Turkey’s state-run newspaper on Thursday published a protocol on Sweden’s NATO membership, the latest technical step in Ankara’s ratification of the Nordic nation’s bid to join the U. S. -led alliance.
The publication in the Official Gazette of the law on Sweden’s accession to the alliance, approved by the Turkish parliament on Tuesday, ends a nearly two-year saga that has strained Ankara’s relations with its Western allies.
Erdogan had earlier signed the document, meaning that Türkiye has completed all its required steps, AFP reported.
Turkey’s green light leaves Hungary as the last holdout in an accession process that Sweden and Finland, which had adhered to decades of military non-alignment, began in reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine just two years ago.
Finland was the 31st country in the alliance last April.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Thursday he was in a position to meet with his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban to help pave the way for a swift approval of the bid by Budapest.
Applications to join the NATO club require unanimous ratification by all members of the alliance.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy replaced his overall army leader on Thursday, amounting to a primary overhaul of the country’s war strategy as the standoff with Russia enters its third year.
In a post on X, Zelenskiy said he thanked Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi — a military leader popular with troops and the general public — for his two years of service as commander-in-chief. “The time for such a renewal is now,” Zelenskiy said.
He called the colonel. General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ukrainian base forces, will lead the army.
U. S. Central Command forces on Wednesday carried out self-defense measures against two Houthi cellular anti-ship cruise missiles in position to be introduced against ships in the Red Sea, it said Thursday.
The Houthis began attacking Red Sea ships in November, saying they were attacking Israeli-linked ships with Palestinians in Gaza, which has been devastated by the war between Israel and Hamas.
US and British forces responded with countermeasures to the Houthis, who have since declared that US and British interests are also valid targets.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday criticized the deployment of U. S. troops in the Middle East because it “disturbs security. “
“There is no justification for the presence of U. S. forces in our region,” Raisi said at a rite in Tehran ahead of the 45th anniversary of Iran’s 1979 revolution on Feb. 12.
He added that the American presence in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan does not create any security, but disturbs the security of the region.
Raisi’s comments came as U. S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was on a regional tour for talks on a possible ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which would come with the release of hostages after four months of war.
Raisi denounced what he calls “Iranophobia” in the United States.
Washington has severed formal diplomatic relations with Tehran since 1980, following the capture of the U. S. embassy in 1979.
The President stated that the Islamic Revolution of Iran, unlike most revolutions and movements in the world, which after some time undergo rotation in their positions and changes in their ideals and slogans, has continued to stand by its ideals and slogans, and clarified, “That day our slogan was “Neither Eastern nor Western, Islamic Republic” and this is our slogan today.
In part of his speech, the president mentioned opposition to Iran’s progress as the main explanation for U. S. and Western opposition to the Islamic Republic’s nonviolent nuclear activities.
“We have stated that in the doctrine of the Islamic Republic of Iran and according to the fatwa of the sensible leader of the Islamic Revolution, there is no position for nuclear weapons. “
The president said the International Atomic Energy Agency had demonstrated 15 times in its reports that there had been “no deviation” in Iran’s nuclear activities.
NBC News reported that despite large-scale US airstrikes against Iranian-backed militants in the Middle East, Iran continues to supply weapons and intelligence to its proxies, according to three US officials and a Middle East official.
Iran’s shipment of weapons and intelligence to its surrogates across the Middle East, which recently carried out a drone strike in Jordan that killed three U. S. service members and wounded dozens more, persists even as the Biden administration says Tehran does not need a wider war in Irán. la region, said the resources.
The assistance from Iran has included intelligence for Houthi in Yemen that helps them more precisely attack sites where US forces are stationed in the region, as well as target commercial ships in the Red Sea, according to US officials.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday paid tribute to the 42 French Jewish citizens who suffered the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel in a national rite held in the courtyard of the Hotel des Invalides in Paris.
He assisted through the families of the victims, many of whom were flown to France on a special flight, as well as ministers, parliamentarians and diplomats.
The honor guard kept photographs of the victim. The Republican Guard Orchestra performed “Kaddish” through French composer Maurice Ravel, Chopin’s funeral procession and the national anthem.
Macron slammed in his speech the “biggest antisemitic massacre of our century” describing it as “barbarism… which is fed by antisemitism and propagates it.”
“Nothing can justify or excuse terrorism,” he stressed.
Macron said France would work “every day” for the remaining French hostages. “Their empty chairs are there,” he said at the ceremony. Four other French hostages were captured.
Some criticized the fact that the rite in Paris came with a tribute to French citizens who died in the Israeli army’s campaign.
An official at the Elysee Palace said there would be a new triyete, but that it was necessary to “mix two types of victims”.
“It is clear that we owe the same emotion and dignity to the French people who are suffering from the bombardment of Gaza,” the official said.
“All lives have the same value,” he stressed, Macron. No this is the first time he has used this expression, but it will have to be applied.
“France will come together in these moments of suffering for Israelis and Palestinians, to work to meet everyone’s aspirations for peace and security in the Middle East,” the president said.
“We are more than 68 million people. We are a country and we never will be. “
The Turkish government has arrested another 147 people suspected of links to IS in operations in 33 provinces, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Thursday.
Two other people attacked Turkey’s largest court before being shot dead on Tuesday in an exchange of fire that also left one dead and five wounded. Authorities said the attackers were part of an extremist organization that had remained largely dormant in recent years.
Yerlikaya later said the attackers were suspected members of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Front-Party, or DHKP/C, a far-left terrorist organization in Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
Since Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023, actors aligned with the Iranian government have introduced a series of cyberattacks and influence operations (IO) designed to further Hamas’ cause and weaken Israel and its political allies and business partners, according to a report. Microsoft report.
Iranian attention to Israel has intensified. The outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas caused 43% of the Iranian nation-state’s cyber activity in Israel.
Many of Iran’s immediate operations after October 7 were hasty and chaotic – indicating it had little or no coordination with Hamas – but it nevertheless has achieved growing success.
The report mentions collaboration between Iran and a Hezbollah-affiliated organization in Lebanon.
Iran will continue to review red lines, as it did with an attack on an Israeli hospital and U. S. water supply systems last November.
As we look forward to the 2024 US presidential election, Iranian activities could build on what happened in 2020 when they impersonated American extremists and incited violence against US government officials.
Three Phases of Iran’s Cyber Operations
Iran’s cyber-enabled operations in the Israel-Hamas war have moved through three phases since October 7.
Phase 1: Reactive and deceptive
The first phase was characterized by misleading claims through Iranian state media. One example is that the IRGC-affiliated news firm Tasnim claimed that an organization called “Cyber Avengers” had carried out cyberattacks on an Israeli force plant “at the same time” as Hamas attacks. The Cyber Avengers itself (also run through the IRGC) claimed to have attacked an Israeli force corporation the day before the Hamas attacks. However, their evidence is just news articles from a few weeks ago reporting power outages “over the past few years” and a screenshot of an undated outage on the company’s website.
Phase 2: Everyone at the table
At times, multiple Iranian teams targeted the same organization or military base in Israel with cybercrimes or influence activities. This suggests coordination, not unusual goals set in Tehran, or both.
Iran’s 10 cyber hostilities against Israel in October mark a new high point. This is almost double the previous peak of six hostilities per month in November 2022.
One example occurred on October 18 when the IRGC’s Shahid Kaveh organization used traditional ransomware to trigger cyberattacks against security in Israel. He then used one of his cyber personas, “Soldiers of Solomon,” to falsely claim that he had purchased security information and knowledge from Nevatim Air Base. Examination of security footage leaked by Salomon’s infantrymen shows that he came from the city north of Tel Aviv, on Nevatim Street, and not from the air base of the same name.
Phase 3: Expanding geographic scope
In late November 2023, Iranian groups began expanding their cyber influence beyond Israel, targeting countries that Iran considers Israel. This corresponded to the fact that the Iranian-backed Houthis were beginning their attacks on foreign shipping.
On November 20, the MOIS-aligned cyber personality, “Homeland Justice,” warned of long-term cyberattacks against Albania. They later claimed responsibility for the attacks on Albanian organizations and institutions.
On November 21, the cyber personality “al-Toufan” attacked the Bahrain government and monetary organizations for normalizing their relations with Israel.
On Nov. 22, IRGC-affiliated teams began targeting Israeli-made programmable logic controllers (PLCs) in the U. S. They added that they disconnected one at a Pennsylvania water utility on Nov. 25. PLCs are commercial computers suitable for controlling production processes, such as assembly lines, machines, and robotic devices.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, Iran has increased its influence operations and hacking efforts against Israel. These attacks were reactive and opportunistic in the early days of the war but, by late October, nearly all of its influence and major cyber actors were targeting Israel.
Cyberattacks became increasingly targeted and destructive and IO campaigns grew increasingly sophisticated and inauthentic, deploying networks of social media “sockpuppet” accounts.
Iran’s activity temporarily grew from nine Microsoft-tracked computers active in Israel in the first week of the war to 14, two weeks after the war began. Cyber influence operations have increased from about one operation every two months in 2021 to 11 in October. 2023 alone.
A 42% cumulative traffic, since the first week of the war, to news sites managed or affiliated with the Iranian state. Even three weeks later, this traffic is still 28% higher than pre-war levels.
Iran’s objectives
Destabilization of polarization
Iran aims to exacerbate domestic political and social rifts in its targets, often focusing on the Israeli government’s approach to the 240 hostages taken by Hamas into Gaza and masquerading as peace-seeking activist groups criticizing the Israeli government. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is the primary target of such messaging, often calling for his removal.
Reprisals
Many of Iran’s messages and goals are explicitly retaliatory. The Cyber Avengers character claimed to have attacked Israel’s electricity, water and fuel infrastructure in retaliation for which Israel would cut off electricity, water and fuel in Gaza and elsewhere, referring to an “eye for an eye. “
Intimidation
Iran’s operations also aim to undermine Israeli security and intimidate Israel’s citizens and international supporters and threaten the families of Israeli army soldiers. Sockpuppet accounts spread messaging on X that the army “does not have any power to protect its own soldiers.” Other messaging, as in the example below, appears aimed at attempting to convince Israeli army soldiers to give up.
Undermining Foreign Policy for Israel
Iranian Influence actors often include messaging that seeks to weaken international support for Israel by highlighting the damage caused by Israel’s attacks on Gaza.
AI-generated attacks in Iran
In early December 2023, Iran shut down the TV broadcast facility and replaced it with a fake news video featuring an AI-generated news anchor. This is the first Iranian influence operation detected through Microsoft in which AI plays a key role in its messaging and is an example of the immediate and significant expansion in the scope of Iranian operations since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict. The outage affected audiences in the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and Canada.
Microsoft AI for Good Lab’s Iran Propaganda Index (IPI) monitors the proportion of traffic visiting Iranian and state-affiliated media outlets and data amplifiers relative to overall traffic.
In the first week of the conflict, we saw a 42% increase. This increase has been especially pronounced in the United States and its English-speaking allies (the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand), a testament to Iran’s skill. to succeed with Western audiences with his reporting on Middle East conflicts.
While this success was strongest in the early days of the war, the reach of these Iranian sources one month into the war remained 28% above pre-war levels globally.
Trends in Iranian influence operations
Impersonation is not new, but Iranian threat actors are now not just masquerading as their enemies but also their friends. Recent operations from Iranian groups have used the name and logo of Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, to spread false messaging and threaten Israeli army personnel. It is unclear whether Iran is acting with Hamas’s consent.
Iran has continuously attempted to recruit unwitting Israelis to participate in activities on the ground that sell its simulated operations. In a recent operation, “Tears of War,” Iranian agents convinced Israelis to hang banners in the colors of Tears of War AI. It spawned symbols in Israeli neighborhoods, based on reports in the Israeli press. A Tears of War banner with a Netanyahu symbol likely generated through AI. The text on the banner reads “Impeachment Now. “
Iran’s use of large SMS and email campaigns has increased to embellish the mental effects of its cyber influence operations. Messages that appear on people’s phones or inboxes have more effect than puppet accounts on social media. Iran Blatantly and covertly Uses IRGC In September, after the Cyber Avengers claimed responsibility for cyberattacks on Israel’s railway system, IRGC-linked media outlets almost promptly amplified and exaggerated their claims.
Salah Abdeslam, sentenced to life in prison for the 2015 Paris terror attacks, was transferred from Belgium to France on Wednesday, his lawyer said.
Abdeslam is the only surviving member of the ISIS group that killed another 130 people in the French capital in November 2015.
Found guilty at trial in Belgium last September over subsequent 2016 attacks in Brussels, his transfer back to France had been blocked due to human rights concerns.
“They came to pick him up from his mobile phone this morning at 9 a. m. and he went to France,” Abdeslam’s lawyer, Delphine Paci, told AFP.
“This is a flagrant violation of the rule of law,” he said. “It is clear that there is collusion between the Belgian state and the French state to violate a judicial decision. “
“This is evidently a kind of thirst for revenge that has prevailed over the rule of law,” Paci accused.
Abdeslam fled to Brussels after suffering the Paris attacks in 2015 and locked himself for four months in an apartment housing members of the local cell.
He was arrested days before suicide bombings that killed 32 other people and injured many at Brussels airport and a metro station in March 2016. A Belgian jury found him one of the co-organizers of those attacks.
After the trial in Brussels, he will be transferred to France to serve the remainder of his sentence.
But an appeals court in Brussels suspended the measure on the grounds that it violated the European Convention on Human Rights.
Abdeslam’s lawyers argued that he should be allowed to serve his sentence in Belgium, where he grew up and has family ties despite having French nationality.
The massacres in Paris and Brussels were part of a wave of attacks claimed by the ISIS organization in Europe.