TEHRAN: Several Iranian government and state-affiliated media websites are down after a Twitter account linked to ‘Anonymous’ hacker collective claimed to have launched cyberattacks on them, aimed at supporting protests following death of Mahsa Amini. The 22-year-old woman from northwestern province of Kurdistan died in Tehran after suffering from a stroke and several heart attacks while in custody of Iran’s morality police for her “improper” hijab, according to authorities and state media.

Iranian authorities have denied any allegations of mistreatment or beatings of Amini and said she had pre-existing conditions that contributed to her death, but her family has rejected claims.

A video released early showed footage of protests in several Iranian cities that have erupted since Amini’s death. “This was last straw,” altered voice on video, which claimed to be from Anonymous, said of Amini’s death. “Iranian people are not alone”.

It appears two main websites of Iranian government were main target of attacks. One is “smart services” website of government, where a host of online services is offered and another is aimed at publishing government news and interviews with officials. “All database has been deleted,” claimed a social media account believed to be affiliated with anonymous.

Iranian government has yet to officially comment on claims or attacks. Several other websites, including webpage of Iranian state television, were also attacked and were down for some time.

Websites had gone down and been recovered several times on Wednesday morning, indicating struggle between hackers and website support.

Published in The Daily National Courier, September, 22 2022

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