Iran's Khamenei Decorates Commander for Israel Attack

A picture provided by Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's office shows him decorating General Amirali Hajizadeh - AFP
A picture provided by Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's office shows him decorating General Amirali Hajizadeh - AFP
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Iran's Khamenei Decorates Commander for Israel Attack

A picture provided by Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's office shows him decorating General Amirali Hajizadeh - AFP
A picture provided by Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's office shows him decorating General Amirali Hajizadeh - AFP

Iran's supreme leader has decorated the Revolutionary Guards aerospace commander for the Islamic republic's missile attacks on arch-foe Israel, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's website said on Sunday.

"Ayatollah Khamenei presented the Order of Fath ("Conquest" in Farsi) to General Amirali Hajizadeh, commander of the Guards Aerospace Force," it said.

The decoration was bestowed because of "the brilliant 'Honest Promise' operation", the website said, AFP reported.

Hajizadeh, 62, has headed the Guards aerospace unit since its creation in 2009.

On Tuesday, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired some 200 missiles at Israel in retaliation for an Israeli air strike that killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and IRGC top general Abbas Nilforoushan in Beirut.

It was Iran's second direct attack on Israel in six months, after a missile and drone assault in April in retaliation for a deadly strike on Iran's consulate in Damascus, which Tehran blamed on Israel.

Israel has vowed to respond after Tuesday's Iranian missile attack.



Chinese Hackers Reportedly Breached US Court Wiretap Systems

FILE PHOTO: US and Chinese flags are seen in this illustration taken, January 30, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US and Chinese flags are seen in this illustration taken, January 30, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Chinese Hackers Reportedly Breached US Court Wiretap Systems

FILE PHOTO: US and Chinese flags are seen in this illustration taken, January 30, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US and Chinese flags are seen in this illustration taken, January 30, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Chinese hackers accessed the networks of US broadband providers and obtained information from systems that the federal government uses for court-authorized wiretapping, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

Verizon Communications, AT&T and Lumen Technologies are among the telecoms companies whose networks were breached by the recently discovered intrusion, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The hackers might have held access for months to network infrastructure used by the companies to cooperate with court-authorized US requests for communications data, the newspaper said. It said the hackers had also accessed other tranches of internet traffic.

China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Beijing has in the past denied claims by the US government and others that it has used hackers to break into foreign computer systems.
Verizon Communications, AT&T and Lumen Technologies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Wall Street Journal said the attack was carried out by a Chinese hacking group with the aim of collecting intelligence. US investigators have dubbed it "Salt Typhoon.”
Earlier this year, US law enforcement disrupted a major Chinese hacking group nicknamed "Flax Typhoon," months after confronting Beijing about sweeping cyber espionage under a campaign named "Volt Typhoon."