Tehran, Iran, July 3
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
Prominent Iranian conservative MP Ali Motahari has asked the Ministry of Intelligence and the cyber police to investigate into the origins of a series of threatening messages recently sent to some reformist journalists in the country.
The text messages have caused great worry among the media activists and the FATA (cyber) police and the Ministry of Intelligence should swiftly discover the origins and report to the public, Motahari, who is currently deputy speaker of the Parliament told ISNA news agency.
The text messages had been sent two days earlier. But the Minister of Intelligence Mahmoud Alavi, government spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, Vice President for Science Hesamoddin Ashna, and Minister of Culture Ali Jannati had said they knew nothing about them.
On July 3, the Ministry of Intelligence issued a statement dismissing any relation with the text messages.
It stressed that the ministry would not be the source of such messages since it respects civil rights and cares for society’s psychological peace.
According to IRNA news agency, the message titled “Security Warning” had read, “Any relation or cooperation with inimical entities overseas either via email, secure portals, or other communication devices is a criminal act and will entail judicial pursuit. It is necessary that you terminate your communications. This message is the last security warning.”