Yahya Hosseini Pangjahi, identified as the commander of the Iranian hacker group Handaela, was killed in a targeted strike during the latest war in Iran. The attack was likely carried out by Israel. A Telegram channel linked to the Revolutionary Guards intelligence apparatus publicly confirmed for the first time yesterday that Pangjahi had led the group.
Handaela has mainly targeted Israelis and in recent months exposed data from the mobile phones of senior Israeli figures, including those of Naftali Bennett, Herzi Halevi and Tzachi Braverman. Pangjahi was wanted by the FBI for promoting cyberterrorism and for ties to the Revolutionary Guards.
The article says he headed an Iranian intelligence ministry unit tasked with eliminating anti-Iran activists and killing Israelis. The ministry’s role, as described, is to spread fear and plan murders and kidnappings around the world. It says the Islamic Republic’s intelligence ministry has for years carried out some of Iran’s most significant terrorist activity.
According to the report, Pangjahi also established the “Shahid Soleimani Headquarters,” which works with all Iranian intelligence bodies and, with help from Revolutionary Guards forces abroad, carries out sabotage operations. The unit is named after Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by the Americans in 2020, and its stated purpose is to avenge his death. The article adds that unlike the Revolutionary Guards, the intelligence ministry is more organized for operations outside Iran, using diplomats posted through embassies or intelligence officers posing as traders. These teams plan assassinations, kidnappings and sabotage, while the actual execution is handed to loyal proxies, often criminals and major drug traffickers. The network has carried out many operations in Europe.
