53 Individuals Supporting ISIS Ideology Arrested in Iran

The head of Iran's Cyber Police (FATA) announced the arrest of 53 individuals who are said to be "supporters of ISIS ideology"; according to him, "most of these individuals were in the border provinces" of Iran. Kamel Hadianfar reported on Tuesday, December 7, during a press conference that "285 websites and profiles supporting this group have been identified." He clarified that "34 pages or profiles from these 285 sites were inactive, and in total, 53 individuals who supported ISIS inside the country were identified and handed over to judicial authorities." Hadianfar explained that these arrests were made "over the past year and 8 months," noting that "some of the detainees were deceived and had made commitments, while others were referred to the judiciary; these individuals were active in the border provinces and a few in central parts of the country." Hadianfar also reported on "69,719 cyber attacks" against Iran, stating that "988 attacks were on government websites and the rest on private sites." He mentioned the removal of "175 pages attributed to ISIS" by Telegram. Previously, the newspaper Bahar reported in its November 21 issue titled "The Beginning of ISIS Activities in Iran's Cyberspace" that the "Islamic State" (ISIS) had turned to the social network Telegram in Iran, citing that Telegram is a popular social media platform in Iran with about 20 million members. Over the past two months, especially after the deadly Paris attacks, reports of threats against Iran by the Islamic State group have emerged. Meanwhile, the presence of special police units in the central streets of Tehran has also increased. On November 17, the commander of the "Nabi Akram" Corps in Kermanshah province stated that "many teams" from the Islamic State group had been active in this province for the past two years and had been arrested by the IRGC and the Ministry of Intelligence. Ali Younesi, assistant to the Iranian president for ethnic and religious minorities, stated on December 29 that there is no movement aligned with the so-called "Islamic State" in Iran, and "if anyone is found individually, they will certainly be condemned by Sunni authorities." In a related context, on December 6, the police commander of Sistan and Baluchestan announced the discovery and defusing of a 21-kilogram bomb, which was new and had not been seen in explosive traps, along the Iran-Shahr to Sarbaz route. He added that "we learned that a group of agents affiliated with terrorist groups had planted a bomb 40 kilometers from the Iran-Shahr to Sarbaz route, near a bridge." He reported that the bombers had been identified and efforts to arrest them were ongoing. In this context, suspicious materials were discovered in 300 dolls imported by Arbaeen pilgrims, and five armed "thieves" claiming to be members of ISIS were arrested. There has been an increase in control over the entry of pilgrims from Iraq into Iran, and rumors of bombings at a metro station in Tehran have been denied.