Iran's Intelligence Minister, Heydar Moslehi, has publicly admitted to hacking the emails of opposition members.
Iranian news agencies, including ILNA, quoted Moslehi stating that emails were the primary communication tool for opposition members during last year's postelection protests. The Intelligence Ministry was able to break into these emails and defeat "the enemy."
"One of the officials, in his speech, carelessly announced that we have access to the emails. Within 24 hours, they coded and password-protected their emails," Moslehi said. "Of course, we in the Intelligence Ministry broke those passwords within 48 hours."
Moslehi mentioned that emails were exchanged between "foreigners and their elements inside Iran." Speaking at a December 25 conference on the achievements of Iranian expatriates at Tehran's Shahid Beheshti University, he said Iran controlled "many dimensions" of the postelection protests by monitoring email.
He accused the United States of launching online networks against the Islamic Republic.
"In the events of [last year's] sedition, [U.S. President Barack Obama] said that they have designed extensive virtual networks to fight the Iranian regime, but because of the strength of our intelligence services, they didn't have the power to face us," he said.
During last year's postelection unrest, Tehran's police chief, Esmail Ahmadi Moghadam, warned that those who encourage others to participate in "riots through emails and SMS" would be dealt with. In the postelection trials, several political activists were charged over emails and text messages they had sent.
In the following months, a student activist released from jail after paying a large bail emailed me. He expressed regret for his past stances and said he was quitting the reformist student group he was a senior member of. His close friends, who also received the email, told me that intelligence officers who had access to the student's email had sent it. The student had to be hospitalized due to pressure tactics he faced in prison.
Some students and activists have said that their interrogators asked them for their email passwords following their release from jail.
Therefore, Moslehi's comments about monitoring the emails of opposition activists are not surprising. A Tehran-based activist told "Persian Letters" that Moslehi's comments could also be aimed at creating fear among opposition members. These members rely heavily on the Internet, emails, and social networking sites, including Facebook, to connect, spread news about arrests, and share the plight of jailed activists and news related to the opposition movement.
Despite tough filtering, warnings, arrests, and other measures, Iranian authorities have not managed to fully control the Internet. Opposition activists remain active online.
