Iran’s IRGC Drops All Comms Gear for Fear of Sabotage

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has ordered all of its members to stop using any type of communication device after thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by its Hezbollah proxy in Lebanon simultaneously blew up last week, Reuters reported Monday.

An Iranian security official who spoke to the outlet said that a large-scale operation is underway by the IRGC to inspect all devices, not just communication equipment. Most of the devices were either homemade or imported from China and Russia, he said.

The official, who declined to be identified, added that Tehran was concerned about infiltration by Israeli agents, including Iranians on Israel’s payroll. A thorough investigation of personnel has already begun, targeting mid and high-ranking members of the IRGC, the official said.

“This includes scrutiny of their bank accounts both in Iran and abroad, as well as their travel history and that of their families,” he continued.

Thousands of pagers exploded on Tuesday across Hezbollah‘s strongholds in Lebanon. A day later, hundreds of Hezbollah walkie-talkies exploded. The attacks killed 39 people and injured more than 3,000.

Lebanon and Hezbollah say Israel was behind the attacks. Jerusalem has neither denied nor confirmed involvement.

Each of the Hezbollah communication devices that exploded was individually detonated, with Israeli intelligence knowing exactly which terrorist operative was being targeted, his location and whether others were in close proximity, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Saturday night.

The report said that Israel manufactured tens of thousands of pagers with the knowledge they would be thoroughly examined by Hezbollah, including through inspections by sniffer dogs.

The Iranian security official declined to give many details on how the IRGC force, comprising 190,000 personnel, are communicating. “For now, we are using end-to-end encryption in messaging systems,” he said.

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