Science and Technology

Iranwire – The Islamic Republic of Iran says it has sent up a rocket with a capsule carrying animals, as part of a program aimed at manned space flight. State media quoted Telecommunications Minister Isa Zarepour as saying the capsule was launched 130 kilometers into orbit on December 6.  He said the launch was aimed at sending astronauts to space …

Iranwire – US authorities have published an advisory on a cyber group said to be affiliated with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and using Israeli-made systems to attack American facilities. Called the CyberAv3ngers, the hackers are “actively targeting and compromising Israeli-made Unitronics Vision Series programmable logic controllers (PLCs) that are are commonly used to manage …

VOA – A small western Pennsylvania water authority was just one of many organizations breached in the United States by Iran-affiliated hackers who targeted a specific industrial control device because it is Israeli-made, U.S. and Israeli authorities say. “The victims span multiple U.S. states,” the FBI, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, known as CISA, as …

gatestoneinstitute.org – The threat of a nuclear-armed Iran must not be underestimated. Iran’s regime has frequently threatened to wipe a whole country — Israel — off the map, and is also increasing military cooperation with Venezuela and Cuba to threaten the US. Europe, too, remains a rich target for nuclear blackmail. Iran would not even have to use its nuclear …

Iranwire – Hackers believed to be sponsored by the Iranian government are targeting civil society groups inside and outside of Iran in the “largest and most coordinated impersonation and phishing campaign” since the outbreak of nationwide protests last year, according to a Texas-based group that advocates for human rights in Iran. Miaan Group says in a report published earlier this week that …

VOA – Iran has finalized arrangements for the delivery of Russian made Sukhoi SU-35 fighter jets and helicopters, Iran’s deputy defense minister told Iran’s Tasnim news agency Tuesday, as Tehran and Moscow forge closer military relations. Iran’s air force has only a few dozen strike aircraft, including Russian jets as well as aging U.S. models acquired before the 1979 Islamic …

VOA – Iran’s barring of some of the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s most experienced and expert inspectors from the team allowed to operate there is a “very serious blow” to the agency’s work, the watchdog’s chief Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday. Tehran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency in September that it was taking the step, known as de-designation. The IAEA …

Iranwire – Satellite imagery shows progress in the construction of a factory in Russia that will mass produce Iranian-designed Shahed-136 kamikaze drones to be used in the Kremlin’swar in Ukraine, according to a Washington-based research institute. The plant is located at the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, 800 kilometers east of Moscow in Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan. The factory belongs to …

Iranwire – The morning of October 19, London time, and hours after midnight in Tehran, marked the eighth anniversary of the adoption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) by the Islamic Republic of Iran, the United States and the European Union.  Eight years ago on this day, the restrictions outlined in United Nations Security Council resolution 2231 concerning …

Al-Monitor — The Biden administration unveiled new measures Wednesday to counter Iran’s proliferation of missiles and drones, as well as its destabilizing regional behavior, following the lapse of the United Nations’ prohibitions on Tehran’s missile-related activities.  The administration announced sanctions on more than 20 individuals and entities based in Iran, Hong Kong, China, Venezuela and Russia that it said were providing …