Science and Technology

Iranwire – In the 1990s, the so-called principalists and associates of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei controlled few media outlets besides the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). But by the early 2000s, they founded several newspapers and news agencies while reformist papers were being suspended. And, in the 2010s, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and its affiliates established …

Al-Arabia – On October 17, Kyiv residents woke up to loud explosions. Russia had just launched a wave of drone attacks on civilian targets across Ukraine, which it carried out with Iranian-made Shahed-136 “suicide drones.” The Ukrainian targets had little military value but spread fear among the population and signaled the potential scale of wanton destruction Russia can still inflict …

Al-Arabia – Iran has built a hypersonic ballistic missile, the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted the Revolutionary Guards’ aerospace commander as saying, in remarks likely to heighten concerns about Iranian missile capabilities. “This missile has a high speed and can maneuver in and out of the atmosphere. It will target the enemy’s advanced anti-missile systems and is a big generational …

RFL/RE – Iran has for the first time admitted that it sent “a small number” of drones to Russia, but it said they were supplied months before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February. Kyiv and its Western allies have accused Russian forces of using Iranian-made combat drones to destroy civilian infrastructure in Ukraine in recent weeks. Following Iran’s admission, Ukrainian …

VOA – Iran’s Revolutionary Guard tested a new satellite-carrying rocket Saturday, according to state media reports. State television said the Ghaem-100 satellite carrier was launched from a desert site, without revealing an exact location. The reports said the rocket has the capacity to place an 80-kilogram satellite into orbit 500 kilometers above the Earth. The U.S. is fearful Iran could …

Al-Arabia – Iran poses a very real cybersecurity threat to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries and could target key industries such as telecoms, oil, and gas, experts told Al Arabiya English. Saudi Arabia’s oil giant Aramco was hacked in 2012 in one of the world’s biggest cyberattacks to date. A group called Cutting Sword of Justice claimed responsibility for …

VOA – One month after Albania cut diplomatic relations with Iran following a cyberattack, Albania’s prime minister arrived Sunday in Israel for a three-day visit that includes meeting with Israeli cyber defense officials. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said he and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama discussed common challenges facing the two countries, “with an emphasis on …

RFL/RE – Top U.S. officials have met with representatives of technology companies to encourage them to work on ways to facilitate Internet access in Iran after a licensing change freed up the use of software and other technology used to circumvent Internet blockages. The United States issued a general license for such technologies last month and says they can be …

RFL/RE – Activists in Iran have disrupted a live state television broadcast by airing images and messages in support of continuing protests against the government and the country’s strict hijab law requiring women to wear head scarves. Islamic Republic TV footage of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meeting state officials was interrupted briefly on October 8 and replaced with images …

VOA – Albanian authorities Monday denied the country’s police system was hacked after local media reported that data on people being investigated for crimes was released from an Iranian hacking group. Albanian media reported a leaked file with a list of suspected people, from allegedly the police database, who are being probed on different crimes. Ervin Karamuco, a criminology professor, …