SW News: There are reports that Christians in the Islamic Republic of Iran are being monitored with spyware and other technological means to keep track of their speech, movements and activities. The snooping has become more intense after street protests broke out following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality brigade following alleged custodial torture.

According to USA-based Lookout Threat Lab, the massive espionage campaign is the brainchild of intelligence officials who are connected with the disciplinary force of the Islamic Republic of Iran known as Faraja. Over the past two years, as many as 487  mobile devices have been infected with the BouldSpy program that mines conversation screenshots, photos and video calls made using WhatsApp and Telegram.

The American outfit has said that most of those who are surveyed are in Kurdistan, Sistan and Baluchistan and in the province of Western Balochistan which is home to a large number of Armenia, Assyrian and Chaldean Christians. He said Faraja’s men are behind the espionage as "the first data collection position was in the immediate vicinity of a police station, a border checkpoint, an IT police headquarters or a military structure".

He said that the BouldSpy progam was installed in the devices when a victim was under detention. Some devices had pictures of official Faraja documents on the handsets pointing to the arrest of the owners. The rate at which the devices were infected with the malware went up from 23-30 in July last year to 74 in October. The following month, it dipped to 23.
Although Iran’s Constitution guarantees freedom of worship to non-Muslims, proselytization and the distribution of Bibles are not allowed. Of late, the proliferation of house churches and evangelical prayer gatherings have invited the ire of the authorities. Arbitrary arrests of Muslim converts to Christianity are made based on trumped-up charges.