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Hack attacks on Twitter and Iranian opposition websites are directing traffic to a web page created by the “Iranian Cyber Army.” The page is all black with a green flag and red lettering that reads in English: “This site has been hacked by the Iranian Cyber Army."

The site indicated no link between the “Iranian Cyber Army” and the Iranian government. But Twitter and Facebook have been critical tools used by the opposition to mobilize street protests since June, and authorities in Iran have frequently targeted them and shut them down.

Several lines of poetry in Farsi at the bottom of the “Cyber Army” page refer to the “Leader,” which is the common term used in Iran for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, suggesting that those who were behind the message could have been loyalists to Iran's Islamic system of rule. The verses read: “If the Leader orders, we will rush forward / If he asks us, we will offer our heads / If he wants us to be patient, we will tolerate and bear it.”

One month ago, Iran’s police chief announced the creation of a special “cyber police” division to counter “Internet crimes.” Fars News agency, which is linked to the Revolutionary Guard, quoted Chief Esmaili Ahmadi-Moqaddam saying his force should “increase its capabilities to counter such violations.”

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