RUTHFULLY YOURS

So much for the Tehran thaw. In September liberal hopes ran high that the nuclear deal with Iran and the lifting of economic sanctions would lead to an era of good feeling with the mullahs, complete with new openings for Western businesses and diplomatic cooperation over regional crises. Our friends at the New York Times arranged to lead guided tours for adventurous travelers.

Maybe those tourists should reconsider. In recent days Tehran has arrested two U.S. citizens, bringing to five the number of Americans known to be under Iranian lock and key. They include Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who has spent nearly 500 days in prison. Former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati has been imprisoned since 2011 on espionage charges, and Saaed Abedini, a Muslim-born convert to Christianity, was arrested in 2012 on charges of leading an underground house-church movement.

The latest arrests are especially chilling—and revealing. Nizar Zakka is a Lebanese-American who lives in Washington and was visiting

Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard military force hacked email and social-media accounts of Obama administration officials in recent weeks in attacks believed to be tied to the arrest in Tehran of an Iranian-American businessman, U.S. officials said.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, has routinely conducted cyberwarfare against American government agencies for years. But the U.S. officials said there has been a surge in such attacks coinciding with the arrest last month of Siamak Namazi, an energy industry executive and business consultant who has pushed for stronger U.S.-Iranian economic and diplomatic ties.

Obama administration personnel are among a larger group of people who have had their computer systems hacked in recent weeks, including journalists and academics, the officials said. Those attacked in the administration included officials working at the State Department’s Office of Iranian Affairs and its Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.

“U.S. officials were among many who were targeted by recent cyberattacks,” said an administration official, adding that the U.S. is still investigating possible links to the Namazi case. “U.S. officials believe some of the more recent attacks may be linked to reports of detained dual citizens and others.”

Friends and business associates of Mr. Namazi said the intelligence arm of the IRGC confiscated his computer after ransacking his family’s home in Tehran.

Western “mainstream media” and academia continued to exonerate Islam in deceptive op-eds, such as the Huffington Post’s “ISIS Violates The Consensus Of Mainstream Islam By Persecuting Christians,” by Qasim Rashid, a recipient of Saudi largesse, by way of Harvard University’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center.

A 12-year-old girl, raped by an Islamic State fighter, was told that “what he was about to do was not a sin” because she “practiced a religion other than Islam.”

“In school I only learned about Islam. Parts of our teaching were about destroying Christianity. So we did what we learned, by attacking Christians … Our teachers would tell us every time there was a new church in town and we were told to go and attack the people and destroy the church. So that is what we did.” — Tofik, a former Muslim cleric who converted to Christianity.

Throughout the month of August, the Obama administration and the so-called mainstream media kept insisting that Islam does not promote the persecution of Christians — all the while ignoring the direct testimonies of those who have undergone it.

Turkey has detained more people for tweeting against the government than for being members of the Islamic State. — Sezgin Tanrikulu, a Kurd, and a leading opposition member of parliament.

“Why did you all go to eat ice cream after prayers?” — Police interrogator in Usak, Turkey.

Sometimes one small incident best tells how countries can go insane. The pro-government Islamist psyche in Turkey has no limits in defying logic and humanity.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s native province, Konya, in central Anatolia, has traditionally been an Islamist stronghold — before and after Turkey’s ruling Islamist party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), was founded in 2001. In parliamentary elections on June 7, AKP won 65% of the vote in Konya, compared to 40.7% it won on a national scale.

On October 13, three days after a twin suicide bomb attack in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, killed more than 100 Kurds and pro-Kurdish, leftist and secular Turks, Konya hosted a Euro 2016 football qualifier between Turkey and Iceland. Before the kick-off, both teams stood in silence for one minute to protest the bomb attack — a typical gesture to respect the victims. Sadly, the moment of silence was marred by whistles and jeers: apparently the football fans of Konya were protesting the victims, not their jihadist killers. This response was perfectly in line with what the government has been doing since the attack took place.