Iranian journalist faces backlash for exposing government security flaw

An Iranian journalist who exposed a security flaw in a key government online system has become the target of legal action launched by the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.

Rather than addressing the serious vulnerabilities exposed in the National Real Estate and Housing System, the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development has opted to file a complaint against the journalist who revealed them. The name of the journalist has not been disclosed to media.

The response underscores the Islamic government’s tendency to punish truth-tellers instead of confronting its own shortcomings.

The incident began when Eghtesad Online, an Iranian news outlet, conducted an investigation into the government's much-touted National Real Estate and Housing System—a platform supposedly designed to bring transparency and accountability to property ownership in Iran.

What they uncovered was not just a glitch, but a security failure: anyone with basic information like a postal code and a national ID could register any property, even that of the Ministry itself, as their own.

To prove the point, the journalist listed the ministry’s headquarters for sale on a popular online marketplace called Divar, turning the issue into a matter of public ridicule and laughter.

Instead of responding with the urgency such a security breach demands, the Iranian government has resorted to its usual playbook of using pressure tactics. The Ministry of Roads and Urban Development’s decision to press charges against the journalist, rather than fix the broken system, is a sign of the system's priorities. This response, according to critics, sends a message to the media and to all Iranians: exposing the truth will not be tolerated, especially when it reveals the government's incompetence.

Over the past few years, the country has suffered a series of cyberattacks that have laid bare the government's inability to safeguard its most sensitive systems. Hacktivists have breached the judiciary's servers, infiltrated the notorious Evin Prison’s surveillance network, and even accessed servers belonging to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).

Since the 2022 uprising, which shook the foundations of the Islamic Republic, there has been an increase in such activities.

The targeting of a journalist for exposing a security flaw is just the latest example of how the Iranian government prefers to shoot the messenger rather than confront the uncomfortable truths that are increasingly coming to light.