Cyber Police: The Ministry of Industry's Website for Car Order Registration Was Not Hacked

The head of Iran's Cyber Police rejected the claim made by the head of the country's General Inspection Organization that the Ministry of Industry's website for car order registration had been hacked. Nasser Seraaj, the head of the General Inspection Organization of Iran, had claimed in late June that the car order website was hacked and that 'about five thousand high-end and expensive cars were illegally imported into the country, of which about 4,000 cars were cleared and entered the market.' After the Ministry of Industry, Mining, and Trade of Iran denied his statements, Seraaj insisted on his claims, calling them 'the truth,' stating that the hacker had been 'arrested' and had provided the 'code through which he accessed the site.' However, Kamal Hadianfar, the head of Iran's Cyber Police, told the Tasnim news agency that 'absolutely no hacking occurred in this matter.' According to Hadianfar, 'the case of the importation of these cars, which was formed in Hormozgan province, was referred to the Cyber Police for technical investigations by judicial authorities, and our technical investigations in the cyber section showed' that the Ministry of Industry's website 'was not hacked.' He added that this matter had also been reported to 'the Inspection Organization and judicial authorities.' Reports indicate that from July 19 to December 30, 2017, while the car import registration website affiliated with the Ministry of Industry, Mining, and Trade was blocked, 6,481 orders for expensive cars were registered on this site. The public relations office of the Ministry of Industry also confirmed the violation in the importation of thousands of cars into the country, stating that of the total 6,000 cars that were 'illegally registered,' the clearance operation for about 4,500 cars was halted at customs, and cases were opened for more than 1,900 vehicles. The Minister of Industry, Mining, and Trade of Iran also promised to soon inform the public about the details of the corruption discovered in car imports in response to criticisms regarding the illegal importation of these high-end vehicles. Mohammad Shariatmadari also wrote in a letter to the President that 'this violation began in the first half of 2017 and before the start of the twelfth government.' Shariatmadari's reference is to the tenure of Minister Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh. The Organization for the Protection of Public Assets previously announced that in the case of illegal car imports, 'organized crime has been established' and that this case has been referred to the Tehran Revolutionary Court. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the first deputy and spokesperson of the Iranian judiciary, also reported that five officials from the Ministry of Industry, including a director general, have been arrested in connection with the 'illegal' car order registration, and four of them remain in custody. However, details about the case of these individuals and the extent of their violations are still unknown. In early July of this year, coinciding with rising protests in Tehran and several other cities, several officials of the Islamic Republic reported 'some violations' regarding pre-purchase of coins, illegal importation of thousands of high-end cars, and actions by some companies to import mobile phones with government currency and sell them at higher prices.