World News

Iran’s Guard bans communications devices after strike on Hezbollah pagers, radios that killed 39 people and wounded over 3,000

By
Ronny Reyes
Published Sep. 23, 2024, 7:51 a.m. ET

Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ordered all its members to stop using any communication devices following last week’s alleged Israeli attack that detonated thousands of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies, officials said.

The order comes as the IRGC is conducting a mass inspection of all devices issued t🌱o its agents, two senior Iranian security of🔯ficials told Reuters. 

One official said the ♓sweep will include all electronics, not just communication equipment, with most of the devices either being homemade or importꦉed from China and Russia. 

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, right, listens to commander of the Revolutionary Guard's ground force Gen. Mohammad Pakpour as he reviews an annual armed forces parade marking the anniversary of the beginning of war against Iran by former Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussein 44 years ago, in front of the shrine of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, just outside Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (R) with commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s ground force Gen. Mohammad Pakpour outside Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024 AP
An alleged Hezbollah terrorist after his pager exploded.
An alleged Hezbollah terrorist after his pager exploded. @Osint613

The officials claimed a thorough investigation of the IRGC’s own mid and high-ranking m🎶embers has already begun as Tehran grows concerned over possible infiltration by Israeli agents. 

“This includes scrutiny oꦇf their bank accounts both in Iran and abroad, as well as their travel history a🌊nd that of their families,” one security official said of the ongoing probe.

It remains unclear how the nearly 200,000 IRGC operatives are currently communicating with each other after receiving the order to ditch their devices.🦹 

“For now, we are using end-to-end encryption in✤ messaging systems,” one of the officials added, declining▨ to elaborate.

Along with its own internal probe, the IRGC is also helping Hezbollah investigate the cause of last week’s deadly explosions, which killed 39 people and injured more than 3,000 others.  

In a coordinated attack, the pager devices detonated on Tuesday across Hezbollah's strongholds. On Wednesday, hundreds of Hezbollah walkie-talkies exploded.
In a coordinated attack, the pager devices detonated on Tuesday across Hezbollah’s strongholds. On Wednesday, hundreds of Hezbollah walkie-talkies exploded.
This picture shows a communication device on the ground as Lebanese forces (not in the piture) prepare to destroy it in a controlled explosion, in southern Lebanon between the villages of Burj al Muluk and Klayaa, on September 19, 2024.
This picture shows a communication device on the ground as Lebanese forces (not in the picture) prepare to destroy it in a controlled explosion in southern Lebanon between the villages of Burj al Muluk and Klayaa on Sept. 19, 2024. AFP via Getty Images

Reports following the attacks suggested Israel interce🐽pted a shipment of pagers and walkie-talkies bound for Hezbollah months ago and planted explosive materials inside them. 

While Iran stopped using pagers more than two de✃cades ago, the sources said the military still uses walkie-talkies, along with other encrypted communication devices. 

Among Tehran’s top concerns is that Israel could use similar tactics to target its secret🔜 nuclear and missile facilities, a third Iranian official told Reuter🥀s.  

“There has never, ever been such tight security and extreme measures in place as thereꦆ𓃲 are now,” the official said following the pager attack. 

Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Ground Force, General Mohammad Pakpour (center L), salutes while speaking with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during a military parade
Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Ground Force, General Mohammad Pakpour (center L), salutes while speaking with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during a military parade. Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) soldiers march in formation during the annual military parade marking the Iraqi invasion in 1980, which led to an eight-year-long war (1980-1988); in Tehran, Iran, 21 September 2024
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) soldiers march in formation during the annual military parade marking the Iraqi invasion in 1980, which led to an eight-year-long war in Tehran, Iran, on Sep. 21, 2024 ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Israel has been previously accused of complex operations in Tehran th💧at killed several of the Islamic Republi🔯c’s top nuclear scientists, including the program’s founder who was gunned down by a machine gun controlled by AI. 

In order to keep its systems hidden, as well as circumvent Western sanctions, Tehran has developed its own military-grade raꦬdio transmissio🅺ns. 

Tehran has, however, imp♛orted communication devices from China, Russia, and even Japan. 

The IRGC has vowed to join Hezbollah’s counterattack𝓡 on Israel after Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was injured i🦹n the pager attack. 

“Such terrorist acts are undou✱btedly the result of the Zionist regime’s (Israel) despair and🅷 successive failures,” IRGC commander Hossein Salami told Hezbollah, according to Iranian state media.

“This will soon be met with a crushing response from the axis of resistance and we will w🤪itness the destruction of this bloodthirsty and criminal regime,” Salami added.

With Post wires  —