Iran forces relocation of its Kurdish opposition groups inside Iraq

This year’s crackdown began in Iran’s Kurdistan province, where at least 17 citizens were arrested in the first week of September, just days ahead of the second anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody on September 16, 2022, which sparked the nationwide Woman Life Freedom protests.

In an interview with Iran International regarding the recent wave of arrests around the anniversary, Azadeh Davachi, a researcher, writer, and women's rights activist, remarked:

"One of the defining characteristics of dictatorial regimes is their reliance on escalating violence when they feel threatened, particularly in the face of political movements. What we are witnessing now is the government's fear of the potential resurgence of such movements."

Notably, among those arrested this week were relatives of protesters killed during the 2022 uprising, during which Iranian security forces killed at least 550 protesters, including children, and imprisoned over 20,000 people.

On Tuesday, security forces raided the homes of two families who lost relatives to state violence during the protests.

One of those arrested was 16-year-old Ramyar Abubakri, brother of 21-year-old Zanyar Abubakri, who was fatally shot by state security forces on October 27, 2022, in Mahabad, Kurdistan. According to rights group Hengaw, security forces raided the Abubakri family home around 3 am on Tuesday, arresting Ramyar and assaulting several family members, including his parents.

At the same time, security forces also raided the home of Siavash Soltani, son of 52-year-old Kobra Sheikhe-Saqqa, another victim killed by state forces on the same day in Mahabad. Both Sheikhe-Saqqa and Zanyar Abubakri were shot during protests on October 27, 2022, which followed the funeral of another slain protester, Simko Mowloudi.

Rights group Kurdistan Human Rights reported that Soltani was beaten and arrested without a warrant, and both his and Ramyar Abubakri’s whereabouts remain unknown since their arrest on Tuesday.

Hengaw also reported two further arrests in Mahabad, bringing the total of those detained in this city to 4, and 10 individuals were arrested in the city of Bolbanabad in Kurdistan province’s Dehgolan County, where multiple protestors were killed during the 2022 uprising, and 3 arrested in Oshnavieh in West Azerbaijan province.

Similar waves of arrests were reported last year across the country around the same time as the uprising’s anniversary with tens of arrests reported in Iran’s Azerbaijan region and at least 20 arrests in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, Southwestern Iran.

Last year, Human Rights Watch said that Iranian authorities have ramped up their repression of civil society for the first anniversary of Amini’s death, calling on all delegations of UN member states to raise the plight of activists and put it at the center of their engagement.

Saberin News, a Telegram channel linked to the Revolutionary Guards, reported Monday that the Prosecutor’s office has indicted Zeidabadi for “false allegations and spreading lies” during the debate.

“I know that a request to hold an open trial or having a jury won’t be accepted so I urge the presence of representatives of the Leader’s Office and President’s Office to report the proceedings of the possible trial to high officials,” Zeidabadi wrote Monday on Telegram in reaction to the news of his indictment.

Zeidabadi’s indictment may be more connected to his implied criticism of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s decision to suppress the Green Movement in 2009, rather than his allegations about the brutal torture of prisoners, including himself, at the hands of the Intelligence Ministry and the IRGC in detention facilities. His critique of Khamenei’s role in the crackdown on protests may have crossed a political red line, overshadowing even his harsh comments on the torture practices he endured.

Some hardliners, including Abdolreza Davari, have criticized Zeidabadi for “disrespecting the Leader” during the debate and accusing security forces of torture. Davari argues that Zeidabadi's "radicalism" and his decision to revive a bloody past, which authorities prefer to remain unspoken, could undermine the recent perceived “opening” in the country’s political atmosphere.

Davari served as an aide and adviser to former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but later denounced him and in the recent presidential elections supported Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf.

In the debate, Zeidabadi argued that the crackdown on protesters and the house arrest of reformist leaders Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karrubi—decisions solely attributable to Khamenei—were wrong and have had serious consequences for the nation. He criticized the ongoing house arrests, highlighting their lasting negative impact on Iran’s political landscape.

Harf-e No, an online media platform, broadcast the August 31 debate between Zeidabadi, a former political prisoner, and Mehdi Taeb, the brother of the former chief of the Intelligence Organization of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Hossein Taeb.

Excerpts from the debate have been widely shared on various social media platforms including X and the full version is available on YouTube.

Zeidabadi alleged that some political prisoners were forced to make false confessions not only about their political activities but also about forbidden sexual relations. He recounted enduring unbearable physical and psychological torture in solitary confinement, claiming interrogators would not stop until prisoners made such false statements about themselves and others.

“Do you know how many times there were confessions about sexual issues that were lies? What does this have to do with protests or [the claimed] plots by the US… These are the behaviors that you must change, criticize, and investigate. Probe them at least to see if we are lying or telling the truth,” he told Taeb.

Zeidabadi, who claims he was beaten and lashed on two occasions, also spoke about "rehearsals" in courtrooms, where prisoners were forced to practice the confessions they had been tortured into making. Judges were present during these sessions, preparing prisoners to deliver these false confessions during trials that were often broadcast on state-run television.

His torturers told him to “confess and repent” or prepare to be hanged as “ordered by His Excellency”, that is, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he told Taeb.

“It’s not right to sit here with an easy conscience and say all those [torture allegations] were lies … They were true, they were serious,” Zeidabadi told Taeb.

He argued that the Iranian people lost trust in conservatives once they learned of the atrocities committed during the 2009 crackdown, including the brutal treatment of young protesters at the Kahrizak detention camp. According to him, these events revealed the conservatives’ lust for power, eroding their credibility in the eyes of the public.

In a heavily censored online interview in 2018, Zeidabadi had described how the desperation in solitary confinement drove him to seriously contemplate suicide only to realize he could find no means to end his life.

Earlier in the week, Politico reported that an Iranian entity paid hackers $3 million in ransom to dissuade them from releasing the data of over 20 hacked banks, confirming Iran International’s earlier report about the “biggest-ever” cyberattack on Iran’s banking system.

Iran International reported on August 14 that the major cyberattack targeted several Iranian banks, leading to the theft of a huge amount of data. Initial assessments indicated at the time this could be one of the largest cyberattacks ever against Iranian state infrastructure, even though Iranian officials kept mum about the revelation.

In its report on Wednesday, Politico wrote that the cyberattack targeted 20 of the 29 active credit institutions in Iran, threatening the stability of the Islamic Republic's banking system. The report said it appears to be the “worst cyberattack” against the country.

Citing unnamed sources, Politico noted that the group “IRLeaks” which has a history of hacking Iranian companies, is likely behind the cyberattack.

“IRleaks entered the banks’ servers via a company called Tosan, which provides data and other digital services to Iran’s financial sector,” the officials told Politico. “Using Tosan as a Trojan horse, the hackers appear to have siphoned data from both private banks and Iran’s central bank... The regime ultimately forced Tosan to pay the IRLeaks ransom.”

The report said the affected banks included “the Bank of Industry and Mines, Mehr Interest-Free Bank, Post Bank of Iran, Iran Zamin Bank, Sarmayeh Bank, Iran-Venezuela Bi-National Bank, Bank Day, Bank-e Shahr, Eghtesad Novin Bank, and Saman, which also has branches in Italy and Germany.”

The same hacker group, IRLeaks, had earlier in December 2023 claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on Snapp Food, the country's largest food delivery app, boasting access to the personal details of over 20 million users, and exposing a vast trove of sensitive information.

The compromised data, reportedly up for sale at $30,000, included usernames, passwords, email addresses, full names, and mobile numbers. The hackers claimed to possess detailed information on over 51 million user addresses, complete with GPS coordinates and phone numbers.

In that case, too, ransom money was paid to dissuade the hackers from releasing the personal data of Iranian users.

Also in September 2023, the hacking group reported a breach on the ride-hailing service Tapsi, affecting more than 33 million users. The hackers claimed to have engaged in negotiations with Tapsi's management for two weeks before making the breach public. However, the company refused to meet the hackers' demand of $35,000.

The recurrent nature of such incidents in Iran highlights the absence of stringent laws and penalties for negligence in safeguarding private information.

The lack of user rights, including the inability to request the deletion of personal data, underscores the urgency for regulatory reforms to address the growing threat of information leaks in the country.

The officials, members of the Supreme Council of the Stock Exchange, orchestrated the generous loans with lenient repayment periods and minimal interest rates while Iran’s economy remains on the brink of collapse.

Majid Eshghi, Chairman of the Board of the Securities and Exchange Organization, received the largest loan, 27 billion rials ($45,000), with just 4% interest over a 10 year period. To put this amount in perspective, and ordinary worker in Iran earns just $200 a month.

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The loans were approved during the final days of the Raisi government, bypassing orders from both acting president Mohammad Mokhber and president-elect Masoud Pezeshkian. Experts warn that the move threatens to destabilize Iran’s capital market by further eroding investor confidence.

Other council members, including Alireza Nasserpour, Reza Eivazlou, Mehrdad Masoudifar, and Hassan Farajzadeh Dehkurdi, each received 19 billion rials (over $31,000) in loans.

On Thursday, Abdolnasser Hemmati, Iran’s Minister of Economy, announced the launch of an “urgent expert review” into the scandal. Many view this as a mere formality, with little expectation of accountability in a system where officials have long shielded themselves from public scrutiny.

Iman Aghayari, a political activist, told Iran International that corruption in Iran has evolved into a kleptocracy, becoming ingrained as a behavioral model. “At the top, there is a person [Ali Khamenei] who treats the entire country as his personal property, and at the lower levels, others believe they must plunder the limited resources available to them," he said.

Iran’s Central Bank is already under fire for reports of astronomical loans being granted by major banks to their own employees and subsidiaries. According to a report released by the Central Bank last week, these institutions funneled over 9,100 trillion rials ($1.5 billion) in loans to their employees, managers, and board members in 2023 alone.

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Two of the most politically influential banks, Mellat and Sepah, are the lead suspects, both notorious for their involvement in Tehran’s military and nuclear programs, which have brought crippling international sanctions upon Iran. Mellat Bank alone issued 190 trillion rials ($315 million) in loans to its subsidiaries last year, with Sepah Bank not far behind, distributing 145 trillion rials ($240 million).

Not only are these government banks controlled by regime insiders, but their subsidiary companies also serve as strongholds for political appointees and nepotism.

In contrast, ordinary Iranians face challenges securing loans for housing, marriage, or entrepreneurship, with delays and denials becoming the norm. Marriage loans, crucial for thousands of young couples, have been sidelined, while bank employees are handed fortunes with ease.

The disparity in access to loans is vast between Iran's elite and the ordinary citizen. For bank employees, loan ceilings can reach over 10 billion rials ($16,000), while retirees, struggling to survive on meagre pensions, are limited to loans of just 300 million rials ($500). Meanwhile, tenants and entrepreneurs face long waiting lists as banks cite financial shortfalls.

Around one in three Iranians now lives below the poverty line as inflation has exceeded 40% for the last five years leaving many struggling with basic costs such as food and housing.

The tools, supported by the US-backed Open Technology Fund (OTF), have seen a surge of usage in Russia, Iran, Myanmar and authoritarian states that heavily censor the internet.

OTF's pitch to tech companies at the meeting was to help offer discounted or subsidized server bandwidth to meet the fast-growing demand for virtual private network (VPN) applications that OTF funds, the organization’s president, Laura Cunningham, told Reuters.

“Over the last few years, we have seen an explosion in demand for VPNs, largely driven by users in Russia and Iran,” Cunningham said. “For a decade, we routinely supported around nine million VPN users each month, and now that number has more than quadrupled.”

VPNs help users hide their identity and change their online location, often to bypass geographic restrictions on content or to evade government censorship technology, by routing internet traffic through external servers outside of that government’s control.

The US government launched its first Internet blockage circumvention tool in 2009 when the Iranian government expanded its censorship during anti-government protests. Later, the OTF was created to oversee and coordinate the US government’s Internet anti-censorship effort, annually receiving around $15 million in mid-2010s.

Iranians have long been the biggest users of the US-provided and other VPNs, since thousands of websites and all major social media applications are blocked by the government both for political and religious purposes.

The OTF specifically backs VPNs that are designed to work in states that restrict access to the internet. The U.S. injected increased funding into VPNs supported by the OTF following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Reuters reported at the time.

The organization has since received a boost to its budget from the US State Department via its “Surge and Sustain Fund for Anti-Censorship Technology”, an initiative created at the Biden administration’s Summit for Democracy.

But it has struggled to meet increased demand in countries like Russia, Myanmar, and Iran, where internet censorship heavily restricts access to outside information.

Around 46 million people a month now use US-backed VPNs, Cunningham said, but added that a sizeable chunk of the budget was taken up by the cost of hosting all that network traffic on private sector servers.

“We want to support these additional users, but we don't have the resources to keep up with this surging demand,” she said.

Representatives of Amazon Web Services, Google, and Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment.

A Cloudflare spokesperson said the firm was working with researchers to "better document internet shutdowns and censorship."

With reporting by Reuters