Saturday’s Iran Events – August 18, 2018

Long Prison Terms for Editors of Dervish News Outlet in Iran

 An Iranian news outlet focusing on Iran’s Gonabadi Dervish minority says two of its editors have received lengthy prison sentences for involvement in anti-government protests in February.

In a tweet posted Thursday, Majzooban Noor said a Tehran Revolutionary court sentenced news editor Reza Entesari to seven years in prison, 74 lashes, two years of exile in the northeastern city of Khaf, a two-year ban on leaving the country and a two-year ban on political and media activity.

In an earlier tweet published Wednesday, the news outlet said another of its editors, Mostafa Abdi, received an even tougher punishment from a Tehran Revolutionary court.

It said Abdi was sentenced to 26 years and three months in prison and 148 lashes, in addition to two years of exile in the southeastern province of Sistan Baluchistan and two-year bans on leaving the country and engaging in political and media activity.

Hook: US’s Iran Team Will Focus on Nukes and Terrorism

The new US special representative for Iran has said that his team will strive to focus on changing the Regime’s behaviour on issues like nuclear weapons, terrorism, and the detention of Americans.

Brian Hook made these comments on Thursday at the State Department, shortly after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Hook’s appointment to the role.

Hook, who will be heading the new Iran Action Group, explained that they would be working to pursue changes in the 12 areas that were laid out by Pompeo in May, including the pursuit of nuclear weapons, support for terrorism and arbitrary detention of Americans.

Otaibi: Palestine is a Priority, Iran Should Stop its Interference

Kuwait’s Ambassador to the United Nations Mansour Al-Otaibi has said that the Palestinian cause remains a priority for Arab countries, and called on Iran to stop interfering in their internal affairs.

Otaibi, whose country is a non-permanent members of the Security Council since the start of 2018, told Asharq Al-Awsat in an interview that Kuwait represents the Arab Group in the Council.

“So it’s our responsibility to defend Arab causes,” he said. “The Palestinian cause is a priority for us. Our next priority goes to humanitarian issues and the third to resolving conflicts through diplomatic means.”

“There are big challenges in defending Arab causes, in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Somalia, in addition to the Palestinian cause,” the diplomat said.

UO faculty login credentials stolen in Iranian hacking campaign

In an attempt to access online academic journals, hackers working on behalf of the Iranian government stole the usernames and passwords of 62 University of Oregon professors from 2014 to 2017, according to U.S. Department of Justice documents obtained by the Emerald. The cyberattack was a coordinated effort to steal academic data and intellectual property from more than 300 universities located in the U.S. and abroad.

The University of Oregon confirmed on Friday that hackers, who worked for a company connected to the Iranian government known as the Mabna Institute, did not seek any UO specific data or research. Instead, the hackers were looking to use login credentials to access academic journals that UO faculty members have subscriptions to.