Minister: Major Cyber Terrorism Thwarted
TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iran has foiled a major cyber attack on its infrastructure that was launched by a foreign government, the Iranian telecoms minister said on Wednesday, two months after reports of a U.S. cyber operation against the country.
U.S. officials told Reuters in October that the United States had carried out a secret cyber strike on Iran.
"We recently faced a highly organized and state-sponsored attack on our e-government infrastructure which was...repelled by the country’s security shield,” Muhammad Javad Azari-Jahromi, Iran’s minister for communications and information technology, said.
"It was a very big attack,” Azari-Jahromi said, adding that details would be revealed later.
In late September, Iran reviewed security measures at its key Persian Gulf oil and gas facilities, including preparedness for cyber attacks, following media reports of Washington weighing possible cyber attacks on Tehran.
Iran has long been on alert over the threat of cyber attacks from abroad. The United States and the occupying regime of Israel covertly sabotaged Iran’s nuclear program in 2009 and 2010 with the Stuxnet computer virus, in the first known instance of state-sponsored cyber terrorism.
Tensions in the Persian Gulf have escalated sharply since Trump last year withdrew from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and reimposed trade and financial sanctions on Tehran.
Citizens Warned About Visiting U.S.
Iran warned its citizens, particularly scientists, on Tuesday not to visit America, saying Iranians there were subjected to arbitrary and lengthy detention in inhuman conditions.
"Iranian citizens, particularly elites and scientists, are requested to seriously avoid traveling to America, even to take part in scientific conferences and even having an invitation,” a travel advisory on the foreign ministry website said.
It cited, "America’s cruel and one-sided laws toward Iranians, especially Iranian elites, and arbitrary and lengthy detention in completely inhuman conditions” as reasons for the travel advisory.
U.S. officials told Reuters in October that the United States had carried out a secret cyber strike on Iran.
"We recently faced a highly organized and state-sponsored attack on our e-government infrastructure which was...repelled by the country’s security shield,” Muhammad Javad Azari-Jahromi, Iran’s minister for communications and information technology, said.
"It was a very big attack,” Azari-Jahromi said, adding that details would be revealed later.
In late September, Iran reviewed security measures at its key Persian Gulf oil and gas facilities, including preparedness for cyber attacks, following media reports of Washington weighing possible cyber attacks on Tehran.
Iran has long been on alert over the threat of cyber attacks from abroad. The United States and the occupying regime of Israel covertly sabotaged Iran’s nuclear program in 2009 and 2010 with the Stuxnet computer virus, in the first known instance of state-sponsored cyber terrorism.
Tensions in the Persian Gulf have escalated sharply since Trump last year withdrew from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and reimposed trade and financial sanctions on Tehran.
Citizens Warned About Visiting U.S.
Iran warned its citizens, particularly scientists, on Tuesday not to visit America, saying Iranians there were subjected to arbitrary and lengthy detention in inhuman conditions.
"Iranian citizens, particularly elites and scientists, are requested to seriously avoid traveling to America, even to take part in scientific conferences and even having an invitation,” a travel advisory on the foreign ministry website said.
It cited, "America’s cruel and one-sided laws toward Iranians, especially Iranian elites, and arbitrary and lengthy detention in completely inhuman conditions” as reasons for the travel advisory.
The United States and Iran on Saturday swapped prisoners - American citizen Xiyue Wang, detained for three years for spying, and imprisoned Iranian stem-cell researcher Massoud Soleimani.
Soleimani was arrested upon arrival in the U.S. last year after being invited to take part in a research program at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota
Several dozen other Iranians are being held in U.S. prisons, many of them for allegedly breaking sanctions.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif said on Monday the Islamic Republic is ready for a full prisoner exchange with the United States, tweeting: "The ball is in the US’ court”.
Soleimani was arrested upon arrival in the U.S. last year after being invited to take part in a research program at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota
Several dozen other Iranians are being held in U.S. prisons, many of them for allegedly breaking sanctions.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif said on Monday the Islamic Republic is ready for a full prisoner exchange with the United States, tweeting: "The ball is in the US’ court”.