Cyberattack against supermarket fridges: Iran rejects France's “unfounded accusations”

Iran on Tuesday, November 10, rejected the “unfounded accusations” of France, which highlighted Tehran’s role in the large-scale cyberattacks that targeted hundreds of connected supermarket refrigerators in October. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs “categorically rejects the unfounded and unilateral accusations of the French government against Iran concerning alleged cyber activities in France”.

He added that he “strongly condemns this hackneyed policy of making accusations against the Islamic Republic.” France officially attributed Monday to a cyber unit reporting to the Revolutionary Guards of the Islamic Republic responsibility for the cyberattack which targeted, on the night of October 11 to 12, refrigeration controllers of supermarkets of around 700 mass distribution sites in France.

The attack led to significant losses of merchandise and in at least 15 cases to outbreaks of fire, according to French security services. At least 11 European countries experienced similar incidents in early November. The Iranian ambassador to France was summoned Tuesday morning to the Quai d'Orsay, which expressed its “strongest protest”. On the judicial front, the Paris prosecutor's office requested the issuance of international arrest warrants against two officials of the Iranian cyber unit, named Shahid Kaveh.

And Paris also intends to act at the European level to establish new sanctions against Tehran. Iran, for its part, declared that it “would not hesitate to take necessary and appropriate measures to preserve its national interests and security in the face of illegal foreign activities.”