The Caspian Kids

Hacking group Anonymous has hacked into Iranian government servers and stolen more than 10,000 e-mail messages from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, say US reports.

By Warwik Ashford  - The hackers sent e-mails from the compromised servers to media organisations to prove it was in control of the servers.

The stolen e-mail archive reportedly includes approvals and rejections for visas and passports.

The hacking comes in the run-up to the second anniversary of Iran's 2009 elections on 12 June, which Anonymous plans to mark with its signature DDoS attacks, according to The Next Web.

Iranian government websites have been under a steady stream of attacks by Anonymous, which launched a DDoS campaign after the Iranian elections and subsequent protests in 2009.

Anonymous is one of the main groups using hacking and cyber attacks as a form of dissent known as "hactivism". The Anonymous group of "hacktivists" has targeted several global companies and Middle East governments in recent months.

The Iranian government has been trying to cover up the incident for the past few days, according to an Anonymous source cited by other reports.

The reports come as suspected Anonymous spin-off, Lulz Security, claims to have accessed the servers hosting Sony Pictures Entertainment and obtained the e-mail addresses, birth dates and passwords of more than 1m users.

A radical religious cleric known as Iranian President Ahmadinejad's spiritual mentor has declared that attacks on Israeli civilians permissible and suicide bombings are a Muslim duty. In addition, he has urged followers to continue suicide attacks against Israelis, including children.



Catholic Online - Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah, considered one of the Islamic Republic's most radical clerics, has issued a religious edict on his Web site whereby suicide attacks are not only legitimate but are a must for every Muslim.

The senior cleric was responding to a question from a follower regarding the difference between "martyr's death" and "suicide." The anonymous post noted that "some people say that martyrdom operations are considered suicide and that they are haram (forbidden) because they contradict Islam."

Mesbah expressed his regret in his response that his follower has fallen victim to "propaganda of the enemies of Islam." He added that the follower was wasting his time instead of focusing on "uprooting the Zionist regime.

"When protecting Islam, the Muslim people depend on martyrdom operations. It not only is allowed, but even is an obligation," Mesbah wrote.

The follower presented another question regarding Islam's position on harming Israelis, wondering whether Hamas and Jihad actions against Israeli civilians are forbidden. He also asked: "How about the Israeli children killed in such attacks?"

Ayatollah said he did not see fit to forbid the killing of children, only noting that Israelis can be harmed unless they openly express their objection to their government's position. He added that even in such cases, harming civilians is permissible if "they are used as human shield and fighting the aggressors depends on attacking those civilians."

Beyond these insights, the cleric did not offer further instructions and failed to censure the killing of children.

Iran internationals Javad Nekounam and Masoud Shojaei have agreed contract extensions with Osasuna until 2013.

This could be the club where I finish my sporting career," 30-year-old midfielder Nekounam told the club website after signing his deal which has options for automatic extensions in the future.

Nekounam joined Osasuna in 2006 and has won over 100 caps for Iran.

Forward Masoud, 26, had surgery on his left foot on Tuesday after suffering an infection from an operation on the same problem back in April.

The Pamplona-based side finished a creditable ninth in La Liga.

Reuters

Great shots of the area around Arasbaran, a UNESCO registered biosphere located in East Azarbaijan Province, Iran. Some historical places such as Babak Khorramdin's Castle are also located in this area.

Photos by Mahsa Jamali, Mehr News Agency

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's trip to India was delayed when the Islamic Republic refused to let her plane enter Iranian airspace

AFP reports that German government spokesman Steffen Seibert, in a short Twitter message, revealed that the Islamic Republic took the unprecedented step against the German chancellor's Airbus 340.

Der Spiegel reported that the Chancellor's plane, with a large German delegation on board, was denied permission to fly over Iranian territory. The plane was forces to circle over Turkey for two hours while Turkey mediated negotiations between German diplomats and Iranian authorities.

Another aircraft carrying several members of the German cabinet, including Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere and Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, was able to fly over Iran without any delays.

Calling the incident "unacceptable," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said he has summoned the Iranian ambassador to inform him that "such a breach of international conventions will in no way be tolerated by Germany."

Iran did not give clear reasons for the delay; however, the incident comes days after the EU voted to impose further restrictive measures against Iran over its nuclear program.

The almost 70.000 spectators saw entertaining 120 minutes with loads of chances on both sides, however no goals.

So the match had to be decided on penalties and while Hadi Aghily and Ibrahima Toure hammered their efforts wide of target for Sepahan, on the other side only Moataba Shiri's shot came off the woodwork.

So youngster Hamidreza Aliasgari got the party started when he converted the Reds' final penalty kick.

Persepolis now have to travel to Ahvaz to face Foolad in semis on Thursday, while rivals Esteghlal Tehran will host Malavan Anzali on the same they to determine the second finalist.

The winner of the Hazfi Cup will qualify for next year's AFC Champions League.

While Sepahan, Esteghlal and Zob Ahan have already qualified for next year's competition, Hazfi Cup title holders Persepolis have only finished fourth in the league and need to defend their title for a Champions League spot.

Full Highlights:

An avid reader has recently sent us pictures from her first trip to Iran... and frankly, it looks delicious.  Enjoy!

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadenejad claims European powers have created technology that allows them to steal the rain from clouds headed for Iran.

“According to reports on climate, whose accuracy has been verified, European countries are using special equipment to force clouds to dump” their water on Europe prematurely, Ahmadenejad said.

The Iranian president said unusual amounts of rain and snowfall in Europe, combined with a dry spell during Iran’s normal rainy season during the fall, proved his claim.

Ahmadenejad then cited “a certain politician, who is not an expert of water or construction” who wrote an article 7-8 months ago predicting a water crisis in the region within the next 30 years.

“This is precisely the area they [the West] are afraid of, due to the creation of [our] civilization and culture,” he said.

“This was not a scientific forecast,” Ahmadenejad said, “this is a premeditated event.”

While Ahmadenejad has been known for repeating wild conspiracy theories in the past, it should be noted that the practice of cloud seeding, a technology that has been in development since the 1950s, has effectively created and prevented rain.

The UK Telegraph reports that “moments after the Iranian president made the startling claim at the inauguration of a dam in a central province, it started to rain.”

Mullahs apparently know how to use the internet.. and destroy it..

By James Plafke | 12:00 pm, May 29th, 2011

According to observers of Iranian policy, Iran is looking to further censor its Internet by, basically, preventing access to the regular ol’ Internet and creating a national Internet to take its place. Newser reports that Iran’s telecommunications chief claimed that in two years, all Iranians “would be forced to use a state-censored, fully-internal Internet,” and about sixty percent of Iran’s homes and businesses are expected to be using their national Internet sooner than the speculated two years.

Iran believes creating their own Internet is a move toward “upholding Islamic moral values,” but it remains to be seen if it can actually block the Internet, especially considering it doesn’t take much to access the Internet in this day and age. Iran plans to launch their national, censored Internet alongside the regular one, but intends to make a full switch to their national Internet somewhere down the line.

Even more interestingly, the current 11% of citizens who do have access to the Internet will be forced to use an alternative to Google, called “Ya Hagh,” as well as a non-Microsoft operating system. So far, the plan is just that — a plan — but considering Iran has already created and implement their own alternative to Google, it would seem the more difficult obstacle to overcome would be to cut off rogue Internet users, rather than actually create their own national Internet.

After an extended delay - The Caspiankids is pleased to announce that they back and rockin' at full speed! Stay turned for the stories and analysis you have come to expect from us...

In the meantime, please enjoy some excellent persian music : Raam - Shekarchi