical — if any — was used. Iranian officials have suggested that at least some of the reported incidents are the result of mass hysteria.

    A Chinese-brokered agreement last week to restore diplomatic relations with regional rival Saudi Arabia led to hopes for a broader rapprochement with wealthy Arab states in the Persian Gulf that have long viewed Iran with suspicion. But the deal is unlikely to provide any immediate relief from Iran’s economic woes.

    Iranian officials acknowledge an inflation rate of between 40% and 50%, but some economists believe the real rate is even higher. That makes nuts, candy and other staples for the New Year holiday, known as Nowruz, unaffordable for the growing ranks of low-income Iranians.

    Iranian authorities have blamed the crisis on the war in Ukraine, global inflation and a “currency war” waged by the country’s enemies.

    But Iran’s financial crisis began long before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and it isn’t just the sanctions that are dragging the economy down.

    Iran’s clerically-overseen government and its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard have long had an outsized role in the economy, squeezing out the private sector and hindering growth. The country is heavily dependent on oil exports, reduced to a trickle by the sanctions.

    “The prices of everything have gone up multiple times, even goods that have nothing to do with the dollar,” Azar, the housewife, said. “Many people can’t really afford this, they are in trouble.”

    Mahnaz, a retired civil servant, said the fall in the local currency has slashed the pensions that he and others rely on.

    “Do people gather and celebrate? Everyone has to stay home, they have nothing to spend and they can’t go anywhere. In the past we would travel but now we can’t any longer. Because we don’t have money,” he said.

    “What can you do with $73 a month?” he asked. “What can I do? Can I even buy chicken and meat?”

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  • Crisis over suspected Iran schoolgirl poisonings escalates

    Crisis over suspected Iran schoolgirl poisonings escalates

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    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A crisis over suspected poisonings targeting Iranian schoolgirls escalated Sunday as authorities acknowledged over 50 schools were struck in a wave of possible cases. The poisonings have spread further fear among parents as Iran has faced months of unrest.

    It remains unclear who or what is responsible since the alleged poisonings began in November in the Shiite holy city of Qom. Reports now suggest schools across 21 of Iran’s 30 provinces have seen suspected cases, with girls’ schools the site of nearly all the incidents.

    The attacks have raised fears that other girls could be poisoned, apparently just for going to school. Education for girls has never been challenged in the more than 40 years since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran has been calling on the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan to allow girls and women return to school and universities.

    Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi on Saturday said, without elaborating, that investigators recovered “suspicious samples” in the course of their investigations into the incidents, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. He called for calm among the public, while also accusing the “enemy’s media terrorism” of inciting more panic over the alleged poisonings.

    However, it wasn’t until the poisonings received international media attention that hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi announced an investigation into the incidents on Wednesday.

    On Sunday, Raisi told the Cabinet, following a report read by Intelligence Minister Ismail Khatib, that the root of the poisonings must be uncovered and confronted. He described the alleged attacks as a “crime against humanity for creating anxiety among student and parents.”

    Vahidi said at least 52 schools had been affected by suspected poisonings. Iranian media reports have put the number of schools at over 60. At least one boy’s school reportedly has been affected.

    Videos of upset parents and schoolgirls in emergency rooms with IVs in their arms have flooded social media. Making sense of the crisis remains challenging, given that nearly 100 journalists have been detained by Iran since the start of protests in September over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. She had been detained by the country’s morality police and later died.

    The security force crackdown on those protests has seen at least 530 people killed and 19,700 others detained, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran.

    The children affected in the poisonings reportedly complained of headaches, heart palpitations, feeling lethargic or otherwise unable to move. Some described smelling tangerines, chlorine or cleaning agents.

    Reports suggest at least 400 schoolchildren have fallen ill since November. Vahidi, the interior minister, said in his statement that two girls remain in hospital because of underlying chronic conditions.

    As more attacks were reported Sunday, videos were posted on social media showing children complaining about pain in the legs, abdomen and dizziness. State media have mainly referred to these as “hysteric reactions.”

    Since the outbreak, no one was reported in critical condition and there have been no reports of fatalities.

    Attacks on women have happened in the past in Iran, most recently with a wave of acid attacks in 2014 around the city of Isfahan, at the time believed to have been carried out by hard-liners targeting women for how they dressed.

    Speculation in Iran’s tightly controlled state media has focused on the possibility of exile groups or foreign powers being behind the poisonings. That was also repeatedly alleged during the recent protests without evidence. In recent days, Germany’s foreign minister, a White House official and others have called on Iran to do more to protect schoolgirls — a concern Iran’s Foreign Ministry has dismissed as “crocodile tears.”

    However, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom noted that Iran has “continued to tolerate attacks against women and girls for months” amid the recent protests.

    “These poisonings are occurring in an environment where Iranian officials have impunity for the harassment, assault, rape, torture and execution of women peacefully asserting their freedom of religion or belief,” Sharon Kleinbaum of the commission said in a statement.

    Suspicion in Iran has fallen on possible hard-liners for carrying out the suspected poisonings. Iranian journalists, including Jamileh Kadivar, a prominent former reformist lawmaker at Tehran’s Ettelaat newspaper, have cited a supposed communique from a group calling itself Fidayeen Velayat that purportedly said that girls’ education “is considered forbidden” and threatened to “spread the poisoning of girls throughout Iran” if girls’ schools remain open.

    Iranian officials have not acknowledged any group called Fidayeen Velayat, which roughly translates to English as “Devotees of the Guardianship.” However, Kadivar’s mention of the threat in print comes as she remains influential within Iranian politics and has ties to its theocratic ruling class. The head of the Ettelaat newspaper also is appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

    Kadivar wrote Saturday that another possibility is “mass hysteria.” There have been previous cases of this over the last decades, most recently in Afghanistan from 2009 through 2012. Then, the World Health Organization wrote about so-called “mass psychogenic illnesses” affecting hundreds of girls in schools across the country.

    “Reports of stench smells preceding the appearance of symptoms have given credit to the theory of mass poisoning,” WHO wrote at the time. “However, investigations into the causes of these outbreaks have yielded no such evidence so far.”

    Iran has not acknowledged asking the world health body for assistance in its investigation. WHO did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.

    However, Kadivar also noted that hard-liners in Iranian governments in the past carried out so-called “chain murders” of activists and others in the 1990s. She also referenced the killings by Islamic vigilantes in 2002 in the city of Kerman, when one victim was stoned to death and others were tied up and thrown into a swimming pool, where they drowned. She described those vigilantes as being members of the Basij, an all-volunteer force in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

    “The common denominator of all of them is their extreme thinking, intellectual stagnation and rigid religious view that allowed them to have committed such violent actions,” Kadivar wrote.

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  • Satellite photos: Damage at Iran military site hit by drone

    Satellite photos: Damage at Iran military site hit by drone

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    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press on Friday showed damage done to what Iran describes as a military workshop targeted by Israeli drones, the latest such assault amid a shadow war between the two countries.

    While Iran has offered no explanation yet of what the workshop manufactured, the drone attack threatened to again raise tensions in the region. Already, worries have grown over Tehran enriching uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels, with a top United Nations nuclear official warning the Islamic Republic had enough fuel to build “several” atomic bombs if it chooses.

    Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose earlier tenure as premier saw escalating attacks targeting Iran, has returned to office and reiterated that he views Tehran as his country’s top security threat. With State Department spokesperson Ned Price now declaring Iran has “killed” the opportunity to return to its nuclear deal with world powers, it remains unclear what diplomacy immediately could ease tensions between Tehran and the West.

    Cloudy weather had prevented satellite pictures of the site of the workshop since it came under attack by what Iran described as bomb-carrying quadcopters on the night of Jan. 28. Quadcopters, which get their name from having four rotors, typically operate from short ranges by remote control.

    Video taken of the attack showed an explosion at the site after anti-aircraft fire targeted the drones, likely from one of the drones reaching the building’s roof. Iran’s military has claimed shooting down two other drones before they reached the site.

    Images taken Thursday by Planet Labs PBC showed the workshop in Isfahan, a central Iranian city some 350 kilometers (215 miles) south of Tehran. An AP analysis of the image, compared to earlier images of the workshop, showed damage to the structure’s roof. That damage corresponded to footage aired by Iranian state television immediately after the attack that showed at least two holes in the building’s roof.

    The Iranian state TV footage, as well as satellite photos, suggest the building’s roof also may have been built with so-called “slat armor.” The structure resembles a cage built around roofs or armored vehicles to stop direct detonation from rockets, missiles or bomb-carrying drones against a target.

    Installation of such protection at the workshop suggests Iran believed it could be a drone target.

    Iran’s Intelligence Ministry in July claimed to have broken up a plot to target sensitive sites around Isfahan. A segment aired on Iranian state TV in October included purported confessions by alleged members of Komala, a Kurdish opposition party that is exiled from Iran and now lives in Iraq, that they planned to target a military aerospace facility in Isfahan after being trained by Israel’s Mossad intelligence service.

    It remains unclear whether the military workshop targeted in the drone attack was that aerospace facility. Iran’s mission to the United Nations told the AP on Friday night that “technical information isn’t available” about the workshop.

    “All of Iran’s military and nuclear facilities are protected by air defense because they’ve always been under threat,” the mission added.

    The attack comes Iran’s theocratic government faces challenges both at home and abroad. Nationwide protests have shaken the country since the September death of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman detained by the country’s morality police. Its rial currency has plummeted to new lows against the U.S. dollar. Meanwhile, Iran continues to arm Russia with the bomb-carrying drone that Moscow uses in attacks in Ukraine on power plants and civilian targets.

    Israel is suspected of launching a series of attacks on Iran, including an April 2021 assault on its underground Natanz nuclear facility that damaged its centrifuges. In 2020, Iran blamed Israel for a sophisticated attack that killed its top military nuclear scientist.

    Israel has not commented on this drone attack. However, Israeli officials rarely acknowledge operations carried out by the country’s secret military units or the Mossad.

    A letter published Thursday by Iran’s ambassador to the U.N., Amir Saeid Iravani, said that “early investigations suggest that the Israeli regime was responsible for this attempted act of aggression.” The letter, however, did not elaborate on what evidence supported Iran’s suspicion.

    ___

    Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.

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  • Iran lashes out at France over new Charlie Hebdo cartoons

    Iran lashes out at France over new Charlie Hebdo cartoons

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    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran summoned the French ambassador on Wednesday to condemn the publication of offensive caricatures of the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

    The magazine has a long history of publishing vulgar cartoons mocking Islamists, which critics say are deeply insulting to Muslims. Two French-born al-Qaida extremists attacked the newspaper’s office in 2015, killing 12 cartoonists, and it has been the target of other attacks over the years.

    Its latest issue features the winners of a recent cartoon contest in which entrants were asked to draw the most offensive caricatures of Khamenei, who has held Iran’s highest office since 1989. The contest was billed as a show of support for anti-government protests rocking Iran.

    One of the finalists depicts a turbaned cleric reaching for a hangman’s noose as he drowns in blood, while another shows Khamenei clinging to a giant throne above the raised fists of protesters. Others depict more vulgar and sexually explicit scenes.

    Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian vowed a “decisive and effective response” to the publication of the cartoons, which he said had insulted Iran’s religious and political authorities.

    The French government, while defending free speech, has rebuked the privately-owned magazine in the past for fanning tensions.

    Iran has been gripped by nationwide protests for nearly four months following the death in mid-September of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had been detained by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating the country’s strict Islamic dress code.

    Women have taken the lead in the protests, with many stripping off the compulsory Islamic headscarf in public. The protesters have called for the overthrow of Iran’s ruling clerics in one of the biggest challenges to their rule since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that brought them to power.

    Charlie Hebdo, which has published similarly offensive cartoons about dead child migrants, virus victims, neo-Nazis, popes, Jewish leaders and other public figures, presents itself as an advocate for democracy and free expression. But it routinely pushes the limits of French hate speech laws with often sexually explicit caricatures that target nearly everyone.

    The paper drew fire for reprinting caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad that were originally published by a Danish magazine in 2005. Those cartoons were seen as sacrilegious and deeply hurtful to Muslims worldwide, many of whom nevertheless condemned the violent response to the drawings.

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  • Today in History: December 30, fire killed 600 in Chicago

    Today in History: December 30, fire killed 600 in Chicago

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    Today in History

    Today is Friday, Dec. 30, the 364th day of 2022. There is one day left in the year.

    Today’s Highlight in History:

    On Dec. 30, 1903, about 600 people died when fire broke out at the recently opened Iroquois Theater in Chicago.

    On this date:

    In 1813, British troops burned Buffalo, New York, during the War of 1812.

    In 1853, the United States and Mexico signed a treaty under which the U.S. agreed to buy some 45,000 square miles of land from Mexico for $10 million in a deal known as the Gadsden Purchase.

    In 1860, 10 days after South Carolina seceded from the Union, the state militia seized the United States Arsenal in Charleston.

    In 1922, Vladimir Lenin proclaimed the establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which lasted nearly seven decades before dissolving in December 1991.

    In 1954, Olympic gold medal runner Malvin G. Whitfield became the first Black recipient of the James E. Sullivan Award for amateur athletes.

    In 1972, the United States halted its heavy bombing of North Vietnam.

    In 1994, a gunman walked into a pair of suburban Boston abortion clinics and opened fire, killing two employees. (John C. Salvi III was later convicted of murder; he died in prison, an apparent suicide.)

    In 2004, a fire broke out during a rock concert at a nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 194 people.

    In 2006, a state funeral service was held in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda for former President Gerald R. Ford.

    In 2009, seven CIA employees and a Jordanian intelligence officer were killed by a suicide bomber at a U.S. base in Khost (hohst), Afghanistan.

    In 2015, Bill Cosby was charged with drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. (Cosby’s first trial ended in a mistrial after jurors deadlocked; he was convicted on three charges at his retrial in April 2018 and was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison, but the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the conviction in June 2021 and Cosby went free.)

    In 2020, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said he would raise objections when Congress met to affirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, forcing House and Senate votes. President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court to overturn his election loss in Wisconsin; it was his second unsuccessful appeal in as many days to the high court over the result in the battleground state. Dawn Wells, who played the wholesome Mary Ann on the 1960s sitcom “Gilligan’s Island,” died in Los Angeles at age 82 from what her publicist said were causes related to COVID-19.

    Ten years ago: Recalling the shooting rampage that killed 20 first graders in Connecticut as the worst day of his presidency, President Barack Obama pledged on NBC’s “Meet the Press” to put his “full weight” behind legislation aimed at preventing gun violence. A tour bus crashed on an icy Oregon highway, killing nine passengers and injuring nearly 40 on Interstate 84 east of Pendleton.

    Five years ago: A wave of spontaneous protests over Iran’s weak economy swept into Tehran, with college students and others chanting against the government. Forecasters issued winter weather advisories across much of the Deep South ahead of plunging temperatures expected as the new year arrived.

    One year ago: In a phone conversation lasting nearly an hour, President Joe Biden warned Russia’s Vladimir Putin that the U.S. could impose new sanctions against Russia if it took further military action against Ukraine; Putin responded that such a U.S. move could lead to a complete rupture of ties between the nations. A wildfire driven by wind gusts up to 105 mph swept through towns northwest of Denver, destroying hundreds of homes and forcing tens of thousands of people to flee. (The wildfire would cause more than $2 billion in losses, making it the costliest in state history; it was blamed for at least one death.)

    Today’s Birthdays: Actor Russ Tamblyn is 88. Baseball Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax is 87. Folk singer Noel Paul Stookey is 85. TV director James Burrows is 82. Actor Concetta Tomei (toh-MAY’) is 77. Singer Patti Smith is 76. Rock singer-musician Jeff Lynne is 75. TV personality Meredith Vieira is 69. Actor Sheryl Lee Ralph is 67. Actor Patricia Kalember is 66. Country singer Suzy Bogguss is 66. Actor-comedian Tracey Ullman is 63. Radio-TV commentator Sean Hannity is 61. Sprinter Ben Johnson is 61. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is 59. Actor George Newbern is 59. Movie director Bennett Miller is 56. Singer Jay Kay (Jamiroquai) is 53. Rock musician Byron McMackin (Pennywise) is 53. Actor Meredith Monroe is 53. Actor Daniel Sunjata is 51. Actor Maureen Flannigan is 50. Actor Jason Behr is 49. Golfer Tiger Woods is 47. TV personality-boxer Laila Ali is 45. Actor Lucy Punch is 45. Singer-actor Tyrese Gibson is 44. Actor Eliza Dushku is 42. Rock musician Tim Lopez (Plain White T’s) is 42. Actor Kristin Kreuk is 40. Folk-rock singer-musician Wesley Schultz (The Lumineers) is 40. NBA star LeBron James is 38. R&B singer Andra Day is 38. Actor Anna Wood is 37. Pop-rock singer Ellie Goulding (GOL’-ding) is 36. Actor Caity Lotz is 36. Actor Jeff Ward is 36. Country musician Eric Steedly is 32. Pop-rock musician Jamie Follesé (FAHL’-es-ay) (Hot Chelle (shel) Rae) is 31.

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  • Germany formally suspends guarantees for business with Iran

    Germany formally suspends guarantees for business with Iran

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    BERLIN — The German government said Friday it is formally suspending export credit and investment guarantees for business in Iran in the wake of authorities’ crackdown on protests.

    The Economy Ministry said it also has suspended other “economic formats,” including a dialogue on energy issues, in view of “the very serious situation in Iran.”

    Export credit guarantees protect German companies from losses when exports aren’t paid for. Investment guarantees are granted to protect direct investments by German companies from political risk in the countries where they are made.

    The ministry said that use of those instruments for projects in Iran was suspended for decades until there was a “short phase of opening” from 2016 as a result of Iran’s agreement with world powers, including Germany, on its nuclear program. It said that guarantees were granted or extended for a few projects in that period, but there have been no new ones since 2019.

    The German government has now decided to “suspend completely” the guarantees, it added, and exemptions can only be granted if there are solid humanitarian reasons. German-Iranian trade totaled 1.76 billion euros (nearly $1.9 billion) in 2021 and 1.49 billion euros in the first nine months of this year, the ministry said.

    Nationwide protests erupted in September after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, detained by the morality police for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women. They have since transformed into calls for the overthrow of Iran’s ruling clerics. Authorities have sought to stamp out the demonstrations and ramp up pressure on critics.

    Since the protests started, the United States and European Union imposed additional sanctions on Iran for its brutal treatment of demonstrators and its decision to send hundreds of drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine. Germany pushed for a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council last month that voted to condemn the crackdown and create an independent fact-finding mission.

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  • Germany formally suspends guarantees for business with Iran

    Germany formally suspends guarantees for business with Iran

    [ad_1]

    BERLIN — The German government said Friday it is formally suspending export credit and investment guarantees for business in Iran in the wake of authorities’ crackdown on protests.

    The Economy Ministry said it also has suspended other “economic formats,” including a dialogue on energy issues, in view of “the very serious situation in Iran.”

    Export credit guarantees protect German companies from losses when exports aren’t paid for. Investment guarantees are granted to protect direct investments by German companies from political risk in the countries where they are made.

    The ministry said that use of those instruments for projects in Iran was suspended for decades until there was a “short phase of opening” from 2016 as a result of Iran’s agreement with world powers, including Germany, on its nuclear program. It said that guarantees were granted or extended for a few projects in that period, but there have been no new ones since 2019.

    The German government has now decided to “suspend completely” the guarantees, it added, and exemptions can only be granted if there are solid humanitarian reasons. German-Iranian trade totaled 1.76 billion euros (nearly $1.9 billion) in 2021 and 1.49 billion euros in the first nine months of this year, the ministry said.

    Nationwide protests erupted in September after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, detained by the morality police for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women. They have since transformed into calls for the overthrow of Iran’s ruling clerics. Authorities have sought to stamp out the demonstrations and ramp up pressure on critics.

    Since the protests started, the United States and European Union imposed additional sanctions on Iran for its brutal treatment of demonstrators and its decision to send hundreds of drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine. Germany pushed for a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council last month that voted to condemn the crackdown and create an independent fact-finding mission.

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  • Iranian authorities say 2 killed, 2 arrested after attack

    Iranian authorities say 2 killed, 2 arrested after attack

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    CAIRO — Iranian authorities said Wednesday that two suspects were killed and two more were arrested in connection with a shooting that left seven people dead at a bazaar last month in the country’s southwest.

    IRNA, Iran’s official state news agency, said the two suspects killed were among the perpetrators of the market shooting in the Iranian city of Izeh last month. The report said two others accused of being involved in the attack were arrested in the same operation, led by the Revolutionary Guard and the Country’s Intelligence Ministry.

    Iranian authorities provided no further details about when the operation took place. They offered no evidence that the four men were involved in the attack. News of the security operation was first announced by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in a statement published on Tuesday.

    It remains unclear what motivated the gun attack in Izeh, or if it is linked to the nationwide protests that have rocked the country since late September. Iranian authorities labeled the incident a ”terrorist” attack but have not accused any particular group of being behind the shooting.

    Iranian state TV has in the past said that two gunmen on motorbikes opened fire at Izeh’s Bazaar on the evening of Nov. 16. Around the same time, protesters had gathered in different areas of the city, chanting anti-government slogans and throwing rocks at the police, it reported.

    Nationwide demonstrations ignited across Iran in late September after the death of a 22-year-old woman who was being held by the country’s morality police. The protests have since morphed into calls for the overthrow of Iran’s ruling clerics and an end to the theocracy established after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

    At least 506 people have been killed in the countrywide demonstrations amid the government crackdown, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that’s been monitoring the protests since they began.

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  • US and Iran clash over Russia using Iran drones in Ukraine

    US and Iran clash over Russia using Iran drones in Ukraine

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    UNITED NATIONS — The United States and its allies clashed with Iran and its ally Russia over Western claims that Tehran is supplying Moscow with drones that have been attacking Ukraine — and the U.S. accused the U.N. secretary-general of “yielding to Russian threats” and failing to launch an investigation.

    At a contentious Security Council meeting Monday on the resolution endorsing the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers, the United States and Iran also accused each other of responsibility for stalled negotiations on the Biden administration rejoining the agreement that former President Donald Trump pulled out of in 2018.

    Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani insisted Iran’s negotiating team exercised “maximum flexibility” in trying to reach agreement and even introduced an “innovative solution to the remaining issues to break the impasse.” But he claimed the “unrealistic and rigid approach” of the United States led to the current stalled talks on the 2015 agreement, known as the JCPOA.

    “Let’s make it clear: pressure, intimidation and confrontation are not solutions and will get nowhere,” Iravani said.

    Iran is ready to resume talks and arrange a ministerial meeting “as soon as possible to declare the JCPOA restoration,” Iravani said. “This is achievable if the U.S. demonstrates genuine political will … The U.S. now has the ball in its court.”

    Speaking before Iravani, U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood said “the door to negotiations remains open” for a mutual U.S.-Iranian return to full implementation of the JCPOA. But he said, “Iran’s own actions and stances have been responsible for preventing that outcome.”

    In September, a deal that all other parties had agreed to was “within reach” and “even Iran prepared to say yes,” Wood said, “until at the last minute, Iran made new demands that were extraneous to the JCPOA and that it knew could not be met.”

    He said Iran’s conduct since September — notably its failure to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, and the expansion of its nuclear program “for no legitimate civilian purpose” — has reinforced U.S. skepticism “about Iran’s willingness and capability of reaching a deal, and explains why there have been no active negotiations since then.”

    At the end of the council meeting, Wood asked for the floor to refute Iravani, saying it’s “a fact” that Iran’s extraneous demands and rejection of all compromise proposals are the reason why there has not been a return to mutual compliance with the JCPOA.

    “So let me just simply say, The ball is not in the U.S. court,” Wood said. “On the contrary, the ball is in Iran’s court.”

    Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward, whose country remains a party to the JCPOA, told the council Iran’s nuclear escalation is making “progress on a nuclear deal much more difficult.”

    “Today, Iran’s total enriched uranium stockpile exceeds JCPOA limits by at least 18 times, and it continues to produce highly enriched uranium, which is unprecedented for a state without a nuclear weapons program,” she said.

    In addition, Woodward said, “Iranian nuclear breakout time has reduced to a matter of weeks, and the time required for Iran to produce the fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons is decreasing.” She said Iran is also testing technology that could enable intermediate and intercontinental range ballistic missiles to carry a nuclear payload.

    U.N. political chief Rosemary DiCarlo told the council “the space for diplomacy appears to be rapidly shrinking.”

    She pointed to an IAEA report that Iran intends to install new centrifuges at its Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant and to produce more uranium enriched up to 60% at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant — a level close to that needed for a nuclear weapon. Iran also removed all IAEA equipment monitoring JCPOA-related activities.

    DiCarlo called on Iran to reverse all steps outside JCPOA limits, and on the United States to lift sanctions on Iran outlined in the nuclear deal, and extend waivers on Iranian oil trading.

    Iran’s Iravani emphasized that all of Iran’s nuclear activities “are peaceful” and said Iran is ready to engage the IAEA to resolve outstanding issues on nuclear safeguards.

    As for what he called the “unfounded allegation” that Iran transferred drones to Russia in violation of the 2015 resolution, Iravani stressed that all restrictions on transferring arms to and from Iran were terminated in October 2020. So he said Western claims that Tehran needed prior approval “has no legal merit.”

    Iravani also insisted that drones were not transferred to Russia for use in Ukraine, saying “the misinformation campaign and baseless allegations … serve no purpose other than to divert attention from Western states’ transfer of massive amounts of advanced, sophisticated weaponry to Ukraine in order to prolong the conflict.”

    Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called allegations of Iranian drone deliveries to his country for use in Ukraine “patently concocted and false.” Russia is well aware that Ukrainian representatives “have been unable to provide Tehran bilaterally any documentation to corroborate the use by Russian military personnel of Iranian-origin drones,” he said.

    Wood, the U.S. envoy, told the council that Ukraine’s report of Iranian-origin drones being used by Russia to attack civilian infrastructure has been supported “by ample evidence from multiple public sources” including a statement by Iran’s foreign minister on Nov. 5.

    He insisted that Iran is barred from transferring these types of drones without prior Security Council approval under an annex to the 2015 resolution.

    For seven years, Wood said, the U.N. has had a mandate to investigate reported violations of the resolution, and he expressed disappointment that the U.N. Secretariat, headed by secretary-general Guterres, has not launched an investigation, “apparently yielding to Russian threats.”

    Russia’s Nebenzia reiterated Moscow’s contention that investigations are “an egregious violation” of the resolution and the U.N. Charter “and the U.N. Secretariat should not bow to pressure from Western countries.”

    Guterres told a news conference earlier Monday, when asked about criticism that the U.N. hasn’t launched an investigation of Iranian-made drones in Ukraine, that “We are looking into all the aspects of that question and in the broader picture of everything we are doing in the context of the war to determine if and when we should” conduct an investigation.

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  • Authorities: Kyiv targeted in early morning drone attack

    Authorities: Kyiv targeted in early morning drone attack

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    KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s capital was targeted by multiple drones in an attack early Monday, authorities reported, three days after what they described as one of Russia’s biggest assaults on Kyiv since the beginning of the war.

    The Kyiv city administration said on its Telegram account that more than 20 Iranian-made drones were detected over the capital’s air space and at least 15 of them were shot down.

    It added that a critical infrastructure point was hit, without giving more details.

    Kyiv region Gov. Oleksii Kuleba said on Telegram that some infrastructure facilities were damaged, as well as private houses, and at least two people were injured.

    Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that explosions were heard in two districts, Shevchenkivskyi and Solomianskyi. He said also on Telegram that there were no immediate casualties reported, and that the emergency services are working in the area.

    Although the capital seemed the main target of the latest Russian attack, the armed forces said that other places in the country were also targeted.

    Ukraine’s air force said on Telegram that they were able to destroy 30 of at least 35 self-explosives drones that Russia launched across the country from the eastern side of the Azov Sea.

    The Ukrainian military has reported increasing success in shooting down missiles and explosive drones.

    Russia has been targeting energy infrastructure, including in Kyiv, as part of a strategy to try to freeze Ukrainians.

    On Friday, Ukraine’s capital was attacked as part of a massive strike from Russia. Dozens of missiles were launched across the country, triggering widespread power outages.

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  • Iran authorities arrest actress of Oscar-winning movie

    Iran authorities arrest actress of Oscar-winning movie

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    CAIRO — Iranian authorities arrested one of the country’s most renowned actresses Saturday on charges of spreading falsehoods about nationwide protests that grip the country, state media said.

    The report by IRNA said Taraneh Alidoosti, star of the Oscar-winning movie “The Salesman,” was detained a week after she made a post on Instagram expressing solidarity with the first man recently executed for crimes allegedly committed during the protests.

    The announcement is the latest in a series of celebrity arrests, that have included footballers, actors and influencers, in response to their open display of support for anti-government demonstrations now in their third month

    According to the report published on the state media’s official Telegram channel, Alidoosti was arrested because she did not provide ’’any documents in line with her claims.″

    It said that several other Iranian celebrities had also ″been summoned by the judiciary body over publishing provocative content,″ and that some had been arrested. It provided no further details.

    In her post, the 38-year-old actress said: ”His name was Mohsen Shekari. Every international organization who is watching this bloodshed and not taking action, is a disgrace to humanity.”

    Shekari was executed Dec. 9 after being charged by an Iranian court with blocking a street in Tehran and attacking a member of the country’s security forces with a machete.

    In November, Hengameh Ghaziani and Katayoun Riahi, two other famous Iranian actresses, were arrested by authorities for expressing solidarity with protesters on social media. Voria Ghafouri, an Iranian soccer player, was also arrested last month for ‘’insulting the national soccer team and propagandizing against the government.” All three have been released.

    Since September, Alidoosti has openly expressed solidarity with protesters in at least three posts on Instagram. Her account, which had some 8 million followers, has been suspended.

    Last Week, Iran executed a second prisoner, Majidreza Rahnavard, in connection with the protests. Rahnavard’s body was left hanging from a construction crane as a gruesome warning to others. Iranian authorities alleged Rahnavard stabbed two members of its paramilitary force.

    Both Shekari and Rahnavard were executed less than a month after they were charged, underscoring the speed at which Iran now carries out death sentences imposed for alleged crimes related to the demonstrations. Activists say at least a dozen people have been sentenced to death in closed-door hearings. Iran is one of the one the world’s top executioners.

    Iran has been rocked by protests since the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after being detained by the morality police. The protests have since morphed into one of the most serious challenges to Iran’s theocracy installed by the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

    Alidoosti had previously criticised the Iranian government and its police force before this year’s protests.

    In June 2020, she was given a suspended five-month prison sentence after she criticized the police on Twitter in 2018 for assaulting a woman who had removed her headscarf.

    At least 495 people have been killed in the demonstrations amid a harsh security crackdown, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that has been monitoring the protests since they began. Over 18,200 people have been detained by authorities.

    Other well-known movies Alidoosti has starred in include “The Beautiful City” and “About Elly.”

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  • Iran authorities arrest actress of Oscar-winning movie

    Iran authorities arrest actress of Oscar-winning movie

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    CAIRO — Iranian authorities arrested one of the country’s most famous actresses on charges of spreading falsehoods about nationwide protests that grip the country, state media said Saturday.

    The report by IRNA said Taraneh Alidoosti, star of the Oscar-winning movie “The Salesman,” was arrested a week after she made a post on Instagram expressing solidarity with the first man recently executed for crimes committed during the nationwide protests.

    According to the report published on the state media’s official Telegram channel, Alidoosti was arrested because she did not provide ’’any documents in line with her claims.″

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