Iranian Students Engage Cyberwar Videogame to Counter U.S. Assault on Iran

An Iranian student group recently unveiled a new videogame that simulates an attempt to rescue two Iranian nuclear experts kidnapped by the U.S. military and then held in Iraq and Israel, reports various news agencies.

The RESCUE THE NUKE SCIENTIST videogame, designed by the Union of Students Islamic Assoc., is a response to a U.S.-based company's ASSAULT ON IRAN game (Kuma Reality Games), which depicts an American attack on an Iranian nuclear facility, says its creators.

"This is our defense against the enemy's cultural onslaught," Mohammad Taqi Fakhrian, a leader of the student group, told reporters.

In RESCUE THE NUKE SCIENTIST, U.S. troops capture a husband-and-wife team of nuclear engineers during a pilgrimage to Karbala, a holy site for Shiite Muslims. Game players take on the role of Iranian security forces carrying out a mission code-named, "The Special Operation." They must penetrate fortified locations to free the nuclear scientists, who are moved from Iraq to Israel.

Players have to enter Israel to rescue the nuclear scientists, kill U.S. and Israeli troops and seize their laptops containing secret information. When players fail a mission, a message pops up saying, "With resistance, you can battle the enemy." Iran's red, white and green flag is seen fluttering in the top right corner throughout the game.

"We tried to promote the idea of defense, sacrifice and martyrdom in this game," Fakhrian said.

Fakhrian said they were trying to market the videogame first in Iran and other Muslim countries. The group also has plans to bring the game to western countries, he said. Ali Reza Masaeli, leader of the group that designed the new game, said it took three years to produce. The team was based in Isfahan, a city that houses a nuclear site in Iran. "It is an entirely Iranian product in response to the U.S. cyberwar against Iran," Masaeli said.

This game is the group's response to the free ASSAULT ON IRAN online series from New York-based Kuma Reality Games. That game simulates U.S. Special Forces destroying the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran.