ICBPS- At least 12 climbers have died, and several more are missing in the mountains north of Iranian capital Tehran after GPS systems in “sensitive areas” have been jammed by IRGC.
Twelve mountain climbers in north Tehran were lost and died last week because of GPS systems in “sensitive areas” by IRGC (as a terrorist foreign organization).
So-called moderate Rouhani’s Spokesman Ali Rabiei on Tuesday confirmed the recent disruption in Global Positioning System (GPS) signals in Tehran.
“The Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) had been tasked with investigating “to identify the consequences and fix it,” he added.
Iranian people online have voiced to shed light over the tragic incident saying IRGC killed the Iranian mountaineers.
10 mountaineers in North of Tehran, Iran were killed on Christmas day by the Islamic Republic due to jamming of GPS Signals by IRGC terrorists.
— ?Shabnam?✝️ ✡ John14:6 (@ShabnamHamseda) December 27, 2020
The Minister of Sports and Youth, Masoud Soltanifar, had brought the hikers’ deaths and possible connection to GPS disruption to the Rouhani’s cabinet attention, Rabiei declared.
Khomeinist officials have confirmed that there have been GPS glitches recently in the Iranian capital. Social media users have reported that the location displayed on their devices is significantly far from where they are actually located.
At least 11 people had been killed on the mountain, and one died in hospital after being rescued. The mountaineers likely lost the scheduled path due to GPS glitching and were undergone in a dangerous situation.
Earlier, the Ministry of Communications warned on causing a “catastrophe” that GPS glitching could cause a plane to “crash” at one of the airports.
In 2019, U.S. warned of Iranian threats to the commercial shipping, including GPS interference that Iran has placed GPS jammers on Iran-controlled Abu Musa Island, which lies in the Persian Gulf close to the entrance of the Strait of Hormuz.
The official said that Iran had placed the jammers at that location in an attempt to disrupt civilian aircraft and ship navigation systems, hoping ships or planes will mistakenly wander into Iranian waters or airspace while their GPS systems were not functioning properly, giving Iranian forces the pretext needed to seize them, CNN reported on August 7, 2019.
Deliberate manipulation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) meant to misguide military equipment endangers civilian lives as it did in Iran over the weekend. Citizens and Internet businesses are constantly protesting against GPS disruption in Iran.
The U.S. government-owned GPS says a “serious threat” to citizens’ health and safety as GPS malfunction can disrupt emergency calls for people.
In U.S., the use of a phone jammer, GPS blocker, or other signal jamming device designed to intentionally block, jam, or interfere with authorized radio communications is a violation of federal law. Federal law prohibits the operation, marketing, or sale of any type of jamming equipment that interferes with authorized radio communications, including cellular and Personal Communication Services (PCS), police radar, and Global Positioning Systems (GPS).
Further, In the European Union, jamming is a crime in most countries.
The U.S. government has imposed severe penalties for sending GPS jammers in the country and recently fined a Chinese company for advertising and selling jamming equipment.
The lives of fishermen, sailors, mountaineers, hikers, and many others depend on GPS system, and glitching the GPS network endangers citizens’ lives.
The regime in Iran is experienced in this kind of short-lived fault to interrupt internet and telecommunications network during anti-regime uprising.
This is not the first time that the malicious operations of IRGC have led to civilians’ massacre.
On January 8, 2020, two IRGC missiles – 30 seconds apart – hit the commercial jetliner ( Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752) destroying the aircraft and killing all 176 passengers and crew members on board.
The Institute of Capacity Building for Political Studies (ICBPS) is a non-governmental research institute focusing on political studies, international security, and international relations.
