‘Iran has built a second Hezbollah in Syria’ – IRGC

May 8

IRGC Brigadier General Hossein Hamadani, former commander of Mohammad Rasulollah Corps for Greater Tehran, has been quoted by Fars News Agency as stating Iran has built a “second Hezbollah in Syria,” meaning it now possesses a projected line of defense at both southern Lebanon and Syria.Hamadani also confirmed Iran’s role in providing training and urban warfare tactics, employed with success on the battlefields of Syria. He went on to state “Today we are fighting for and defending the interests of the Islamic Revolution in Syria, we are at war,” further claiming a large number of militiamen trained and deployed for the conflict in Syria.

Fars News Agency later rescinded the story and substituted an edited version. Below is a video grab of the original report (h/t BBC Persian):

There is a tone of triumphalism beyond the usual rhetoric among senior IRGC leadership, over its tactical successes in the Syrian conflict. Recently, Armed Forces General Staff HQ Deputy IRGC Maj. Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid candidly stated Iran had modeled the NDF (militia forces allied with the Syrian government) on Iran’s Basij.

Iran: Four hospitalized after security guards attack political prisoners in Evin

Evin prison, one of Iran‘s most notorious detention facilities, witnessed an unprecedented attack April 17 by security guards on political prisoners that has left dozens injured and four hospitalized.

A prison guard stands along a corridor in Tehran’s Evin prison, June 13, 2006.  (photo by Morteza Nikoubazl)

Summary-t Dozens were injured and many were sent to solitary confinement after political prisoners in Evin’s Ward 350 clashed with security guards.

Author- Behdad Bordbar Posted April 19, 2014

The serious clash took place inside Ward 350, where many political prisoners are detained. The guards attempted to search prison cells, but the prisoners refused to exit their cells and demanded to be present for the searches, since they believe personal items are often stolen during this process. Upon the prisoners’ refusal, the guards first threatened, then beat them.

More than 100 prison guards were involved in the beatings; 31 prisoners were sent to solitary confinement.

Ward 350 is managed by the prison authority, while Wards 209 and 2A are respectively controlled by the Ministry of Intelligence and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps‘ intelligence office.

Iranian gov’t pays paramilitary hackers, bloggers to bring you Islamic Revolution 2.0

Iran battles “westoxification” using, well, westoxification.

by Cyrus Farivar – June 6 2012, 9:36pm E Cyberwar

Hundreds of Iranians gathered recently for a Hizbollah Cyber conference in Tehran

Hizbullah Cyber

TALLINN, ESTONIA—Iran has significantly stepped up its use of corporate acquisitions, online propaganda, and hacking capabilities in recent years, according to an open source intelligence expert.

Jeff Bardin, the chief intelligence officer at Treadstone 71—an American company that researches publicly available materials—told a packed session at the International Conference on Cyber Conflict on Wednesday that Iran has become much more sophisticated and pervasive in its use of online tools.

He outlined the major paramilitary organizations that operate within Iran, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Basij, and Ashiyane. The latter is a notorious hacker group that works in conjunction with the Iranian government. All of these groups, he said, share an overarching focus on an Iranian concept used to promote the movement that became the philosophic foundation of the Islamic Revolution: westoxification. It’s the loss of Persian language, culture, and influence to Western countries.

“[Iranians’] patience is, in my view, legendary,” he told Ars. “The United States is famous for underestimating the adversary.”

The IRGC, known in Persian as the “Pasdaran,” is a massive organization that touches nearly every part of the Iranian economy, including owning or controlling major corporations. Most notably, just months after the disputed presidential election of June 2009, the Iranian government sold a majority $7.8 billion stake in the Iran Telecommunications Company, a former monopoly.

“It smacks of a communist model,” Bardin said of the uncompetitive nature of awarding contracts to the IRGC. He added that by controlling the infrastructure itself, the Iranian government’s agencies could capture even tighter control over what was being said and done online.

Iran Claims It Shot Down US Spy Plane

Image via Wikipedia

An Iranian lawmaker says Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has shot down an unmanned U.S. spy plane that was attempting to collect information about an underground uranium enrichment site.

The U.S. has denied an Iranian report that the country’s Revolutionary Guard shot down a U.S. drone .

Intelligence and military officials told VOA on Wednesday that the U.S. rejects the claim and has not lost a drone.