Iran's Ministry of Intelligence Arrests Admins of 'Immortal Guard'

On Thursday, February 2, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence announced that it had arrested the 'network leaders and admins' of a 'network of Telegram channels' called 'Immortal Guard', which this agency claims is 'affiliated with the anti-revolutionary movement'. According to Fars News Agency, the Ministry stated that a 'series of Telegram channels' linked to this agency, which aimed to infiltrate and network within Iran, were 'subject to intelligence strikes'. The announcement indicated that the 'central' channel of this network on Telegram was named 'Immortal Guard', and 'Telegram groups were created under this channel corresponding to the number of provinces in the country'. The Ministry of Intelligence also reported, without providing details, that the 'network leaders and admins' of these Telegram channels were arrested and 'after identifying all members and affiliates' of this network, some of them were 'summoned for justification and guidance'. The report did not mention the number of individuals arrested or summoned. The Ministry also did not specify which political groups abroad the arrested individuals were affiliated with. Security agencies in Iran use the term 'anti-revolutionary' for all opposition groups. Meanwhile, the Young Journalists Club website, affiliated with Iran's state radio and television, published a video that it claims contains the 'confessions' of the admin of the 'Immortal Guard' Telegram channel. In the video, he states that this channel had subsidiaries in various provinces of Iran. The video does not mention the political affiliations of this group. Previously, human rights groups and some political prisoners have stated that forced confessions of political prisoners are unreliable, as these confession videos are recorded after pressuring prisoners or making promises of freedom. The mobile social network 'Telegram' is one of the most widely used networks in Iran, with millions reportedly using it according to officials. In recent years, Iranian judicial and security officials have made numerous attempts to block 'Telegram', but some, including Kamal Hadianfar, head of the Cyber Police, have stated that there have been several decisions in the committee determining the criteria for criminal content to filter Instagram, but the government opposed its filtering, and the Ministry of Communications took measures regarding smart filtering of this network. In recent months, officials from the judiciary and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have reported the arrest of hundreds due to activities in the 'modeling' sector in cyberspace. Additionally, according to Hossein Sajedi-Nia, head of Greater Tehran Police, 1,200 individuals were arrested in Tehran in the first eight months of 2016 on charges of 'cybercrime'. Reza Salehi Amiri, Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, reported on January 18 that over 160,000 'corruption channels' had been closed in cyberspace. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran also announced on December 9 that the Cyber Police had summoned and interrogated managers of several popular Telegram channels, hacking and removing these channels from access. In this context, the head of the Cyber Police stated that ethical scholars should strengthen the foundations of morality regarding the use of cyberspace. Furthermore, Moghadamfar noted that some anti-revolutionary channels on Telegram are managed by the children of influential figures. Arrests of '32 managers and members of Telegram channels' in Hormozgan, the closure of 160,000 'heretical and corrupt' internet channels in the past year, and the arrest of dozens in Qazvin for virtual modeling activities have also been reported.