Iran cyber attack: Top lawmaker tweets in Hebrew, says country has thwarted enemy's goal

Hours after a cyber attack sabotaged Iran’s gas stations, the country’s Oil Minister Javad Ovji said that the Islamic Republic has thwarted the enemy’s goal of triggering riots in the country. In a Twitter statement, Ovji said that although the country’s frontline defence was disabled by the online attack, back forces came out victorious against the enemy’s attack. His remarks resounded the stance of the country’s hardliner president Ebrahim Raisi, who had previously said that the attack aimed at "creating disorder and disruption in Iran".

On Tuesday, a cyberattack targeted gas stations across Iran, leaving the motorists stranded in long queues for several hours as the government-issued electronic cards became non-operational. While it remains unclear what caused the major compromise and breach of security at the pumps that deliver subsidised fuel to the Iranians, the state media reported that the incident was aimed at directly challenging Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

Message in Hebrew

Interestingly, Ovji’s tweet was written in Hebrew- the official language of Israel. While the Zionist regime wasn’t named in the statement, the use of Hebrew directly highlighted the theocracy’s belief. No statement, about the matter, has been issued by the Naftali Bennett administration as of now. 

This comes as President Ebrahim Raisi said that the cyber attack was designed to get “people angry by creating disorder and disruption.” While the President stopped short of pinning the blame on any country, the theocracy is believed to blame “anti-Iran” forces for the same, according to a report by the Associated Press. Meanwhile, Raisi also called for “serious readiness” to the cyber threats- which has now gripped major world powers. 

“There should be serious readiness in the field of cyberwar and related bodies should not allow the enemy to follow their ominous aims to make problem in the trend of people’s life,” Raisi said. State television later aired footage of the president visiting a gas station in central Tehran.

Image: AP