Salman Rushdie Lost One Eye And Use Of Hand After August Assault

In an article published Saturday night, the IRGC’s Javan newspaper described the massive Berlin rally — where 100,000 people called for a revolution in Iran — as “a clear interference and support for regime-change seekers by Germany,” vowing it will not remain unanswered by Iran and will cost Germans dearly.

Rattled by the huge protest rally in the German capital, the paper claimed that many of the participants were not Iranians who were paid to attend the gathering. It also said many of the protesters were transferred from nearby countries in exchange for free food and accommodation.

The threatening article came a few days after Iranian state media reported that a German citizen was detained during the antigovernment protests in the northwestern city of Ardabil, where security forces beat to death at least one schoolgirl earlier in the month when students refused to attend a pro-regime rally.

The massive Freedom Rally for Iran in Berlin was described as the biggest gathering of Iranian protesters across the world. People from all corners of the continent traveled to Berlin with buses, trains and planes to voice support for their fellow-countrymen struggling against government brutality.

Protesters carried the pictures of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman who was killed in the custody of Iran’s ‘morality police’, as well as those who lost their lives in the nationwide protest movement since mid-September. They also unfurled a large Iranian pre-revolution national flag, which has become a symbol of rejecting the Islamic Republic.

Following a meeting of women foreign ministers hosted by her Canadian counterpart Mélanie Joly to discuss the situation in Iran on Thursday, Penny Wong said, “We will continue to work together and support Iranian women and girls.”

“To those brave Iranian women and girls and others, peacefully protesting; please know, Australia is with you,” she said, adding, “Australians stand with Iranian women and girls in their struggle for equality.” “I call on the Iranian government to cease its oppression of women and suppression of protests.”

The Canadian foreign minister also spoke out about the uprising spearheaded by women and girls following the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, saying “The women of Iran are speaking clearly. No longer will they tolerate the regime’s vision of women in society.”

“As women foreign ministers, we have a responsibility to amplify their voices as they fight for their human rights, and to work together in support of the people of Iran,” she added. 

Calling on the Islamic Republic to cease its aggression against all citizens, especially children, Joly said, “Canada is appalled by the Iranian regime’s “continued targeting of children during protests and in what should be safe spaces, like schools.”

In a statement released on Thursday, the US agency said that since at least 2020 the group targeted entities primarily in Israel with cyber-enabled information operations that included an initial intrusion, theft and subsequent leak of data followed by amplification through social media and online forums, and in some cases the deployment of destructive encryption malware.

The FBI added that the Iranian group used false-flag campaigns under the guise of multiple personas like hacktivist or cyber-criminal groups. The company, previously known as Eeleyanet Gostar and Net Peygard Samavat, has regularly rebranded to evade US sanctions

The FBI added that the group’s techniques may be used to target US entities, as was the case during their cyber-enabled information operation to attack the 2020 US Presidential election. Saying that the FBI has identified a destructive cyberattack against a US organization, it underlined that the group remains a threat to the US.

On Wednesday, October 19, the US State Department announced a $10-million reward for information about the group’s operations or its members. 

Back in February, the US offered up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest of two of the group's members for trying to influence and interfere with the 2020 presidential election. 

In November 2021, the Treasury Department sanctioned six Iranian officials as well as the company for their involvement in the planned cyberattack. 

“This is grass roots, this is bottom up,” Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State said in remarks tweeted by the State Department Tuesday, referring to protests that began mid-September. “This is a reflection of huge frustration and anger towards the direction of their country and their leadership. This is not made in the USA, it’s not made anywhere else…”

Malley told CNN on Monday that "Right now the talks on revival of JCPOA are not on the US agenda; the focus is on what's happening in Iran as the talks are stalled," adding that “Iran has taken a position in those talks for the past two months, which is simply inconsistent with a return to the deal.”

However, he insisted that “diplomacy is the way” to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, noting that “We will see whether this is a government that is interested in reaching a deal.”

Malley said Iran’s leaders should “stop pointing the finger at external actors who have nothing to do with what’s happening in their country and listen to their people…” President Ebrahim Raisi Sunday said the US was “inciting chaos,” while Iranian politicians have generally denounced foreign-based media and social-media operations.

Malley went on to say that in a struggle of “peaceful protestors” against “a government using brutal repression” there was “no doubt” where the US stood. Malley denied that the US sought “regime change [in Iran] instigated in the US.” He said Washington supported human rights in Iran “just as we support human rights of citizens across the globe.”

Malley also defended the approach of President Joe Biden in seeking to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), arguing the talks were “stalled” because Tehran was “making demands that have nothing to do with the JCPOA.”

Monique Ryan told Iran International’s correspondent that the government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should also work with other UN states to remove Iran from United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) amid the Islamic Republic's crackdown on the current uprising spearheaded by Iranian women and ignited by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. 

Expressing grave concern over “what has been done to young people in Iran by the government,” she praised the courage of people “for standing up for their rights.” She added, “Being physically punished for that is deeply shocking and very concerning for all Australians.” 

Referring to a letter to the Albanese Government signed by her as well as several other lawmakers, she said they called on Canberra to act “more forcefully to express the repugnance felt by the Australian people towards the recent treatment of peaceful demonstrators."

She said they specifically requested Magnitsky-style targeted sanctions including financial asset freezes and travel bans against members of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), key security officials and the so-called morality police. “We also asked the government to declare the IRGC as a terrorist force as has been done in the US and Canada,” she said, adding that they also called on the government to join other states to remove Iran from the UN Commission on the Status of Women.