On Sunday, May 7, 2023, it was reported that Iranian dissidents have gained control of various aspects of the regime’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), including 210 websites, software applications, servers, and data banks. The front pages of MFA-associated websites and software apps, as well as their embassies worldwide, were altered and replaced with images of the Iranian Resistance leadership and slogans advocating for the regime’s downfall.
According to the same reports, the MFA’s servers and primary data banks in Tehran have been destroyed, and a significant amount of documents has been confiscated by the dissidents.
In addition, the dissidents have taken over the MFA’s internal coordination programs, which include apps that manage news and reports, visas, appointments and referrals, personnel, salaries, and other divisions.
Former Iranian regime foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was heard in an audio file leaked in 2020 saying that the MFA has been involved in security affairs since its inception, with a focus on political-security matters.
The IRGC paramilitary Basij membership card of current Iranian regime Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian describes him as an active Basij member. Abdollahian is a career member of the IRGC and its Quds Force in the regime’s Foreign Ministry and is one of the mullahs’ active links to Hezbollah in Lebanon and its chief, Hassan Nasrallah.
The Ghiam ta Sarnegouni group has obtained control over 210 websites, software applications, servers, data banks, and other aspects of the Iranian regime’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and has defaced their front pages with images of the Iranian Resistance leadership and slogans calling for the regime’s overthrow. According to reports, the MFA’s servers and main data banks in Tehran have been destroyed, and tens of thousands of documents have been obtained and confiscated by the group.
The leaked documents include 158 pages of MFA personnel and their organizational status, as well as the names of MFA Basij base commanders and their current position in the MFA. An official MFA document describes the MEK as “extremely motivated to launch resistance measures” and “a very dangerous group”.
The documents also refer to the MEK’s active role in recent Iranian uprisings and its condemnation of the IRGC’s missile attack against Iranian Kurdish groups. The regime has established several committees aimed at confronting the MEK, and measures include preparing newsletters on MEK activities, warning European countries with protest letters, and weighing measures to have the European Union designate the MEK as a terrorist organization.
Based on the leaked documents, it appears that the Iranian regime has established various committees and entities to confront and counter the activities of the MEK, which they view as a dissident group seeking to overthrow the regime and an alternative.
These measures include preparing newsletters on MEK activities aimed at informing foreign governments and their diplomats, warning European countries with protest letters regarding the MEK’s new approach and strategy, and establishing a network of Resistance Units inside Iran.
The regime has also weighed measures and discussed necessary actions to have the European Union designate the MEK as a terrorist organization, and monitored contacts and meetings between current and former U.S. officials and members of Congress with the MEK. The regime has also taken legal and judicial measures to confront the MEK and summoned various ambassadors to voice strong criticism of their support of the group. The committees and entities involved in these measures include:
The Ministry of Intelligence and Security, IRGC Intelligence Organization, IRGC Quds Force, Director General of Interpol, Interior Ministry, Prosecutor’s Office, State Security Forces’ Intelligence and Security Department, and various departments and bureaus within the MFA.
