The Iranian government on Thursday claimed to have successfully launched a rocket carrying three satellite “research devices” into space.

It was not immediately clear if the research devices had been successfully launched into orbit, but the move follows increasingly provocative actions by Iran even as it engages in indirect talks with the U.S. over a mutual return to the 2015 nuclear deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The State Department spokesperson said Iran’s space program, which Tehran describes as for civilian purposes, violates a resolution in the United Nations Security Council that calls upon Iran not to undertake activity related to ballistic missiles “designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.”

“The United States continues to use all its nonproliferation tools to prevent the further advancement of Iran’s missile programs and urges other countries to take steps to address Iran’s missile development activity,” the spokesperson said.

Iran’s semiofficial Fars News Agency on Thursday quoted Iranian Defense Ministry Spokesman Ahmad Hosseini lauding the rocket’s successful launch into space as an achievement of the Islamic republic’s civilian space program.

“We will speed up work so that we can become one of the six countries that can launch satellites into the GEO (geostationary) orbit,” Hosseini is quoted as saying. Fars News Agency is owned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. in 2019.

The Associated Press reported that Hosseini and other officials had yet to comment on the status of the objects launched into space hours after the launch, suggesting the rocket had failed to reach the speeds necessary to place its payload in the correct orbit.

The Trump administration viewed Iran’s efforts to launch satellites into space as provocative military actions. In 2020, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned Iran’s successful launch of a military satellite into space, saying the effort advanced Tehran’s ballistic missile program.

A launchpad rocket explosion in 2019 notably grabbed the attention of then-President Trump, who tweeted out an image of the destruction along with “best wishes and good luck” in determining the cause of the failure.

And in 2017, the U.S., United Kingdom, France and Germany issued a joint complaint to the United Nations over Iran’s launching of a satellite-carrying rocket, with then-U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Niki Haley calling the launch a violation of the nuclear deal.

The Trump administration pulled out of the JCPOA in 2018, and the Biden administration is engaging in an eighth round of indirect talks with Iran in Vienna over efforts to bring both parties back to the deal, which President Biden says is the best way to prevent Iran from achieving a nuclear weapon.

Iran, which claims its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes, began violating the terms of the agreement in 2019 and has since far exceeded the constraints of the deal, drawing the frustration of American negotiators who criticize Tehran as not engaging in the talks in good faith.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price on Wednesday told reporters that while the U.S. and Iran have made “some modest progress” during the last round of talks, it is too soon to say how substantive that progress is.

“At a minimum, any progress, we believe, is falling short of Iran accelerating [its] nuclear steps, and is far too slow,” he said. “As we’ve said before, this can’t continue or it will soon be too late to return to mutual compliance with the JCPOA.”

Source: https://thehill.com/policy/international/587732-us-concerned-over-iran-rocket-launch

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FILE – In this April 14, 2021, file satellite photo provided from Planet Labs Inc. shows Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility. The Biden administration is considering a near wholesale rollback of some of the most stringent Trump-era sanctions imposed on Iran in a bid to get the Islamic Republic to return to compliance with a landmark 2015 nuclear accord, according to current and former U.S. officials and others familiar with the matter. (Planet Labs via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is considering a near wholesale rollback of some of the most stringent Trump-era sanctions imposed on Iran in a bid to get the Islamic Republic to return to compliance with a landmark 2015 nuclear accord, according to current and former U.S. officials and others familiar with the matter.

As indirect talks continue this week in Vienna to explore the possibility of reviving the nuclear deal, American officials have become increasingly expansive about what they might be prepared to offer Iran, which has been driving a hard line on sanctions relief, demanding that all U.S. penalties be removed, according to these people.)

American officials have refused to discuss which sanctions are being considered for removal. But they have said they are open to lifting any sanctions that are inconsistent with the nuclear deal or that deny Iran the relief it would be entitled to should it return to compliance with the accord. Because of the complex nature of the sanctions architecture, that could include non-nuclear sanctions, such as those tied to terrorism, missile development, and human rights.

Biden administration officials say this is necessary because of what they describe as a deliberate attempt by the Trump administration to stymie any return to the deal. Under the 2015 agreement, the United States was required to lift sanctions tied to Iran’s nuclear program, but not non-nuclear sanctions.

Administration officials deny they will remove all non-nuclear sanctions, but have declined to identify those which they believe Trump improperly imposed on terrorism and other grounds.

“Any return to the JCPOA would require sanctions relief, but we are considering removing only those sanctions that are inconsistent with the JCPOA,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price. “Even if we rejoin the JCPOA — which remains a hypothetical — we would retain and continue to implement sanctions on Iran for activities not covered by the JCPOA, including Iran’s missile proliferation, support for terrorism, and human rights abuses.”

When President Donald Trump re-imposed sanctions after withdrawing from the deal in 2018, he not only put the nuclear sanctions back in but also added layers of terrorism and other sanctions on many of the same entities. In addition, the Trump administration imposed an array of new sanctions on previously unsanctioned entities.

This has put the current administration in an awkward position: Iran is demanding the removal of all sanctions. If the U.S. doesn’t lift at least some of them, Iran says it won’t agree to halt its nuclear activities barred by the deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.

But if the Biden administration makes concessions that go beyond the nuclear-specific sanctions, Republican critics and others, including Israel and Gulf Arab states, are likely to seize on them as proof that the administration is caving to Iran. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has led the charge among Trump alumni to denounce any easing of sanctions.

Former Trump administration officials say all the sanctions are legitimate. Gabriel Noronha, a former State Department senior adviser on Iran, said all the Trump-era sanctions had been approved by career Justice Department lawyers and would have been rejected if they weren’t legitimate.

But a senior State Department official involved in the negotiations said officials now “have to go through every sanction to look at whether they were legitimately or not legitimately imposed.”

The official, who like the others spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private talks, also said the U.S. would be prepared to lift sanctions that would otherwise deny Iran the benefits of the deal. Those sanctions could include restrictions on Iran’s ability to access the international financial system, including dealing in dollar-based transactions.

“There are sanctions that are inconsistent with the JCPOA and as we have said, if Iran resumes its compliance with the nuclear deal … we would be prepared to lift those sanctions that are inconsistent with the JCPOA,” Price said last week. He declined to elaborate on what might be “inconsistent” with the deal.

Those comments suggest that sanctions imposed on Iran’s Central Bank, its national oil and shipping companies, its manufacturing, construction, and financial sectors are on the block. Deal critics briefed on aspects of the Vienna negotiations say they suspect that is indeed the case.

That’s because the bank, oil, shipping, and other sanctions, all ostensibly imposed by the Trump administration for terrorism, ballistic missile, and human rights concerns, also affect nuclear sanctions relief.

Current officials say no decisions have yet been made and nothing will be agreed in Vienna until everything regarding sanctions relief and Iran’s return to compliance with the nuclear deal has been settled.

But critics of the nuclear deal fear the administration will go beyond even what has been suggested by the administration’s oblique comments. They suspect that sanctions on people, companies, government agencies or other entities identified for nuclear sanctions relief in the 2015 deal will be cleared; even if they were subsequently penalized on other grounds.

“The administration is looking to allow tens of billions of dollars into the coffers of the regime even if it means lifting sanctions on major entities blacklisted for terrorism and missile proliferation,” said Mark Dubowitz, a prominent Iran deal critic and CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“They’re even looking to give the regime indirect access to the U.S. dollar through the U.S. financial system so that international companies can clear transactions with Iran through the U.S. dollar,” said Dubowitz, who is frequently criticized for his hard-line stance on Iran but has also been asked for his views on sanctions by the administration.

The Obama administration grappled with much the same issue after the conclusion of the nuclear deal in 2015. It took the position that some sanctions previously imposed by it and former President George W. Bush’s administration for terrorism reasons should actually be classified as nuclear sanctions and therefore lifted under the deal.

Still, many countries and international companies were hesitant to jump into the Iranian market for fear that the sanctions relief was not clear-cut and that a future U.S. president could re-impose the sanctions. Now, that that has happened, and even before an agreement has been concluded in Vienna, that concern has resurfaced.

Already, Republicans in Congress and opponents of the Iranian government are stepping up efforts to codify Trump’s hard-line stance on Iran with new legislation. Although a law to bar a return to the nuclear deal is unlikely to pass, there is wide bipartisan support for resolutions encouraging the administration to take a tougher line on Iran.

Such a resolution was introduced on Wednesday with more than 220 Democratic and Republican co-sponsors. In it, they call for the administration to recognize “the rights of the Iranian people and their struggle to establish a democratic, secular, and non-nuclear Republic of Iran while holding the ruling regime accountable for its destructive behavior.”

Source: https://apnews.com/article/iran-middle-east-business-iran-nuclear-government-and-politics-dc498f981c0746cd7c837b969702de28

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U.S. missions overseas can once again fly the LGBT Pride flag on their official flagpoles, according to an internal State Department cable obtained Friday by ABC News.

The policy, announced by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, repeals his predecessor Mike Pompeo’s effective ban on Pride flags or others from flying at U.S. embassies and consulates.

The cable, sent earlier this week, lays out the Biden administration’s policy on LGBTI rights, detailing several actions President Joe Biden has taken since assuming office to support “the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons and communities.”

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The post Iran knows ‘how to drive a truck through American weakness,’ Mike Pompeo tells Arab News first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others slammed the Biden administration Thursday after the White House signaled it was ready to restart diplomacy with Tehran over a nuclear deal.

The critics argued that the administration was rushing into talks with a regime that’s accused of sponsoring terror attacks against U.S. forces. Others fear the Biden administration may provide Iran with sanctions relief and concessions with little shift in its nuclear program.

“The Ayatollah understands only strength. I led a response to the Iranian threat that protected the American people from its terror and supported the Jewish state of Israel,” Pompeo told the Washington Free Beacon. “Adopting the European Union model of accommodation … will guarantee Iran a path to a nuclear arsenal.”

Pompeo said the Trump administration — which in 2018 withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration and other nations — “refused” to “appease the Iranian theocracy,” according to the Washington Free Beacon.

IRAQ ROCKET ATTACK KILLS CONTRACTOR, WOUNDS US SERVICE MEMBER, COALITION SAYS

His comments came after State Department spokesman Ned Price said Thursday that the Biden administration would “accept an invitation from the European Union High Representative to attend a meeting of the P5+1 and Iran to discuss a diplomatic way forward on Iran’s nuclear program.”

President Biden’s administration needs to avoid the Obama administration’s mistakes in dealing with Iran, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday.

Earlier this week, during an appearance on “Fox News @ Night,” Pompeo responded to comments by his successor at the State Department, Secretary Antony Blinken, who claimed the U.S. was disengaged from foreign policy during the Trump administration.

“We were incredibly engaged and incredibly productive,” Pompeo told host Shannon Bream.

Later, he added, “The work that we did in the Middle East — whether it’s the Abraham accords in getting multiple countries to agree to recognize Israel or the work we did to put the Iranian regime under pressure — those were good things for the American people. It created wealth, it created jobs here at home and it kept us safer as well.”

Bream then asked Pompeo how the Biden administration should properly respond to aggressive behavior from Iran.

“When the Iranians sense weakness, they’ll attack,” Pompeo said. “What we did is that when they came after an American, we made this very clear: Whether they attacked an American through a proxy force in Iraq, whether they attacked an American through Hezbollah in Syria, wherever it was, wherever Iran was responsible, we were going to hold the Iranians accountable. That’s the kind of strength that built the deterrence model that we had with respect to Iran. I hope that this current administration won’t give up on that.

“We know under that under President Obama, they coddled the Iranian regime,” he continued. “They signed up for a deal that presented a pathway, a clear pathway to a nuclear weapon. When the Iranians will sense that that’s the deal, they can strike, they’ll continue to inflict costs on the American people.

“We can’t go back. When President Biden talks about going back, the American people can’t afford to go back to those policies.”

He later characterized the Obama-negotiated accord with Iran as a “crappy deal” that gave Iran the notion it could “push President Obama around.”

“Our [Trump] administration didn’t permit that to happen,” he added.

Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin in an opinion piece Thursday wrote how the reignited talks came after alleged Iranian-linked Iraqi Shiite militia launched rockets at a U.S. airbase in northern Iraq on Monday. He added that the Biden administration had yet to acknowledge who was responsible — despite the militia claiming credit.

“Other Iranian proxies, such as the Houthis in Yemen, are not rewarding Biden’s more diplomatic approach with restraint — responding to outreach with new attacks on civilians,” Rogin wrote. “Meanwhile, the leaders in Tehran are acting as if they have all the leverage, making demands and escalating their nuclear brinkmanship.”

“Iran takes cheating on the nuclear deal to the next level, fires rockets at Americans in Erbil just days ago, then threatens to keep nuclear inspectors out, and how does Biden respond? Absolutely chokes,” added Hudson Institute senior fellow Rebeccah Heinrichs, according to the Daily Wire. “And what a disastrous message to be sending to adversaries the world over.”

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, also criticized the decision, saying the Biden administration needed to use the U.S. sanctions as leverage to get a broader deal that limits Iran’s aggressive actions.

“It is concerning the Biden administration is already making concessions in an apparent attempt to re-enter the flawed Iran deal,” said McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL: WHAT IS IT?

Still, others were optimistic in regard to the reignited talks, with U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. calling it “great news.”

Chris Murphy@ChrisMurphyCT
This is great news, but the U.S. needs to move quickly. The sooner we reunite with Europe, Russia, and China on Iran policy, the sooner we can extend the Iran deal and work with these partners to curb Iran’s other malevolent behavior.

Axios@axios
NEW: Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his E3 counterparts that the U.S. is prepared to open talks with Iran in an attempt to reach an agreement on returning to full compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal. https://axios.com/blinken-eu-iran-deal-8aef548c-b747-4741-8cc8-97e4b4714874.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_content=world-iran

The post Pompeo, other critics pan Biden WH offer to restart Iran nuclear talks first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz resigned on Thursday, ahead of a major Cabinet reshuffle.

It comes after Health Minister Lukasz Szumowski resigned on Tuesday amid rising coronavirus infections and accusations of a bungled response.

Czaputowicz, 64, is seen as a more moderate member of the right-wing government and had been foreign minister since January 2018.

Their replacements will be announced soon, according to a government spokesman. The ruling right-wing, Law and Justice party announced a government reshuffle after President Andrzej Duda was reelected in July.

Read more: Poland’s Andrzej Duda wins 2nd term by narrow majority

Belarus crisis

Czaputowicz’s resignation comes as Poland attempts to position itself to play a leading role in the European Union response to the Belarus crisis.

Belarusian Incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko has accused Warsaw of meddling in its affairs and ordered his army to the Polish border.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki rejected the accusations. He has called on the EU to act to reduce Belarus’s economic dependence on Russia.

On Wednesday, Czaputowicz met with prominent Belarusian opposition activists Valery and Veronika Tsepkalo. Last weekend, he hosted US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to sign a deal deepening Polish-American defense cooperation at the expense of Germany.

His office told PAP news agency that “the minister has in the past said that the post-election period was the right time for a change” in the post of foreign minister.

He hopes “that his successor will maintain the current line and support the strengthening of Poland’s position on the international stage.”

In addition to the two ministerial resignations, the deputy health minister and the deputy digitalization minister resigned recently too.

aw/ng (AP, Reuters, AFP, dpa)

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/poland-jacek-czaputowicz-resignation/a-54633895

The post Polish foreign minister resigns — second Cabinet resignation this week first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Sheldon Adelson speaks during an inteview – (photo credit: REUTERS/TYRONE SIU)

Politicians and public figures in Israel and the US sent their condolences to the family of Sheldon Adelson, after the 87-year-old Jewish tycoon passed away on Tuesday.

“[My wife] Sara and I are heartbroken by the passing of Sheldon Adelson,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement, adding that Jews in Israel and abroad mourn his loss.

“He was a wonderful friend to us personally and an incredible champion of the Jewish people, the Jewish state, and the alliance between Israel and America,” he said. “Sheldon unabashedly loved America and cherished the freedom and opportunity it gave him. He worked tirelessly to ensure that very same freedom and opportunity would be given to others in America and around the world.

“The warmth of his heart, the clarity of his thinking, and the decisiveness of his actions were truly exceptional.”

Adelson’s importance not just to Israel, but to global Jewry, was emphasized in a statement by Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog, who called him “the modern Montefiore, the breaker of the walls and the builder of Jerusalem.”

“I had the privilege of having had a deep personal connection with him for many years,” Herzog said. “Without a doubt, he was one of this generation’s great Jewish leaders.

“He always stood out for his kind attitude, openness, modesty, and accessibility, and even when we disagreed, I loved him very much.”
Outgoing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated that Adelson’s life “represents the best of the American dream.”

“From his service to his country in the US Army to his entrepreneurial spirit to his efforts to strengthen the alliance between Israel and the US, Sheldon’s life was one of great consequence,” Pompeo’s statement reads.

The world, Israel, and the US are safer because of his work, Pompeo explained. “His philanthropic giving has impacted the world of medicine, education, and the lives of Jewish-Americans. His political involvement strengthened our democracy.”

“Our nation lost a remarkable man with the passing of my friend Sheldon Adelson,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement.

Adelson “poured his success into philanthropy,” the Senate’s top Republican continued, “from drug abuse treatment to research into cancer and other diseases to the countless Jewish causes around the world that were especially close to his heart.”

DONALD TRUMP JR. wrote in response to Adelson’s passing that “Sheldon was a true American patriot and a giant among men. He treated his employees like family. His philanthropic generosity changed countless lives.” He added that “The US-Israel relationship is stronger today because of him.”

Former US president George W. Bush dubbed Adelson an “American patriot” who “battled his way out of a tough Boston neighborhood to build a successful enterprise.”

In a statement, the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) praised Adelson for being “one of the most consequential figures in American Jewish history,” calling him “an extraordinary philanthropist and a dear mentor and friend.”

Birthright called Sheldon “A man of vision, action, Zionism, and inspiration,” adding that, “Over the years we were both honored and humbled to work alongside the Adelson family, which ultimately guarantees the future of the Jewish people.”

The post Politicians, NGOs mourn the passing of Sheldon Adelson first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Updated at 4:25 p.m. ET

The Trump administration is designating Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism in a move that will return the island nation to the pariah list from which it was removed five years ago.

As he announced the designation Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Cuba of “repeatedly providing support for acts of international terrorism in granting safe harbor to terrorists.”

Pompeo also said the Trump administration is intent on “denying the Castro regime the resources it uses to oppress its people at home, and countering its malign interference in Venezuela and the rest of the Western Hemisphere.”

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez tweeted, “We condemn the hypocritical and cynical designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism announced by the US. The political opportunism of this action is recognized by anyone with an honest regard for the scourge of terrorism and its victims.”

The U.S. removed Cuba from its state sponsors of terrorism list in May 2015. President Barack Obama’s administration had reached an agreement to restore relations with Cuba months earlier, including a plan to boost travel and trade between the two countries.

“The world is upside down,” Cuban diplomat José Ramón Cabañas said late last week as news spread of the pending change. He noted that the Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C., came under an armed attack in April – an incident in which a Texas man was arrested on assault and weapons charges.

Sen. Patrick Leahy blasted the administration’s move, saying, “This blatantly politicized designation makes a mockery of what had been a credible, objective measure of a foreign government’s active support for terrorism.”

“Nothing remotely like that exists here,” the Democrat from Vermont said in a Monday statement, adding that the move will make U.S.-Cuba relations more difficult for the incoming Biden administration.

Being put on the U.S. terror list exposes countries to a suite of sanctions, including “restrictions on U.S. foreign assistance; a ban on defense exports and sales; certain controls over exports of dual-use items; and miscellaneous financial and other restrictions,” the U.S. State Department says.

The State Department currently lists only three countries as state sponsors of terrorism: Syria, Iran, and North Korea.

In a much-anticipated move, the U.S. formally took Sudan off the list last month as part of a deal in which the country agreed to normalize relations and open economic ties with Israel.

The Trump administration has steadily reversed many of the steps Obama took to end Cuba’s isolation. In the spring of 2019, it placed new sanctions and penalties on Cuba, hoping to undermine the communist regime. It also killed a deal that would have made it easier for Cuban baseball players to join professional teams in the U.S. and Canada.

Two months later, the United States imposed new travel restrictions to stop U.S. citizens from visiting the island on cruise ships and other travel.

And in May it returned Cuba to a list of countries that the U.S. deems as “not cooperating fully” with its counterterrorism efforts. It cited the country’s refusal of a request from Colombia to extradite leaders of the National Liberation Army and said Cuba has harbored “several U.S. fugitives from justice.”

Source: https://www.npr.org/2021/01/11/955641839/u-s-puts-cuba-back-on-list-of-state-sponsors-of-terrorism

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The office, along with the FBI, the National Security Agency, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency inside the Department of Homeland Security, in a joint statement, said the hackers’ goal appeared to be collecting intelligence, rather than any destructive acts. They said they had so far identified “fewer than 10” agencies that were hacked.

The agencies said that the actor, “likely Russian in origin, was responsible for most or all of the recently discovered, ongoing cyber compromises of both government and non-governmental networks.” The investigation is continuing, they said and could turn up additional government victims.

It was the first formal statement of attribution by the Trump administration.

Elected officials briefed on the inquiry and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had previously said Russia was behind the hacking spree, but President Donald Trump said it could have been China.

The incoming administration of Joe Biden has already promised a response to the SolarWinds hacks. On Tuesday, the top Democrats on the Congressional intelligence committees underscored that need.

“Congress will need to conduct a comprehensive review of the circumstances leading to this compromise, assess the deficiencies in our defenses, take stock of the sufficiency of our response in order to prevent this from happening again, and ensure that we respond appropriately,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, head of the House committee.

Russian officials have denied involvement and did not immediately respond to questions Tuesday.

The penetration of departments including Defense, State, Homeland Security, Treasury, and Commerce is already considered the worst known cyber-compromise at least since electronic dossiers on most Americans with security clearances were taken from the Office of Personnel Management five years ago.

Officials briefed on the case said that the main target of the hackers appeared to be email. One said that no classified networks seem to have been breached and that fewer than 50 private companies had been fully compromised, a lower number than initially feared.

The security company FireEye Inc, which was itself breached, discovered the new round of attacks, many of which were traced to a tainted software update from SolarWinds Corp, which makes widely used network-management programs.

It remains unknown how the hackers got deep inside SolarWinds’ production system as long as a year ago. Once there, they were able to slip “back doors” into two digitally signed updates of the company’s flagship Orion software.

As many as 18,000 customers downloaded those updates, which sent signals back to the hackers. At a small number of high-value targets, the group then manipulated access to cloud services in order to read emails or other content and potentially installed other back doors, making clean-up after discovery a daunting task.

A few major technology companies have said they had at least downloaded the bad code from SolarWinds, and Microsoft Corp said Dec. 31 that the penetration had gone well beyond that, allowing the intruders to view its prized source code, where they might have looked for security flaws. here

The attackers also hacked sellers of Microsoft services, which often maintain access to customers, to go after email at non-SolarWinds customers, according to security company CrowdStrike Holdings Inc and Microsoft employees.

Microsoft and federal investigators have not said how many resellers were hacked or how many customers were impacted.

The overall strategy of electronic infiltration through vendors, known as a supply-chain attack, is especially effective, and officials fear the success of the current wave will encourage more of them.

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