Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has rejected French accusations that Tehran was behind cyber-attacks targeting supermarket refrigeration systems, accusing the French government of shifting blame for its own failures.
“Unable to manage fridges let alone addressing grievances of its people, French government is shifting blame for its failures onto others. Yes, Iran is powerful. But unlike France, we do not exercise power via support for massacres in Gaza or bombings of schools and hospitals,” Araghchi said.
His remarks came after France accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of carrying out a series of cyber-attacks that disrupted refrigeration systems at supermarkets across the country.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Monday that the attacks were “unprecedented” in their scale and “level of aggression”. He added that those responsible will face sanctions.
Barrot described the incident as the first large-scale cyber-attack aimed at sabotage on French territory and said that it posed a threat to the country’s interests and public security.
He also confirmed that France had summoned the Iranian ambassador in Paris to lodge a formal protest over the allegations. The government will take “any other necessary and proportionate measures” to respond and prevent similar incidents, he added.
Meanwhile, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said that an investigation had been opened into the head of an offensive cyber unit linked to the IRGC and his two deputies. She identified the unit as Shahid Kaveh, which she said was affiliated with the IRGC’s electronic and cyber centre.
The attacks began on October 11, when hackers gained control of software used to regulate temperatures in supermarket refrigeration units. More than 100 Coopérative U supermarkets and 180 Intermarché and Netto stores were affected. Temperatures in some refrigerators reportedly reached 50C overnight, destroying chilled and frozen food.
Other retailers, including Carrefour, Monoprix and E.Leclerc, were also targeted through software supplied by Danish engineering firm Danfoss.
A second wave of attacks earlier this month affected more than 100 stores across Europe, including supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg, with smaller numbers reported in Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Estonia and Finland.
Iran’s foreign ministry rejected the French accusations as “baseless and hostile” on Tuesday. France has not publicly explained how it attributed the attacks to Iran.
