This case reveals Iranian intelligence priorities in America: the Mujahedeen e-Khalq, or MEK, an Iranian dissident group that was once on the U.S. list of terrorism groups for its attacks on the American citizens in the 1970s. [Deep Sttes guide to Iranian intelligence agencies.] The Iranians were’n’t spying on the U.S. government. They were...
Category: Middle East
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WhatsApp Sues NSO, the Israeli Tech Firm, for Spyware Targeting Activists and Journalists
From The New Yorker: On Tuesday, WhatsApp took the extraordinary step of announcing that it had traced the malware back to NSO Group, a spyware-maker based in Israel, and filed a lawsuit against the company—and also its parent, Q Cyber Technologies—in a Northern California court, accusing it of “unlawful access and use” of WhatsApp computers....
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Is Israel Targeting Iran’s Top General For Assassination?
That’s the question circulating both in Arab and Israeli media. Israel’s Mossad is the world’s foremost practitioner of assassination. General Qasem Soleimani is commander of the Qods Force, the special operations command of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Israel is worried about Iran’s growing influence in the Middle East. Soleimani is Iran’s most effective...
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Washington Post’s New Columnist Consults for NSO Spyware Firm That Helps Saudi Arabia Surveil Journalists
This Washington Post’s newest columnist, Juliette Kayyem, has a problem. “The NSO Group’s Pegasus technology has been used by governments to track civil society, journalists, political dissidents, and others across the world,” the UN’s Kaye said in the letter, which specifically noted the allegations that Pegasus was used to target Khashoggi. “How will NSO Group...
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Yossi Cohen, Mossad Chief, Is Touted as Netanyahu’s Successor
The chiefs of Israel’s intelligence service, Mossad, have long been public figures in Israel. When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed President Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018, former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo made headlines by saying Israel’s security would be enhanced by some kind of deal. When the Obama and administration...