Iranian political activist Nazanin Boniadi has penned a letter to US officials, urging them to walk out during the address by Iran's Foreign Minister at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on February 26.
"I implore all democratic member states to unite in protesting the IRI regime’s egregious abuses against Iranians & brutalities abroad via proxies," wrote Boniadi on her social media account.
The letter directly addressed to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, highlighting the severity of the situation in Iran. "He is the representative of a brutal and cruel regime that beats, blinds, rapes, poisons, unlawfully detains, forcibly disappears, tortures and murders its own people," the letter stated.
Boniadi emphasized the need for a unified stand against the Iranian regime's human rights violations. "You must surely recognize the inappropriateness of a representative of this brutal and criminal regime being allowed to address the UNHRC," she added.
The call for action comes after continuing repression in Iran and an increase in executions. In 2022 and 2023 the government killed around 550 citizens during protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini.
"More than 500 demonstrators were killed by security forces in the protests following Mahsa's death, after they were given free rein by the regime’s top officials in an attempt to quell the uprising," the letter highlighted.
The documents encompass a spectrum of sensitive subjects, ranging from internal deliberations within the National Security Council following the death of Mahsa Amini to efforts aimed at quelling unauthorized VPN vendors, protests against the 2020 employment examination, and cases related to economic corruption.
The group unveiled a series of documents suggesting the complicity of the Iranian government in prosecuting prominent public figures during the 2022 uprising and preceding events.
Edalat-e Ali exposed document highlighting the Iranian regime's clandestine endeavors to exert control over public figures, particularly those occupying influential positions in the realms of entertainment and sports. Financial sanctions, bank freezes, travel bans and more have hit celebrities across the board.
They revealed a list encompassing 29 cinema and television figures alongside football stars accused of crimes including "anti-government propaganda activity" and allegations of "conspiracy and collusion against national security."
Actress Katayoun Riyahi, known for her public appearances without compulsory hijab during the uprising following Mahsa Amini's killing, faces charges encompassing “conspiracy, anti-government activities, and inciting moral corruption through her actions.”
Similarly, football icons like Ali Daei, Aref Gholami, and Voria Ghafouri have been accused of fomenting dissent and engaging in activities deemed against national security.
The document, authored by Mohammad Mehdi Heidarian, the then head of the Joint Working Group on Celebrity Management and advisor to the Minister of Culture in 2019, outlines a comprehensive strategy involving multiple government entities tasked with overseeing and managing public figures, thus underscoring the regime's efforts to suppress dissent and enforce conformity.
Edalat-e Ali's ascendancy to prominence traces back to August 2021, marked by their penetration of the surveillance infrastructure at Evin Prison, supporting the ongoing protests and voicing advocacy for the release of political detainees.
The group's previous revelations, including documents implicating security forces in acts of sexual assault and extrajudicial violence against protesters, underscore the gravity of the situation and the need for accountability within Iran's governing apparatus.
The latest hacking is one in a long line of cyber attacks on the regime. The incidents have escalated since the 2022 uprising. From breaches in the judiciary's servers to infiltrations of surveillance infrastructure at Evin Prison and servers belonging to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), these hacks have underscored the vulnerability of Iran's digital infrastructure.
Each breach has not only exposed confidential information but also served as a catalyst for heightened scrutiny of the regime's activities and policies. The frequency and scale of the hacks reflect the ongoing tensions within Iranian society and the determination of hacktivists to challenge the status quo.
In the past year, MEK-affiliated hackers have targeted the portals of several other government agencies including Tehran Municipality, the Presidential Office, and the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, and Culture as well as the parliament and published thousands of documents. In December, a cyberattack paralyzed much of the country's network of gas stations.
This week, documents were leaked following the hack of the Iranian parliament’s media arm, revealing a wide range of Tehran’s strategies to circumvent US sanctions.
Last week, hacktivist group Uprising till Overthrow took responsibility for the recent cyberattack on the Khaneh Mellat News Agency, the media arm of the Iranian Parliament.In a statement released by the group, closely affiliated with the Albania-based opposition Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK) organization, it was disclosed that the attack reached 600 of the the main servers of the parliament, commission servers, main chamber servers, parliament assistant servers, parliament bank server, and other servers related to administrative functions.
Cybersecurity specialist Amin Sabeti claims Iran will continue facing increasing cyberattacks due to “structural defects” in their cyber defense systems. He claimed that many projects aimed at developing what the regime terms “domestic services” have failed due to their reliance on corrupt connections and nepotism rather than meritocracy and expertise.
It has led to domestic criticism in the face of the regime's weakness. Shahriar Heydari, deputy chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian parliament, stated that the National Organization for Passive Defense and the Intelligence Ministry should be held accountable for the recent cyberattacks.“Cyberspace is a war of information. Every country needs to secure its systems against hacking and data theft,” Heydari said.
Zanjani, a regime insider once hailed as Iran's wealthiest man, was tasked with exporting oil circumventing international sanctions in the early 2010s when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was president. He failed to pay back about $3 billion. Zanjani was arrested and convicted in 2013 after Hassan Rouhani was elected president. His accomplices in the government were never identified. It would not have been possible for him to embezzle such a large amount of money without insider support.
Earlier in the week, his lawyer, Rasoul Kouhpayehzadeh, pleaded for his release in light of recent disclosures by the Judiciary, which stated that Zanjani’s assets abroad have been located and transferred to Tehran to offset his debts and liabilities.
Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei claimed that, according to preliminary assessments, the collected assets are worth more than what he owes. Zanjani's assets in Iran had been confiscated by court order after his arrest but they were reportedly only a fraction of the assets abroad that he initially refused to repatriate. Iranian authorities have not released any details or figures about his assets.
However, Khabar Online website, which is close to moderate conservatives, reported Tuesday that the total value of Babak Zanjani's assets abroad is estimated to be around $4 to $5 billion. According to the report, approximately $2 billion has been deposited into the central bank's account following the sale of his foreign assets. Zanjani's total debt was about $2.8 billion. A portion of this amount, approximately $1.3 billion, was repaid after the seizure of Zanjani's assets within the country, which included Sorinet Holding Company and Qeshm Airlines. The remaining $1.5 billion was updated to $2 billion, taking into account the accumulated interest over several years.
Zanjani sold Iranian oil on behalf of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) during Ahmadinejad's second term (2009-13) through an elaborate network of black-market dealers and money-launderers − particularly in the UAE, Turkey and Malaysia. According to his statements, he had managed to transfer $17 billion of the proceeds from oil sales to the country by 2013.
The shifting political landscape in Iran transformed Zanjani, once synonymous with immense wealth and influence, into a figure facing legal scrutiny and international sanctions, thrusting him into a high-profile legal battle with widespread ramifications. His name is linked to various high-profile economic scandals and legal investigations.
In addition to failing to repatriate oil sales proceeds, he is also accused of securing foreign currency from Iran’s Central Bank for imports, selling it in the black market. In another case he was accused of misappropriating funds from Iran's Social Security Organization in collaboration with Saeed Mortazavi, the former head of the organization who was also Iran’s former deputy prosecutor general.
At the time of his arrest and trial, Iranian media highlighted his ties to the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), while some outlets portrayed him as a scapegoat. Subsequently, he was sanctioned by the Council of the European Union in December 2012 and by the United States Treasury in April 2013.
Zanjani, now over 50 years old, built a business empire in a short time, claiming his net worth was $13.5 billion. Zanjani had reportedly stashed billions of dollars from oil sales in foreign bank accounts or invested the money abroad in a range of enterprises including hospitality, commercial aviation, infrastructure, and real estate. He once said in an interview that he owned 64 companies.
The Islamic Republic has numerous mechanisms in place through a wide range of entities and organizations to sell its oil via third parties to evade sanctions. The country has also started giving oil to state organizations, including the IRGC, to boost their budgets without allocating any money to them. Such operations are usually carried out by a network of state bodies and businesspeople with close ties to the regime, who usually gain huge profits in the process. However, with every new administration in office, former assets become a liability and bear the brunt of the political games of the regime.
Documents leaked by a cyberattack on the Iranian parliament’s media arm last week revealed the parliament's coordination with designated Iranian entities and individuals to facilitate their trade activities and conceal their identities and connections from international regulatory bodies as the ever evolving web of sanctions evasions continues.
