Iranian infrastructure and strategic networks have come under attack in the last few days by a computer virus similar to Stuxnet but “more violent, more advanced and more sophisticated,” and Israeli officials are refusing to discuss what role, if any, they may have had in the operation, an Israeli TV report said Wednesday.
The report came hours after Israel said its Mossad intelligence agency had thwarted an Iranian murder plot in Denmark, and two days after Iran acknowledged that President Hassan Rouhani’s mobile phone had been bugged. It also follows a string of Israeli intelligence coups against Iran, including the extraction from Tehran in January by the Mossad of the contents of a vast archive documenting Iran’s nuclear weapons program, and the detailing by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the UN in September of other alleged Iranian nuclear and missile assets inside Iran, in Syria and in Lebanon.
“Remember Stuxnet, the virus that penetrated the computers of the Iranian nuclear industry?” the report on Israel’s Hadashot news asked. Iran “has admitted in the past few days that it is again facing a similar attack, from a more violent, more advanced and more sophisticated virus than before, that has hit infrastructure and strategic networks.”
The Iranians, the TV report went on, are “not admitting, of course, how much damage has been caused.”
On Sunday, Gholamreza Jalali, the head of Iran’s civil defense agency, said Tehran had neutralized a new version of Stuxnet, Reuters reported.“Recently we discovered a new generation of Stuxnet which consisted of several parts … and was trying to enter our systems,” Jalali said.
The Stuxnet virus was uncovered some eight years ago, and was widely reported to have been developed together by US and Israeli intelligence. It penetrated Iran’s rogue nuclear program, taking control and sabotaging parts of its enrichment processes by speeding up its centrifuges.
Netanyahu is adamant that the Iranian regime remains determined to attain a nuclear weapons arsenal, and has bitterly opposed the P5+1 powers’ 2015 deal with Iran. US President Donald Trump, with whom Netanyahu is closely allied, withdrew from the accord in May.
Referring to Stuxnet, Wednesday’s TV report noted that “in the past, the US and Israel have been alleged to have worked together on operations.” Trying to establish whether Israel had any role in the latest cyberattack, the TV report said: “We’ve tried to clarify here. They’re refusing to comment.”
The TV report noted that “behind the scenes lately, the Mossad,” under its director Yossi Cohen, has been “fighting a real shadow war.”
Without attributing responsibility to the Mossad, the report mentioned the tapping of Rouhani’s phone, noting that the Iranians “had to switch it for an encrypted model because they understand that someone has been listening to him for days and weeks.”
On Sunday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged intensified efforts to counter enemy “infiltration,” Reuters said.
Iran’s foreign minister on Wednesday accused Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency of carrying out “false flag” operations in a bid to undermine the Islamic Republic’s global standing.
The claim came after Israeli officials said the Mossad tipped off its Danish counterpart to a plot by Iranian intelligence to kill three opposition figures living in Denmark.
Iran has denied it was behind the alleged assassination plans, which were revealed by Denmark on Tuesday, claiming they were part of a European conspiracy against it.
“Mossad’s perverse & stubborn planting of false flags (more on this later) only strengthens our resolve to engage constructively with the world,” Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote in a tweet accompanied by photos of him meeting with officials from Pakistan, Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Mossad's perverse & stubborn planting of false flags (more on this later) only strengthens our resolve to engage constructively with the world. Imp talks in Pakistan today, preceded by tripartite mtng with Turkey & Azerbaijan yesterday. Solid relations w/neighbors our priority. pic.twitter.com/FuRI82XWQn— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) October 31, 2018
Denmark’s accusations against Iran followed the unveiling of another suspected Iranian plot to target a Paris rally by an opposition group in June. According to Israeli reports, the Mossad helped thwart that attack as well, which led to the arrest of several Iranians in Europe, including a diplomat.
US President Donald Trump has cited Iran’s support for terror around the globe as a reason behind his decision to pull out of the 2015 nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions, most of which kick back into effect next week.
Earlier Wednesday, Denmark’s prime minister said he was speaking with European countries about possible sanctions on Iran over the alleged attack plot, but said any response should not undermine the nuclear deal.
That sentiment was echoed by the European Union, who has played a key role in working to preserve the agreement after Trump announced in May the United States would pull out of the pact negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama.
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