Iranian opposition websites under cyber attack

Amir Kabir Newsletter and Advar News, two independent student websites in Iran were attacked by internet hackers, the Iranian Cyber Army.

The two sites are amongst the few remaining sites that report from within Iran, independent from the government. The organizers of the two sites have been amongst the many targets of government crackdown on post-election protesters.

Iranian security forces have even accused Amri Kabir Newsletter of having ties to the dissident group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran which is considered by the Islamic Republic as one of its arch-enemies.

Ten members of the student organization Adver-e Tahkim are currently in prison. Ahmad Zeidabadi, the organization’s secretary–general was sentenced to 15 years and the spokesman, Abdollah Momeni to 6 years in prison.

Amir Kabir Newsletter hackers have defaced the site with a green flag and the sentence: “We will attack at the Leader’s orders and put our lives on the line for him.”

Last week Radio Zamaneh was attacked by the same pro-Islamic Republic hackers and the social networking site Twitter also experienced a similar attack a few weeks earlier.

Internet social networking and news sites have been the most vital tool for election protesters to remain informed and engaged in the past eight months since all Iranian media and broadcasting are heavily controlled by the government.

All opposition websites have been targets of government disruptions and filters. Reportedly internet access has also been targeted in the threshold of the February 11 events when protesters have announced that they will stage their own protesting march on the anniversary of the 1979 Revolution.

ISPs have reported 30 percent decrease in service due to technical difficulties which opposition forces claim are a front for the government’s tactic to stop protesters from getting connected.