Iran Military Banned From Using Electronic Communication Devices After Pager Attacks in Lebanon

Regime official voices concern that the IRGC has been infiltrated by double agents.

AP
Civil Defense first-responders carry a man who was wounded after his handheld pager exploded at the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. AP

The Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps has banned its members from using all electronic communication devices in the wake of deadly attacks in Lebanon last week in which pagers and walkie-talkies were used as explosives.

A large-scale operation is currently being executed by IRGC officials to inspect all electronic devices, according to a report from Reuters. The move comes amid concern from Iranian officials that their ranks have been infiltrated by Israeli agents as well as Iranian nationals who may be acting as double-agents focusing on mid and high-ranking members of the IRGC.

“This includes scrutiny of their bank accounts both in Iran and abroad, as well as their travel history and that of their families,” an Iranian security official said, declining to provide details on how their nearly 200,000 members are communicating.

“For now, we are using end-to-end encryption in messaging systems,” he said.

Iran’s Foreign, Defense, and Interior Ministries did not immediately respond to the global news agency’s request for comment.

The first of the coordinated bombing attacks occurred in Lebanon on Tuesday afternoon in which pagers being carried by members of Hezbollah exploded, killing 12 people and injuring more than 2,750, many of which were Lebanese civilians. The next day, a second wave of attacks occurred with the detonation of walkie-talkies, in which another 30 were killed and 750 injured.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah blamed Israel for the attacks and vowed a “severe reckoning.”

Officials in Iran, who have long backed the terrorist organization, also placed the blame on Israel.

“In a call with my Lebanese counterpart, I strongly condemned Israeli terrorism. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, allegedly said in a post on X.

Since Thursday, Israeli forces have launched a barrage of airstrikes into Lebanon. The latest attack on Monday targeted residential buildings in the southern part of the country believed to contain a cache of Hezbollah weaponry, leaving 50 dead and more than 300 wounded.


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