Format: Default

Two new reports claim to reveal an “ongoing” and “large-scale” hacking operation sponsored by the Iranian regime primarily targeting minorities and opposition groups.

The first report, published by researchers at US-Israeli cybersecurity firm Check Point, details the myriad ways in which, for “at least six years”, regime-sponsored hackers have attempted to “steal as much information as [they] can” through a range of sophisticated techniques, such as malware and phishing scams. 

The second report, by cybersecurity-focused rights organisation Miaan Group, concludes that a Mashhad-based firm was behind a spate of malware attacks in the past few years, including the February 2018 attack on the administrator of a Sufi website which inspired the research. 

Both reports conclude the attacks were very probably state-sponsored.

Miaan’s report says the pattern of targeting political dissidents, journalists, human rights defenders, lawyers, student activists, and others from Iran’s ethnic and religious minority communities, “along with other suspicious aspects of the hacking efforts, point to a state-sponsored program”.

Meanwhile Lotem Finkelstein, head of threat intelligence at Check Point, told the New York Times the “infrastructure” used in the hacks led Check Point to conclude the attacks were “administered by Iranian entities against regime dissidents”.

He added that it was “highly possible” the hackers were freelancers employed by Iranian intelligence, as in previous hacks.

The New York Times article noted that the ability of Iranian hackers to outsmart highly sophisticated and encrypted messaging systems – including tech giants WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram – was “a capability Iran was not previously known to possess”.

The result, Check Point’s report concludes, is that the hackers were able to “spy on their victims’ personal computers and mobile devices” by gaining access to their messaging apps, as well as devices’ cameras and microphones to take voice recordings and screenshots.

Check Point also cited examples of hackers removing blogs containing critical information, including a 2018 Al-Arabiya blog about Iranian cyber attacks and a 2012 blog by HRANA focused on human rights violations.

Miaan’s report notes that the majority of hacking targets were abroad – including in the US, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, New Zealand, Abkhazia, Turkey, Russia, China, Thailand, Brazil, Finland, Azerbaijan and Denmark.

Miaan researcher Amir Rashidi told Article18 that “in years of following Iranian hackers, this was the first time I saw a group of hackers focused so heavily on ethnic and religious groups”. 

He added that the hackers had targeted both individuals and groups.

The researchers at Check Point said the “handpicked targets” they observed, such as supporters of opposition groups, “reflects some of the internal struggles in Iran and the motives behind this attack”, as the “conflict of ideologies between those movements and the Iranian authorities makes them a natural target for such an attack, as they align with the political targeting of the regime.

“According to the evidence we gathered, the threat actors, who appear to be operating from Iran, take advantage of multiple attack vectors to spy on their victims, attacking victims’ personal computers and mobile devices.

“Since most of the targets we identified are Iranians, it appears that similarly to other attacks attributed to the Islamic Republic, this might be yet another case in which Iranian threat actors are collecting intelligence on potential opponents to the regiment.”

Both reports note that the hackers specifically attempted to trick users into handing over their two-step authorisation codes – previously considered a highly secure protection method.

The researchers at Check Point also warned that in the case of one malicious application, it was “obvious” that it was still being developed, “with various assets and functions which were either leftovers of previous operations, or not yet utilised”.

The UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in Iran has once again called on Iran to “immediately and unconditionally release all those imprisoned for exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief”.

In his latest report, released ahead of today’s 75th session of the UN General Assembly, Javaid Rehman said he remained “deeply concerned” about the situation of religious minorities.

He noted the recent removal of the “other religion” category from Iran’s national ID card, which he said “raised fears” that non-recognised religious groups including Christian converts would not be able to obtain an ID unless they were willing to lie about their beliefs.

The rapporteur called on Iran to “protect the rights of all persons belonging to ethnic and religious minorities” and “address all forms of discrimination against them”.

Mr Rehman welcomed Iran’s release of as many as 120,000 prisoners at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in February, but noted that the mass release did not include “most human rights defenders, lawyers, dual and foreign nationals, conversationists, religious and ethnic minorities and prisoners of conscience imprisoned on national security charges” – including most Christian prisoners.

Article18 reported last month on concerns for the health of several Christian prisoners of conscience, amid a coronavirus outbreak in the ward in which several are incarcerated in Tehran’s Evin Prison.

Mr Rehman also noted that Iran only accepted or partially accepted 9 of the 25 recommendations made concerning religious freedom during its universal periodic review last year.

What else did the report say?

The first half of the report focuses on violations of the rights of protesters during the mass demonstrations in November 2019 and January 2020.

As Article18 reported at the time, an Iranian-Assyrian Christian was among the hundreds killed during the November protests. 

Mr Rehman called for “prompt, independent and impartial investigations into all acts of violence … including deaths and injuries of protesters and ill-treatment in custody”.

Christian convert Fatemeh (Mary) Mohammadi was among the many arrested for taking part in the protests in January following Iran’s admission of guilt in the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane, and she reported severe mistreatment and abuse at the hands of those who detained her.

Mary was later given a suspended prison sentence and lashes for her participation in the protests.

Mr Rehman called for the release of all those detained for exercising their “rights to freedom of opinion, expression, association and peaceful assembly” in this way.

His report also called on Iran to:

• Abolish the death penalty.

• Ensure fair trial provisions, including access to a lawyer of one’s choosing.

• Release all foreign and dual nationals held on questionable charges.

• Improve hygiene in prisons to prevent further spread of Covid-19.

• Protect women and girls against discrimination and inequality.

Mr Rehman took over as rapporteur following the death of Asma Jahangir in February 2018. His mandate was renewed for another year in June 2020.

Last year, Mr Rehman focused one report on the challenges facing unrecognised religious minorities in Iran, including Christian converts.

He continues to be denied access to Iran, despite repeated requests to visit.

Senior Iranian church leaders have strongly refuted the claims of a group of UK Anglican bishops that Christians in Iran are supporters of a controversial opposition group.

In an article last month for the ‘Church Times’, the former Archbishop of Wales, Barry Morgan, said he had “no doubt” that Christians in Iran had joined UK bishops in participating in a live-streamed event put on by the NCRI, because Iran’s Christians and the NCRI had been “fighting for the same cause throughout the history of the Islamic Republic”.

However, speaking to Article18, a host of senior figures within the Iranian Christian diaspora were unanimous in their unequivocal rejection of the claims.

Rev Edward Hovsepian, former superintendent of the Assemblies of God denomination in Iran and now superintendent of the Council of United Iranian Churches (Hamgaam) in Europe, called the claims “incorrect and irresponsible”.

“House-churches in Iran have always protested against the persecution they have been subjected to, but in our purposes and our spiritual activities, we have always remained independent of any government, political party or group,” he said, “and we oppose this hijacking of the Iranian Church’s voice and status.”

These sentiments were echoed by Rev Dr Mehrdad Fatehi, executive director of the London-based Pars Theological Centre, which provides resources for the training of Christian leaders in Iran.

“We as a Church are simply called to affirm and advocate biblical truth wherever it is found, and to protest against injustice wherever it is practised,” he said, “whether within the Iranian government or in any other political or non-political group. 

“The Church should remain a prophetic voice, critical of everything that is ungodly and affirming anything in which it sees the image of God. As such, we cannot align ourselves or identify fully with any specific party or political vision.”

Author Mark Bradley, whose books include ‘Iran and Christianity: Historical Identity and Present Relevance’ and ‘Too Many to Jail: The Story of Iran’s New Christians’, told Article18: “Bishop Morgan asserted that the Iranian Christians supported the same cause as the PMOI. The cause of the NCRI and the cause of Christians in Iran are a million miles apart. The NCRI want to engage in a war for a political purpose; the Christians in Iran live for Jesus Christ, which means bearing witness to Christ’s love and serving their fellow man in peace.”

The director of missionary organisation Elam Ministries, David Yeghnazar, told Article18 it was “vitally important to underscore that the Iranian Church is not aligned in any way with any political movement in Iran”. 

He added: “The idea that the Iranian Church is supporting or partnering with any political group is false.”

Rev Omid Moludy, an Anglican priest in charge of cultural diversity for the diocese of Manchester, in northwest England, told Article18 he had been “very disappointed to see senior UK bishops choosing to speak out on behalf of Iranian Christians in this manner.

“Whether we’re talking about the NCRI, which has a long history of radical ideology, or any other political party – be they good or bad – it is not for the Church, or Christians in general, to endorse any political party, be they a Christian democratic party, or any other group with different ideologies.”

And Rev Lazarus Yeghnazar, president and founder of missionary organisation 222 Ministries International, told Article18 he found it “extremely alarming” to see a group of UK bishops “aligning the ‘Iranian Resistance Movement’ [NCRI] with the Christ-centred house-church movement, which does not have any political ambition but prays to see a spiritual transformation in Iran, where people of all faiths can live in peace and harmony, free to practise their faith”.

Meanwhile, Bishop Guli Francis-Dehqani, daughter of the first ethnic Iranian Anglican bishop, shared a response to the ‘Church Times’ article on Twitter, which she called an “important corrective”.  

Article18’s advocacy director, Mansour Borji, warned that the bishops’ endorsement played into the rhetoric of the Iranian regime. 

“Iran on the one hand has been trying to use some church officials inside the country to lend their support to the Islamic Republic’s political agenda, while at the same time politicising the peaceful Christian activities of the underground house-church movement by associating their activities with ‘Western powers’ or their intelligence services,” he said.

“The Iranian regime continues to see Christian activities as ultimately undermining their authority, but none of the many cases that we have documented of Christians being persecuted because of their Christian activities have had anything to do with any political motivations.”

A new film is the “first ever to address the underground Christian movement inside of Iran”, its director says.

Cyrus Nowrasteh told Article18 that ‘Infidel’, which will be released first in the US on 18 September, is “inspired by true events in its truest sense, because in many ways it is right out of today’s headlines”. 

Mr Nowrasteh said that, being himself a Christian convert of Iranian descent, he was inspired by the house-church movement in Iran, which he called “a response to the oppression of the Islamic Republic”.

He described ‘Infidel’ as a “Middle East thriller, born of the idea that there are a number of Americans still being held as hostages in Iran, and the Iranian government uses them as pawns in policy negotiations”. 

Mr Nowrasteh recalled the hostage crisis of 40 years ago, when 52 Americans were held for 444 days and the story was front-page news, compared with today when news about hostages tends to garner less attention.

“I realised that whether it’s five, seven, nine – whatever number it happens to be – in recent years there’s zero coverage, zero awareness,” he said. “And I thought, that [coverage] is obviously very important for [the hostages].”

He said he was particularly interested to see that some hostages had been charged with crimes related to their faith. 

“A number of them have been accused of various crimes. A lot of them have to do with spying, etc., usually trumped-up crimes. But some of it has to do with their faith, their Christianity: are they proselytising?” he said.

“And I’m aware that there’s a kind of underground Christian movement in Iran, led by women, and I think it’s a response to the oppression of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the ayatollahs, and I think there are rumblings in Iran. 

“And I also found this to be an interesting phenomenon – a lot of these people who’ve been taken and arrested have been accused of proselytising or distributing Bibles.

“So, being a Christian convert myself – and my family were really never practising Muslims, but I was always taught a certain amount of healthy respect for any religion, although we were really pretty secular growing up. But then I’ve grown up in the States, I’ve married an Ohio girl, and so gradually over the course of my journey, I became Christian. And I just thought that this is an interesting story and situation.”

Mr Nowrasteh called his own conversion a “slow, incremental journey”, influenced in part by his son’s experiences.

“Our youngest son had been through some troubled years, and I think it was him finding faith in Christianity that changed his life, and we were witness to that,” he said. “And that affected us, my wife and I.”

‘Infidel’ centres on the story of an American hostage, played by Jim Caviezel – best known for playing Jesus in ‘The Passion of the Christ’ – and his wife’s attempts to secure his release.

It is during these attempts, Mr Nowrasteh explained, that the wife, played by Claudia Karvan, encounters Iran’s secret Christians.

“It’s a kind of dilemma that a number of families have found themselves in, with wives, sons, daughters trying to get the Iranian government to release their loved ones,” he said. “And that’s the heart of the journey in it, and she connects up with a group of Christians who have a kind of a house-church, who try to help her.”

Mr Nowrasteh said the house-church movement is portrayed as “an honest, shall we say ‘authentic’ movement inside of Iran that has been spawned as a result of all kinds of repression inside the country”.

“I think we try to portray it as a group of people who are trying to help an American woman, who’s there seeking to plead for her husband’s life, to get him out of prison in Iran,” he said.

Mr Nowrasteh was born in the States to Iranian parents and spent some of his early years in Iran, but he hasn’t been back since before the Revolution and laments that his Persian is “now unfortunately that of a five-year-old!”

“The ayatollahs don’t like my movies,” he added. “They’ve made that pretty clear to me. They’re film critics, you know! So I haven’t been back since then.”

The director said he hopes his film turns the world’s attention again to the challenges faced by everyday Iranians.

“A lot has been going on Iran,” he said. “There’s been a lot of demonstrations, there’s been a lot of resistance, and I think that resistance will continue. 

“Last November, something like 1,500 Iranians were killed in the streets of Iran, demonstrating. And I just feel like sometimes we forget what’s going on. And for me, because of being of Iranian descent, I follow it.

“And I think this story was worth addressing at this time, and I think people will find it very compelling. I hope so.”

For years, international Christian organisations have claimed there may be as many as one million secret Christian believers in Iran. 

Now they have some proof.

A recent survey of 50,000 Iranians by GAMAAN, a Netherlands-based research group, found that 1.5% of respondents identified as Christian, which the researchers told Article18 would lead to an estimated total number of between 750,000-950,000 Christians.

There are approximately 300,000 Christians of Armenian and Assyrian origin in Iran, thereby suggesting an additional 450,000-650,000 converts.

Reacting to the survey, Rev Dr Sasan Tavassoli, himself a convert, told Article18:

“There’s no surprise here for me. For quite some time I have felt that this is where we are in the growth of the Church in Iran.”

The findings certainly suggest that claims of one million Christians in Iran cannot be dismissed as swiftly as in the past. For example, last year judges ruling on the case of an Iranian claiming asylum in the UK on the grounds he had converted to Christianity said: “We do not regard it as remotely plausible that there are as many as 1 million people secretly practising Christianity in Iran today.”

The Iranian regime has itself acknowledged an increase in conversions. Last year, Iran’s Minister of Intelligence admitted converts had been “summoned to ask them why they were converting”, as it is “happening right before our eyes”.

But given that converts to Christianity are routinely harassed and arrested, previous estimations by Christian organisations have been based only on extrapolations of the small known number of conversions – largely based on contact with Christian satellite television channels.

This is the first time a secular organisation has added its weight to the argument.

Afshin Shahi, a UK-based lecturer on Middle East politics, told Article18: “I don’t think the result of the survey is surprising to any Iran observer. Over the last 40 years, the country has gone through a gigantic socio-cultural transition. The survey highlights the fact that a very large segment of the population no longer identifies with Shia Islam, which is used as the ideology of domination by the state.

“This transition is so drastic that even the state had to acknowledge it. In recent years various figures of the state have spoken about the threat of the de-Islamisation of Iranian society. They have even coined a term for it: ‘Andalusiasation’, which implies the gradual de-Islamisation of cultural structures which will eventually constitute an existential threat to the political domination of the Islamists.

“Given these contradictions between the Islamic Republic and the wider Iranian society it is not surprising that the Supreme Leader regards ‘cultural invasion’ as more dangerous than a military invasion.”  

‘Spiritual revolution’

The other findings of the survey include:

• Only 32% identified as Shia Muslims. (The regime claims 95% of Iranians are Shiites.) 
  
  
• Some 46.8% said they had changed from being religious to having no religion, while 5.8% said they had changed from one religious belief to another.
  
  
• 41% said they believed members of all faiths ought to be able to propagate their views, while 42% said they were against public propagation of any religious views. Only 5% said this right ought to be afforded solely to Muslims.
  
  
• 68% said they didn’t believe religious rulings should be enforced, even if they were the belief of the majority. 15% said they believed laws should be in accordance with religious rules regardless.
  
  
• Some 7.7% identified as Zoroastrians, the ancient Persian religion, hinting at a general rise in nationalism. (The number of Zoroastrians recorded during the last census was just 25,000.)

Dr Tavassoli commented: “To say a spiritual revolution is happening in Iran is quite an understatement! This is a total failure of the regime’s attempt at indoctrination of the generation since the Islamic Revolution.

“I don’t think the Iran of the future will be like anything we have known in the past. Iran might soon become the France of the Middle East, as there are also signs of growing opposition to public manifestations of religion, weather it’s hijab, or legislation or even evangelisation.”

Is the research credible?

In Mr Shahi’s words, “When it comes to surveying beliefs there is no such thing as a perfect methodology. In addition to the general difficulties, the researchers had to conduct their work in a hagiocracy where religion provides the raison d’etre for the monopoly of power by the Islamic Republic. 

“In Iran, religious belief is securitised in every sense of the term. Within that environment where changing religion legally can result in capital punishment, people cannot freely express their belief if it is against the founding principles of the state. Not surprisingly, the researches had to do the survey online, which has certain advantages and disadvantages. But overall, despite all limitations this the best they could have done in this situation.”

He added: “The bitter experience of the Islamic Republic has undermined Shia Islam to an unbelievable level. As the survey indicates a lot of people have either lost their faith in religion or have converted to other beliefs, though given the underground nature of these changes, we never can be 100% sure about the numbers.”

One of the report’s authors, Pooyan Tamimi Arab, told Article18 the target population of the survey had been literate Iranians over the age of 20, accounting for around 50 million people, so the findings are only certainly representative of that percentage of the population, with a margin of error of just 5%.

He said the findings showed that Iran has undergone a general “secularisation, which does not only lead to a decline in religiosity but also pluralisation”, and added that there are “probably at the very least hundreds of thousands of Christians and maybe more than one million, but we don’t know for sure.

“To be even more precise, according to the 2016 census, there are 47 million Iranians who are above 19 and literate. 1.5% thus equals around 700,000 people, which is a very realistic number given the difficulties of measuring identifications in Iran.”

This article initially suggested a figure of 1.25 million Christians, based on the Gamaan research. However, after further discussions with the researchers, taking into account those represented by the survey, the number was reduced to between 750,000-950,000.