An Israeli hacker group is taking credit Monday for a cyberattack that disrupted operations at nearly 70% of the gas stations in Iran, reports say.
Iranian state media is claiming that an Israeli hacker group called Gonjeshke Darande, also known as Predatory Sparrow, is behind the outages, according to Reuters. The news agency cited Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji as saying the disruptions at one point reached 70% of gas stations in Iran, before noting that 1,650 out of the 3,800 gas stations that the ministry supervises were operational.
Gonjeshke Darande later claimed responsibility for the cyberattack, according to Israel's Ynet News and Times of Israel. A series of posts on a Telegram page reported to be theirs said the attack was carried out in response to "the aggression of the Islamic Republic and its proxies in the region."
"Khamenei, playing with fire has a price," statements continued, referencing Iran's supreme leader. "A month ago we warned you that we’re back and that we will impose [a] cost for your provocations. This is just a taste of what we have in store."
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The group also said "this cyberattack was conducted in a controlled manner while taking measures to limit potential damage to emergency services.
"We delivered warnings to emergency services across the country before the operation began, and ensured a portion of the gas stations across the country were left unharmed for the same reason, despite our access and capability to completely disrupt their operation."
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Last year, Gonjeshke Darande hacked a steel company in southwestern Iran and carried out another cyberattack on Iran’s fuel distribution network in 2021, according to the Associated Press.
Israeli government spokesperson Tal Heinrich, when asked Monday about the latest incident, said, "We have nothing to say about Iran's claims," Reuters reported.
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A spokesperson for Iran’s gas station association told the Fars News Agency that a "software problem with the fuel system has been confirmed in some stations across the country and experts are currently fixing the issue," according to Reuters.
