Tapandegan hack in response to unfair IRGC budget

At the start of the month Iranian hacking group Tapandegan posted on Twitter that they had successfully hacked the Iranian Ministry of the Economy and Assets website in response to the leaked IRGC budget. The message can be seen in the image below:

The group's motivation appear to be anger at the enormous budget allocated to the IRGC and how secretive and wasteful the budget is as they believe this money could be used better to help the struggling Iranian people. These thing being so the group was prompted from mr Zarif's leaked interview where he claimed that cmdr Soleimani was a main decision maker for foreign policy and not the elected officials of the Majiles.

Tapandegan highlights also the hypocrisy in the Islamic Republic when they ask ordinary citizens to stop eating meat and chicken in response to economic hardships but they spend 66 thousand billion tomans for the IRGC to operate outside of the Iranian people's elected government to fight foreign wars. As the people suffer at home the IRGC can act with impunity with a large budget and little accountability.

The group previously has claimed responsibility for hacks at Mashad international airport in 1397 and tabriz airport also in 1397. Both hacks overtook computers screens in the airport to protest the wasting of Iranian lives and money in foreign wars such as Syria, Iraq and Gaza.

Iran-China 25 year deal and the internet

It has been a busy few weeks as one year ends and another starts. A few days ago the Islamic Republic and China signed a 25 year agreement between the two countries and people are not happy. There has been protests in Tehran and people speaking out on Twitter - even without the full release of the agreement!

But one thing that has been said is that the new agreement includes sections about the internet. China has the best firewall in the world and now they will be helping Iran do the same. The agreement is said to include provisions over the development of 5g, remote communication and end-user equipment. But most concerning is the agreement to work together on strengthening national internet infrastructure.

As the people of Iran move towards freedom, the Islamic Republic is determined to drag them back. And now with China backing them, the Islamic Republic has a greater chance of success than ever. However I am hopeful that people will stand up against this censorship - people already are but they must continue. Free and unfiltered access to the internet is a right that the Iranian people deserve. It should not be washed away by this agreement.