Iran accuses US and Israel of being behind the cyberattack
Israel and the United States are behind the cyberattack that shut down fuel distribution in Iran. Iranian chief of cybersecurity Gholamreza Jalali told several media.
“The investigations are still ongoing, but according to our findings, the Americans and the Zionists (Israelis, ed.) are definitely behind this,” said Jalali.
As a result of the cyberattack, customers were unable to refuel with a subsidy card on Tuesday. In the country where the petrol flows freely, motorists receive an electronic card from the government with which they can fill up with subsidized and therefore cheap petrol up to a certain amount. Above that quota, the “free” and more expensive rate applies. Without that card, the fuel is twice as expensive.
The outage caused long lines at gas stations in the capital Tehran and other cities. Iran initially spoke of a “technical defect”, but confirmed that it was a cyber attack.
Both Israel and the US have carried out cyber attacks on Iran in the past, sometimes causing major financial problems.
Although Iran points the finger of blame at Israel and the US, the Iranian group of hackers has already claimed responsibility for the attack on the gas stations.
The group said the action was linked to the 2019 turmoil over rising gasoline prices and a protest against the killing and incarceration of hundreds of protesters. In recent months, the group has also claimed to have carried out attacks on the national rail network and even on the infamous Evin Prison surveillance cameras.
