After reports emerged that Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is prepared to be the first human sent into space by Iranian scientists, Senator McCain took to Twitter and made the following jab:

“So Ahmadinejad wants to be first Iranian in space – wasn’t he just there last week?”

He linked to an article on Iran’s recent monkey-led adventure into space:

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John McCain
@SenJohnMcCain

So Ahmadinejad wants to be first Iranian in space – wasn’t he just there last week? “Iran launches monkey into space” http://t.co/PaZKAqac

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1 hour ago via web · powered by @socialditto

Last week we learned that Iran had sent a monkey into space, and that it had returned safely to Earth – at least it may have made it home alive. Iran’s Space agency confirmed that they used images of two different monkeys before and after the flight, but claim that it’s not an attempt at a coverup and the space monkey is alive and well.

Either way, John McCain has received some negative feedback for his Twitter joke.

In response to that, McCain just tweeted this:

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John McCain
@SenJohnMcCain

Re: Iran space tweet – lighten up folks, can’t everyone take a joke?

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49 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

Maybe the Senator’s Twitter account has been compromised. It’s just a joke, but it still feels strange coming from the official Twitter account of a sitting U.S. Senator, even one with a history of being hawkish on the subject of Iran.

Reuters is reporting that a government deputy minister took to state television on Sunday evening to announce the blocking. He only said that Google and Gmail would be blocked so it’s unclear if any other services Google provides will also be filtered. The country has taken issue with Google Maps in the past so it wouldn’t be out of the question for the country to block that too.

The Iranian government claims to have good reason to start up their own private Internet. The country has been attacked numerous times in the past by devastating malware. The Stuxnet and Flame viruses were brought to light in June as a joint effort between the U.S. and Israel to set back Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Despite the state’s reasoning, many Iranians fear the move is intended to crack down on dissent. The Internet played an integral part in letting the world know what was happening during the massive protests of 2009. If Iran went onto its own Internet, it would effectively stop all communications between Iranians and the outside world. The country would become another North Korea.

The implementation of Iran’s own Internet is still a ways off. The blocking of Google is just a preliminary move at this moment. Unfortunately, it could soon turn into a mass blockade of all Western media and anything else a few people at the top deem inappropriate for the citizenry.

“In accordance with Navy force protection procedures, the sailors on the USNS Rappahannock used a series of nonlethal, preplanned responses to warn the vessel before resorting to lethal force,” the Navy explained in a statement. “The U.S. crew repeatedly attempted to warn the vessel’s operators to turn away from their deliberate approach. When those efforts failed to deter the approaching vessel, the security team on the Rappahannock fired rounds from a .50-caliber machine gun.”

The Navy’s reaction to such a scenario, which took place about 22 miles from Dubai, is considered standard operating procedure. Whenever a small vessel gets too close, multiple warnings are given before the order is given to attack the offending boat. Although officials have said that the ship in-question engaged in a “series of maneuvers”, the Navy is refraining from saying anything else until a proper investigation has been completed.

The Los Angeles Times reports the United States has beefed up their presence in the Persian Gulf to keep an eye on Iran, who may attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz following any trouble regarding the country’s nuclear program. Although some have stated that Iran’s navy has been courteous of the U.S.’s presence in the area, some are concerned about Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, a paramilitary group which is known to fire missiles from speedboats.

She was at the store with her uncle who was there visiting from Iran when the purchase was denied. This was made clear to the Apple employee before he came back and said they couldn’t buy the iPad. Common sense tells me that the employee thought that while the girl was buying it, the iPad was for her uncle who would then try to take it back to Iran.

When the channel 2 action news team in Atlanta found out about the story, they sent a reporter to the Apple store in question to talk to the manager. The manager showed the reporter Apple’s policy. It said “the exportation, sale or supply from the U.S. to Iran of any Apple goods is strictly prohibited without authorization by the U.S. government.” The manager also told the reporter they have to rely on customers to be honest. He reiterated (the policy) always will be to not sell to anyone from Iran.

This is a touchy situation because while it is against the law to discriminate based on country of origin. It is also illegal to travel to Iran with laptops or satellite cellphones without U.S. authorization said a representative for the U.S. State Department.

Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), claimed there were other incidents in California and Virginia but he did not give any details about the incidents. “These are legal residents, on American soil,” he told FoxNews.com. “As Americans we are outraged, and every American would be outraged.”

While the Council on American-Islamic Relations is appalled at this, there is an Islamic group that is ok with what happened. The Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans supports Apple’s take on the Alpharetta incident, concluding that Apple’s refusal to sell the product was not based on discrimination. The company is legal obliged to prevent sales if a product’s ultimate destination is Iran.

CAIR disagrees, saying in a statement: “We understand that Apple’s official company policy … is almost verbatim taken from the Iranian Transaction Regulations (ITR), specifically 31 C.F.R. § 560.204, and is in line with U.S. economic sanctions targeting Iran. However, at issue here is the correct application of that policy by Apple’s employees.”

Apple is in a tough place. They are trying to follow the Iranian Transaction Regulations laws, but the only way they can actually do that is to break the discrimination laws. Almost a no win situation for them.

“This is about preparing the battlefield for another type of covert action,” said one former high-ranking U.S. intelligence official, who added that Flame and Stuxnet were elements of a broader assault that continues today. “Cyber-collection against the Iranian program is way further down the road than this.”

The Flame virus was first revealed last month when Iranian officials detected a cyber attack on its oil refineries. The United States was not too happy that Israel decided to launch this phase of their attack without notifying American officials. In doing so they have effectively wiped out a virus that has been quietly doing its job for 5 plus years.

The Flame virus seems to be a precursor to the now infamous Stuxnet virus that directly effected almost 1,000 centrifuges and caused them to spin out of control. The damage occurred gradually, over months, and Iranian officials initially thought it was the result of incompetence.

“The scale of the espionage and sabotage effort is proportionate to the problem that’s trying to be resolved,” the former intelligence official said. “Although Stuxnet and Flame infections can be countered, it doesn’t mean that other tools aren’t in play or performing effectively.”

It is not yet clear the extent of the United Staes’ involvement in the development in making the virus, but it is believed that the U.S. relied on its 2 top spy agencies: The C.I.A. and the N.S.A.. The NSA, known mainly for its electronic eavesdropping and code-breaking capabilities, has extensive expertise in developing malicious code that can be aimed at U.S. adversaries, including Iran. The CIA lacks the NSA’s sophistication in building malware but is deeply involved in the execution of the cyber-campaign.

The disruptions from the Americans and Israelis has led the Iranians to ask a Russian security firm and a Hungarian cyber-lab for help.

So it looks as though any questions about Iran’s true intentions are already known by our government because this virus has been sending back info for years. The U.S. will know the day Iran gains the ability to build a nuclear weapon and they will put a stop to it.

Below is a clip of Hasan speaking of the Islamic moral high ground, and how the rest of humanity lives as animals:

It’s evident that the Huffington Post made quite a sensational choice in Hasan, and Raheem Kassam, executive editor of conservative online journal The Commentator, suggests, “Something like the appointment of Mehdi Hasan tells you they’ve got their heads in the far leftist clouds,” adding, “Huffington Post is seen as a major step down for Mehdi. It’s an embarrassment. It’s pretty much the end of someone’s career.”

In the above video, Hasan can be seen denouncing Pakinstan’s nuclear weapons, though as a known supporter of nuclear-tinkerer Iran, who by the way is presently irate with Google Maps – his stances have sometimes been seen as being haphazard and extreme, a possible reason for his departure from the New Statesman.

Kassam adds, “Everyone knew that the status quo couldn’t continue with Hasan – It was only a matter of time until he was rightly held to account for what became increasingly nonsensical journalism and a repeated refusal to comment on his extreme views as highlighted by the videos.” Snap.

For a bit of backstory, Iran accused Google of lacking credibility after noticing that the word ‘Persian Gulf’ was omitted from its map of the area. Below is a similar map from 1994, which would likely pass quality control in Iran:

Bahman Dorri, a deputy in Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry, had said, “Google is fabricating lies – will not have any outcome but for its users to lose trust in the data the company provides.” Other Arab countries in the region typically refer to the body of water as the “Arabian Gulf” or simply “the Gulf.” But Iran likes to say “Persian Gulf.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast states, “Toying with modern technologies in political issues is among the new measures by the enemies against Iran, (and) in this regard, Google has been treated (us) as a plaything,” adding, “omitting the name Persian Gulf is (like) playing with the feelings and realities of the Iranian nation.”

A spokesperson for Google explained to CNN, “It’s just simply the case that we don’t have a label for every body of water.” The Google map above shows that the Arabian Sea is also missing, as well as the Gulf of Oman.

I assume Mehmanparast meant to convey that Google had “treated Iran like a plaything,” though perhaps the country is being a bit pedantic in its Google map searching habits.

Let’s back up a little bit now. You may remember back in 2010 that an Iranian nuclear scientist, Masoud Ali-Mohammadi, was assassinated. A man by the name of Majid Jamali Fashi, a kick-boxer, was arrested and charged with the murder. The Iranian government claimed that he was acting on behalf of Israel. He was recently hanged for his supposed crime Tuesday.

These two stories seem to have nothing in common. One was a leak of diplomatic cables while the other was a man accused of assassination. The Times of Israel figures that it goes much deeper than that. They quote a story from The Times (paywall) that found the cable leaks contained a document that pointed an unnamed man that matched Fashi down to the fact that he was trained in martial arts. These documents were released a few days before the arrest of Fashi.

The timing does indeed work out and the leaked cable does point to a man that Fashi fit the description of. Do I believe that the leaks had anything to do with his capture? It’s hard to tell at this point and probably will be for a long time. Iran is really secretive about their court trials while they spoke for Fashi saying that he admitted to working for Israel.

A country like Iran will do anything to get their man. This is the country that will stoop to creating their own Internet just to keep its people away from any information that’s critical of the country’s leadership. I wouldn’t put it past the Iranian authorities to arrest some guy and make him admit to these crimes just to get their guy. They, like North Korea, like to make accusatory statements and blame all of their failings on anybody else but themselves.

It all comes down to what you think of Wikileaks. If you were one of the people crying out for Assange to be executed for treason, then you’ll likely believe that Wikileaks led to the death of a potentially innocent man. If you think that Wikileaks can do no wrong, then you probably think that this is all just a big coincidence.

It’s too hard to tell right now, but it does spin a cautionary tale about the risks of leaking confidential information. In today’s open world, information should be free. Wikileaks and its ilk more often than not help keep government’s accountable through this information sharing. There are risks involved, of course, but does the risk outweigh the potential failings of government being kept hidden?

One Google luminary expressed his disappointment in the Iranian government: Google webspam master Matt Cutts.

For Iran’s government, slapping these kinds of muzzles on the beak of the internet is just business as usual. This year alone, authorities have blocked websites (including Gmail and YouTube), the internet, and, in a small act of comedic justice, even its own supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Still, that’s not to say that it’s an event unworthy of disapproval.

According to AFP, entities involved with the Iranian government are required to use email addresses ending with gov.ir to conduct business while universities need to use emails with the domain ac.ir. To be fair, though, this is far from being the worst example of Iran’s communication restrictions with the internet. More, isn’t it fairly common for businesses or universities to restrict what email clients an employee can use in order to conduct business correspondence? Regardless of who you are or where you are, you probably shouldn’t be using your personal Gmail or Yahoo email account to relate state secrets or even state not-so-secrets.

This restriction of foreign-based email providers for certain businesses and governments only looks bad in the context of Iran’s history of censorship and throttling of communication mediums but it’s hardly an egregious decision. Were this, say, Sweden who mandated that some businesses and governments needed to use state-sponsored emails in order to interact with clients, it would hardly be news-worthy.

Radio Free Europe reports that Khamenei’s fatwa was blocked from Iranian websites a mere 30 hours after it was published. Apparently even using the word “antifiltering” is sensitive enough to trigger Iran’s automated censoring system.

The irony of the whole situation spools together even more, though, because a member from a news agency wrote to Khamenei’s office stating that some professionals, such as journalists, may need to use antifiltering tools in order to visit blocked websites that need to be viewed. Mehr asked what the religious decree would be in that specific case, to which Khamenei replied, “In general, the use of antifiltering software is subject to the laws and regulations of the Islamic republic, and it is not permissible to violate the law.”

Merely mentioning the religious ruling on antifiltering filtered out Khamenei’s statement. In order for Mehr or anybody else to actually read Khameni’s statement on antifiltering tools, as RFE points out, the Ayatollah’s followers would have to use antifiltering software to access it.

Amazing.

Iran’s spent the better part of the past year (and more) muzzling access to a free internet, going so far as to build its own national internet that will include only government-approved content. Now, the authorities’ vigorous effort to censor and control the dissemination of information in the country appears to be cannibalizing the government.

[Via Ars Technica.]