A Worm hits computers at Iran nuclear plant

TEHRAN, Iran - A computer worm complex, capable of taking control of industrial plants has affected the personal computers of staff working on Iran's first nuclear power plant weeks before the installation is to go online, the agency new official reported Sunday.
The project manager at the Bushehr nuclear power plant, Mahmoud Jafari, said a team trying to remove malware from multiple affected computers, even if it "did not cause major damage to systems of plant, "the news agency IRNA.
It was the first sign that the malicious computer code, dubbed Stuxnet, which has spread to many industries in Iran, has also affected equipment related to the country's nuclear program, which is at the heart of the dispute between Tehran and the powers Western United States as the United States.
Experts in Germany has discovered the worm in July, and since he has shown in a number of attacks - mainly in Iran, Indonesia, India and the U.S.
The malicious code is capable of supporting the systems that control the internal operation of industrial facilities.
In a sign of the high level of concern in Iran, experts from the agency's nuclear countries met last week to discuss ways to fight against the worm.
Infection of several computers belonging to workers at Bushehr will not affect plans to bring the plant online in October, Jafari was quoted as saying.
The Russian-built factory will be under international supervision, but world powers fear that Iran wants to use other aspects of its civilian nuclear program as cover for weapons production. The greatest concern for world powers to Iran is main facility to enrich uranium in the city of Natanz.
Iran, which denies having nuclear weapons ambitions, says it wants to enrich uranium to levels lower than required to produce fuel for power plants. At higher levels of processing, the material can also be used in nuclear warheads.
Stuxnet destructive worm has surprised experts because it is the first specifically created to support the industrial control systems, rather than to steal or manipulate data.
The United States is also monitoring the worm, and the Department of Homeland Security is the creation of special teams that can respond quickly to emergencies in cyber industrial facilities across the country.
On Saturday, Iran's semi-official ISNA news reported that the malware has spread across Iran, but did not name specific sites involved.

Iran Protests Turn Violent

TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian security forces fired on stone-throwing protesters in the center of the capital Sunday in one of the bloodiest confrontations in months, opposition Web sites and witnesses said. At least five people were killed.
Some accounts of the violence in Tehran were vivid and detailed, but they could not be independently confirmed because of government restrictions on media coverage. Police, who denied using firearms, said dozens of officers were injured and more than 300 protesters were arrested.
The dead included a nephew of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, according to Mousavi's Web site, Kaleme.ir. The clashes were sure to deepen antagonism between the government and a reform movement that has shown resilience in the face of repeated crackdowns.
The street chaos coincided with commemorations of Shiite Islam's most important observance, Ashoura, fueling protesters' defiance with its message of sacrifice and dignity in the face of coercion.
Still, many demonstrators had not anticipated such harsh tactics by the authorities, despite police warnings of tougher action against any protests on the sacred day.
Amateur video footage purportedly from the center of Tehran showed an enraged crowd carrying away one casualty, chanting, "I'll kill, I'll kill the one who killed my brother." In several locations, demonstrators confronted security forces, hurling stones and setting their motorcycles, cars and vans ablaze, according to video footage and pro-reform Web sites.
Protesters tried to cut off roads with burning barricades. One police officer was photographed with blood streaming down his face after he was set upon by the crowd.
There were unconfirmed reports that four people died in protests in Tabriz in northwest Iran, the pro-reform Rah-e-Sabz Web site said. Fierce clashes also broke out in Isfahan and Najafabad in central Iran and Shiraz in the south, it said.
Mousavi's Web site said the nephew, Ali Mousavi, was shot in the back on Azadi Street, or Freedom Street, during clashes in which security forces reportedly fired on demonstrators, and was taken to Ibn Sina Hospital. It said Mousavi and other family members rushed to the hospital.
A close aide to Mousavi, a presidential contender in a disputed June election, said Ali Mousavi died of injuries in the hospital. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because of fears of reprisals from the government.
The protests began with thousands of opposition supporters chanting "Death to the dictator," a reference to hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as they marched in defiance of official warnings of a harsh crackdown on any demonstrations coinciding with Ashoura. The observance commemorates the seventh-century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints.
Security forces tried but failed to disperse protesters on a central Tehran street with tear gas, baton charges and warning shots. They then opened fire on protesters, said witnesses and the Rah-e-Sabz Web site.
The site said that in addition to Mousavi's nephew, four protesters were fatally shot – Mahdi Farhadinia, Mohammad Ali Rasekhinia, Amir Arshadi and Shahram Saraji.
Witnesses said one victim was an elderly man who had a gunshot wound to the forehead. He was seen being carried away by opposition supporters with blood covering his face.
More than two dozen opposition supporters were injured, some of them seriously, with limbs broken from beatings, according to witnesses.
An Iranian police statement said five people were killed in the unrest. "Experts are seeking to identify the suspicious elements," the statement said.
Iran's deputy police chief, Ahmad Reza Radan, said one person died after falling from a bridge, two were killed in a car accident, and a fourth was fatally shot.
"Given the fact that police did not use firearms, this incident looks completely suspicious and the case is under investigation," Radan said.
He said dozens of injured police were treated in hospitals, and more than 300 "seditionists" were arrested.
The clashes marked the bloodiest confrontation since the height of unrest in the weeks after June's election. The opposition says Ahmadinejad won the election through massive vote fraud and that Mousavi was the true winner.
Reporters from foreign media organizations were barred from covering the demonstrations on Tehran's central Enghelab Street, or Revolution Street. Video footage circulating on the Web could also not be authenticated.
Ambulance sirens wailed near the site of the protests. Police helicopters circled as smoke billowed over the capital.
Cell phone services were unreliable and Internet connections were slowed to a crawl, as has happened during most other days of protest in an apparent government attempt to limit publicity and prevent protesters from organizing.
The Dec. 20 death of the 87-year-old Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a sharp critic of Iran's leaders, has given a new push to opposition protests.
His memorials have brought out young, urban activists who filled the ranks of earlier protests, and older, more religious Iranians who revered the cleric. Tens of thousands marched in his funeral procession in the holy city of Qom on Monday, many chanting slogans against the government.
Opposition leaders have used holidays and other symbolic days in recent months to stage anti-government rallies.
Iran is under pressure both from its domestic opposition within the country and from the United States and its European allies, which are pushing Iran to suspend key parts of its nuclear program.
U.S. National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer, speaking in Hawaii Sunday, where U.S. President Barack Obama is vacationing, denounced Tehran's "unjust suppression of civilians."
Foreign Minister Carl Bildt of Sweden, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, expressed concern about the "increased repression" in Iran.
"A regime secure in its own legitimacy has no reason to fear individuals' rights to express their opinions freely and peacefully," he wrote on his blog Sunday.

Black Iran Arrested 200 Student Protests

TEHRAN, Iran — Hard-line militiamen firing tear gas and throwing stones stormed a crowd of thousands of university students protesting for a second day Tuesday, as Iran threatened a tougher crackdown on the opposition after the biggest anti-government demonstrations in months.More than 200 people were arrested in Tehran on Monday during protests by tens of thousands at universities nationwide, and Iran's top prosecutor warned further unrest would not be tolerated. He hinted authorities could even pursue the top opposition leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, an escalation the government has so far balked at in Iran's postelection turmoil.Masked motorcyclists – likely hard-line militiamen – harassed Mousavi at his Tehran office on Tuesday. An angry Mousavi confronted them, daring them, "Kill me!" before being hustled away by aides, according to pro-opposition Web sites.Authorities appear concerned that the protest movement could pick up new steam after Monday's demonstrations, in which students clashed with police and militiamen in the streets of Tehran.A fierce crackdown since the summer crushed the mass protests that erupted after June's disputed presidential election. But Monday's unrest showed how students have revitalized the movement. They showed an increased boldness, openly breaking the biggest taboo in Iran, burning pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and chanting slogans against him.The protests spilled over into a second day Tuesday. Several thousand students rallied in Tehran University, chanting slogans and waving Iranian flags in front of the Engineering College when they were assaulted by hard-line Basij militiamen, witnesses said. At least one student was dragged away, the witnesses said.Footage posted on the Internet, said to be from Tuesday, showed the crowd of students sitting in front of the college building, many wearing surgical masks and scarves over their faces against gas or to hide their identities. They clapped and chanted "death to the dictator" and insults against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his supporters, saying "Ahmadi came up short, he brought out brainless youth."They are then seen fleeing as Basijis rush after them, firing tear gas and throwing stones. Students jostled in the crowd to get away, some crying out in warning, "Basiji, Basiji," while women screamed, "God is great." One student is seen staggering away, holding his eyes after being hit by pepper spray. Inside the college building, students lit papers in a bonfire in an attempt to ward off clouds of tear gas.About a dozen students also clashed with riot police on the streets outside the university, witnesses said. The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity fearing retribution. Foreign journalists, including The Associated Press, have been barred from covering protests.Tehran's police chief, Gen. Azizullah Rajabzadeh, announced that 204 protesters, including 39 women, were arrested in the capital during Monday's demonstrations and would be handed over to the judiciary. There was no immediate word on the number of arrests outside Tehran.Iran's top prosecutor, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi, warned that the judiciary will no longer tolerate protests."So far, we have shown restraint. From today, no leniency will be applied," he said, according to the official IRNA news agency.When asked at a press conference if the judiciary will pursue Mousavi, he said, "We will not tolerate anyone who commits actions against security, and we will confront them," according to the Fars news agency. He also suggested prosecutors could go after Mahdi Hashemi, the son of the most powerful supporter of the opposition in the clerical hierarchy, former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.Ejehi, a hard-line cleric, even snapped at Tehran prosecutors not to be lax. "If the Tehran prosecutor does not make its first priority (investigating) those who every day violate public order and damage public property, we will give it a warning and, if necessary, take action," he said.Hard-line clerics and commanders of the elite Revolutionary Guard have called for Mousavi's arrest, accusing him of fueling protests and conspiring against Iran's clerical leadership. Arresting Mousavi or other top opposition leaders would likely spark greater turmoil.Up to 30 men on motorcycles, some in masks, swarmed outside Mousavi's office on Tuesday. They blocked him as he tried to drive out of the garage and chanted slogans against him, two opposition Web sites said, citing witnesses.Mousavi got out of his car and shouted at them, "You're agents. Do whatever you've been ordered to do, kill me, beat me, threaten me!" before aides rushed him inside, the Gooya News Web site reported. The men left several hours later and Mousavi was able to leave.During Monday's demonstrations, hard-line students mobbed Mousavi's wife Zahra Rahnavard at Tehran University, spraying her with pepper spray before her supporters took her away, opposition Web sites reported.The turnout in Monday's protests showed that months of arrests and government intimidation have failed to stamp out the movement, sparked by opposition claims that Mousavi was the rightful winner of the June vote and that Ahmadinejad won by fraud.In the crackdown, more than 100 politicians, activists and protesters have been put on a mass trial, accused of being part of a foreign-backed plot to overthrow the Islamic Republic. Five have been sentenced to death and 80 others to prison terms up to 15 years.Since the summer, the opposition has held major protests less than once a month – timed to coincide with the many political anniversaries and religious occasions that traditionally bring street demonstrations. The strategy aims to drum up as many people as possible and draw more attention.The coming months could heat up with several key occasions for possible protests.In mid-December, the Islamic holy month of Moharram begins – and throughout the month Iranians traditionally hold mass mourning ceremonies. Next comes the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which is marked by 10 days of celebrations in early February.