The Office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) in Washington warned of the danger of cyber-surveillance pursued by Tehran.
A report published by NCRI said that Iran relies on a number of fake electronic applications through which it can steal personal data.
The report pointed out that these applications are managed and owned by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Iranian intelligence, and are in direct contact with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
In a press conference on Thursday, Office Manager of People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran (MEK) in Washington Alireza Jafarzadeh said that the Iranian regime “has been able to wiretap many Iranian people’s mobile devices in the recent period following the outbreak of demonstrations in 142 Iranian cities.”
Jafarzadeh said that “the number of recent wiretaps in Iran has amounted to up to seven million users, among the 42 million application users in Iran, and the risk of that might reach the countries surrounding Iran, and the western countries,” among the 42 million users of applications in Iran.
He explained that the Iranian regime has blocked many applications, among of which are Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp and others, and it has created similar applications to monitor the people and slower the internet speed.
He said the country’s IRGC and Ministry of Intelligence and Security are engaging in “mass surveillance” of protesters and dissidents, employing a web of state-produced mobile phone applications.
"The Iranian regime, through the IRGC and the intelligence service, has managed to reach a large number of Iranian internet users, influence the people by sending false messages in the cities of demonstrations, steal their data and information and blackmail them later," Jafarzadeh said.
“This is very dangerous and falls under the direct supervision of Khamenei,” he noted.
In this context, Jafarzadeh pointed out that Iran has also focused through cyber-wiretapping on the issues of the surrounding countries in the Middle East by establishing a fictitious company abroad.
“All governments in the world must be aware of the dangers of cyber-wiretapping and the manipulations of the Iranian regime,” Jafarzadeh said, urging them to consider this issue as significant and should be addressed.
