Iran accused the United States and Israel of being behind a cyberattack that paralyzed seventy percent of the country's gas stations this Monday “to make the Iranian people suffer.”
“The Zionist enemy and the United States wanted to make the (Iranian) people suffer because of their failures on other fronts,” said Oil Minister Javad Owji in relation to the stoppage of gas stations, the state agency IRNA reported.
“But they must be clear that the servants of the people in the Ministry of Petroleum will not allow their conspiracy to succeed and they will be defeated,” Owji said.
The minister explained that around 10:00 a.m. local time (6:30 GMT) the country's gas stations were affected by a cyber attack that caused the paralysis of 70% of the service stations.
Currently, 1,625 are operational throughout the country and authorities hope that in a few hours the fuel distribution system will return to normal, Owji said.
(Also read: At least 11 dead in an attack on a police station in southeastern Iran).
For its part, the Iranian Gas Station Association attributed the situation to a “software technician problem” related to user cards to access fuel, so some of the stations are operating manually, the company reported. Fars agency.
🇮🇷 Pro-Israel hackers launch cyber attack on non-Irã gas stations
🇮🇱 Pro-Israel hackers launch cyber attack on gas stations in Iran
Iran's state media reports that several gasoline stations in Teerã have stopped operating this second fair.
A group of hackers,… pic.twitter.com/HxbYDGsCy3
— Tarciso Morais (@TarcisoRenova) December 18, 2023
(Keep reading: Iran launches a test capsule for astronauts into orbit).
“In one hour the gasoline and diesel supply stations will be back in operation, and now, To satisfy the needs of the population, the supply will be free,” the association announced.
In Iran drivers have a card to access gasoline subsidized at gas stations.
However, the hacking group “Gonjeshke Darande” claimed responsibility for the action on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Iranian state TV and Israeli media reported the Predatory Sparrow group claimed it was behind the outage. The hacking group, also known by its Persian name Gonjeshke Darande, has previously been linked to Israel.
https://t.co/zrGIwRnKJm via @AlMonitor
— Jack Dutton (@jackvdutton) December 18, 2023
“We, Gonjeshke Darande, have carried out another cyber attack, knocking out most gas stations across Iran.”
The group claimed that the attack is a response to “aggressions” by the Islamic Republic's allies in the region.in an apparent reference to the actions of Yemen's Houthis or militias in Iraq related to the war in Gaza.
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“Khamenei (Iran's supreme leader) is playing with fire,” said Gonjeshke Darande.
At the end of 2021, Iran suffered a cyber attack that disabled users' cards to access fuel, which left gas stations in the country unusable for almost a day.
Tehran has acknowledged that cyberattacks linked to hostile governments are common on its territory in recent years without giving details for “security reasons.”
EFE
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