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Iran Responds to Israeli Cyber Attack

Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi visiting a gas station in Tehran on Wednesday (AFP)
Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi visiting a gas station in Tehran on Wednesday (AFP)
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Iran Responds to Israeli Cyber Attack

Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi visiting a gas station in Tehran on Wednesday (AFP)
Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi visiting a gas station in Tehran on Wednesday (AFP)

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Wednesday that the cyber-attack that disrupted the sale of heavily subsidized gasoline in the country aimed to stir chaos and anger citizens.

“We have to be seriously prepared in the field of cyber warfare,” stressed Raisi in statements to state media. He noted that the cyber-attack was an “attempt to annoy citizens.”

Tehran responded to the Israeli attack by publishing information about the life of Security Minister Benny Gantz, and personal details of hundreds of soldiers in one of the Israeli army brigades.

Tuesday’s disruption of fuel services came ahead of the second anniversary of the bloody protests that swept Iran due to the sharp rise of fuel prices in November 2019, which later turned into political demonstrations calling for the resignation of the country’s senior rulers.

State television quoted Iranian authorities as saying that the distribution of gasoline would return to normal within hours.

Oil Minister Javad Oji confirmed that 3,000 gas stations had resumed their activities normally out of the 4,300 petrol stations, which were affected by the attack.

Abul-Hassan Firouzabadi, the Secretary of the Supreme Council to Regulate Virtual Space, confirmed that the disruption at the refueling system of gas stations which lasted a few hours was caused by a cyber-attack.

He explained that a report would be announced within 7 to 10 days, adding: “Although this cyber-attack was controlled, it created many problems.”

Israel admitted that in the wake of the cyber-attack that hit gas stations in Iran, hackers in Tehran published personal details about the life of Defense Minister Benny Gantz, and personal details of hundreds of soldiers in one of the Israeli army brigades.

Sources in Tel Aviv said on Wednesday that the Iranian hackers were members of a group calling itself the “Moses Stick,” which leaked files containing details of the deployment of an army combat brigade, including job descriptions, a full list of names, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and residential addresses of members of the brigade.

Israeli Ynetnews also reported that photos of Defense Minister Benny Gantz were posted by the group, along with a threat that he was being surveyed by the hackers.

All the information was shared on the dark web and in groups of the Telegram messaging app, the agency added.

Israeli security expert on Iranian affairs Amir Menashe said that despite Iran’s announcement of the restart of about 1,000 gas stations, the disruption is still ongoing.

He added that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence censored the news and arrested a number of journalists, who had published reports and photos.

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South Korean Opposition Submits Motion to Impeach Country's Acting President

South Korea's acting President Han Duck-soo speaks at the government complex in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (Choi Jae-koo/Yonhap via AP)
South Korea's acting President Han Duck-soo speaks at the government complex in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (Choi Jae-koo/Yonhap via AP)
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South Korean Opposition Submits Motion to Impeach Country's Acting President

South Korea's acting President Han Duck-soo speaks at the government complex in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (Choi Jae-koo/Yonhap via AP)
South Korea's acting President Han Duck-soo speaks at the government complex in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (Choi Jae-koo/Yonhap via AP)

South Korea’s main opposition party submitted a motion on Thursday to impeach the country’s acting leader over his reluctance to fill three Constitutional Court vacancies ahead of the court’s review of rebellion charges against impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol stemming from his short-lived martial law decree on Dec. 3.
The court appointments have stalled amid an intensifying dispute between the liberal opposition and Yoon’s conservative party, and the potential impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo may deepen the political paralysis that has halted high-level diplomacy and rattled financial markets, The Associated Press reported.
The opposition-controlled National Assembly also passed motions calling for the appointment of three Constitutional Court justices as the court prepares to start deliberations on whether to dismiss or reinstate Yoon. The vote came shortly after Han reiterated in a televised statement that he wouldn’t appoint the justices without bipartisan consent.
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik urged Han to swiftly appoint the justices, saying that his calls for bipartisan consent essentially amounted to a refusal and “infringes on the National Assembly’s right to select Constitutional Court justices.”
Yoon’s People Power Party, whose members mostly boycotted the National Assembly vote, argued that Han shouldn’t exercise presidential authority to appoint the proposed justices while Yoon has yet to be formally removed from office.
The main opposition Democratic Party has accused the conservatives of undermining the court process to save Yoon’s presidency, and its motion to impeach Han could go to a floor vote as early as Friday. The Democrats’ floor leader, Park Chan-dae, said Han’s comments showed “he lacks both the qualifications to serve as the acting leader and the will to uphold the Constitution.”
Yoon’s presidential powers were suspended after the National Assembly voted to impeach him on Dec. 14 over an attempted power grab that lasted only hours but has triggered weeks of political turmoil that has shaken one of Asia’s most robust democracies.
To formally end Yoon’s presidency, at least six justices on the nine-member Constitutional Court must vote in favor. Three seats remain vacant following retirements and a full bench could make conviction more likely.
The court, which is to hold a pretrial hearing in Yoon’s case on Friday, has said it believes the acting president can exercise the right to appoint justices.
Three of the court’s nine justices are directly appointed by the president. Three are nominated by the head of the Supreme Court and three by the National Assembly, and they are then formally appointed by the president in what is widely considered a procedural matter.
The three seats that are currently open are to be nominated by lawmakers. South Korea’s Constitution states that the National Assembly “selects” three spots on the court rather than recommends, suggesting that the presidential appointments for these spots are a formality rather than a substantive authority, according to some legal experts.
“The consistent spirit reflected in our Constitution and laws is that an acting president should focus on maintaining stability in governance to help the country overcome crisis while refraining from exercising significant powers exclusive to the president, including appointments to constitutional institutions,” Han said. “I will withhold the appointment of Constitutional Court justices until the ruling and opposition parties submit an agreed-upon proposal.”
Han has also clashed with the Democrats over his vetoes of bills calling for independent investigations of Yoon and corruption allegations involving his wife, Kim Keon Hee.
If Han is impeached, Choi Sang-mok, the country’s deputy prime minister and finance minister, is next in line.
The impeachment vote against Han could face legal ambiguities. Most South Korean officials can be impeached with a simple majority of the National Assembly, but impeaching presidents requires two-thirds. The rival parties differ on which standard should apply to an acting president. The Democratic Party controls 170 of the National Assembly’s 300 seats, so it would need support from members of other parties including Yoon’s own to get a two-thirds majority.
While focusing on defending himself in the Constitutional Court, Yoon has dodged several requests by law enforcement authorities to appear for questioning over rebellion charges and also blocked searches of his office.
Authorities have already arrested Yoon’s defense minister, police chief and several other military commanders involved in the attempt to implement martial law, which harkened back to the days of authoritarian leaders the country hasn’t seen since the 1980s.
In a news conference in Seoul, Yoo Seung Soo, lawyer for former Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, repeated Yoon’s claim that his martial law decree was to “sound alarm against ... political abuse” by an opposition that has bogged down his agenda, and did not amount to a rebellion.