U.S. DOJ Seizes Four Iranian MOIS-Linked Domains Used for Psychological Ops and Transnational Repression

The U.S. Department of Justice announced that four websites linked to hacking efforts by Iran's Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS), operating under psychological operations and transnational repression campaigns, were taken offline by court order, disrupting the Iranian government's cyber psychological operations. The DOJ stated in a press release that the four internet domains were being used by Iran's Ministry of Intelligence to advance psychological operations against opponents of the Iranian government. Two of the seized domains belonged to the Hanjaleh hacker group, affiliated with the Islamic Republic. The DOJ, in describing the "psychological operations and transnational repression" activities, cited the use of these websites to claim responsibility for cyberattacks against activists opposing the Iranian government, publishing sensitive data obtained from these attacks, and issuing calls for the killing of journalists, dissidents, and Israeli citizens.