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Israeli cyber attacks targeted offshore oil, gas platforms – Iran IT head

Published time: October 08, 2012 10:13
Edited time: October 08, 2012 17:56
AFP Photo / Atta Kenare

Iran’s offshore oil and gas platforms were the targets of the cyber attacks aimed at crippling the country. All threats were repelled and Israel was behind them, according to head of IT at the Iranian Offshore Oil Company, Mohammad Reza Golshani.

Golshani told Reuters that the attack happened over the past couple of weeks, was routed through China, and affected only the communications systems of the network.

It is almost two weeks since the managing director of the National Iranian Offshore Oil Company Mahmoud Zirakchianzadeh announced his company’s negotiations over deals worth US$14 billion.

Iran is currently under pressure from the international sanctions, mainly in oil exports, imposed by the UN Security council, the US, and the EU.

On Saturday, the EU threatened to ban Iran’s natural gas export to put pressure on the country’s nuclear program. Iran’s now exporting to Turkey and has swap deals with Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The possible ban was described by a spokesman of the oil ministry Alireza Nikzad-Rahbar as a "propaganda campaign" because “right now no EU member imports Iranian gas supply.”

The UN Security Council imposed four rounds of sanctions in efforts to pressure Tehran to give up its nuclear program, which the West fears is aimed at creating a nuclear weapon. Iran insists its nuclear ambitions are peaceful. The sanctions targeted Iran’s oil exports and cut off access to international banking networks.

Tehran is being pressured not only with sanctions: the country has been variously attacked by Flame, Stuxnet and Gauss, three viruses that gathered information on sensitive Iranian equipment and slowed down its nuclear centrifuges. They were tacitly confirmed to have been launched by the US and Israel, as a way of slowing down the country’s atomic program, which the West says is aimed at eventually producing nuclear weapons. A claim Iran emphatically denies.

Iran has reported several computer attacks in recent months and a Revolutionary Guard commander said last month the country would defend itself in case of a "cyber war".

Tehran is seeking to developing a national Internet system, which it says would improve cyber security. But many Iranians say the plan is the latest way to control their access to the Web, which is already highly censored.


Comments (42)

excaliber 09.10.2012 07:03

Said you... "that they are willing to cause the suffering of millions". With their daisy chain of a$$kissers, USA and jolly old-dumb England, they think they've got it in the bag.Well Cossack, after the Holocast, it became their cry of "never again", which in the past few decades became the Zionist anthem. But, it has since been changed to "Revenge to all", friend or foe. Those Ba$tards in Israel don't give a $hit about anybodys exsistence, except themselves!!! Yeah, Hitler will return upon them, but this time, with a damning Vengence!! The world needs to ignore, isolate, and sanction this cancerous entity of a state, NOW!!

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R.W. Emerson II 09.10.2012 04:19

Most of the people who post here are antiwar. We understand that war is catastrophic for almost everyone. But we are handicapped, because our masked media are pro-war. Again and again, we find our stupefied media promoting terms and concepts that pave the way to war. In 2002, for example, the big mindless media went along with the "Iraqi WMDs" charade. They told us that "The West" had proof that Iraq was about to turn our cities into "Mushroom Clouds". The cowardly media repeated this lie a thousand times. Why?! A million Iraqis and 4,500 Americans are dead because of the liars in the media.Aren't the media supposed to check their sources and verify the information they publish? Aren't they supposed to question what the lying politicians tell them? Doesn't RT use "Question more" as its motto? Here are a few of the basic questions that our war-drunk reporters do not even DREAM of asking:* What is "The West"? Is it half of the planet, or a gang of thugs in a bunker? The media do not ask, and do not care.
* Is "The West" telling the truth? The media do not ask and do not care.
* Has "The West" lied in the past? Does it have a motive to lie? The media do not ask and do not care.
* Is there anyone who disagrees with "The West"? The media do not ask and do not care."The West" is treated as a God. It is omniscient and infinitely wise. The media expect us to worship and obey this anti-human god. We are not supposed to notice that this primitive god has slaughtered millions and lies every time it opens its mouth. The media keep that "elephant in the room" carefully hidden, from us and from themselves.This genocidal god called "The West" is actually more like a devil -- Moloch, perhaps. This devil has many arms and tentacles, grabbing us, pulling at us, drawing us into its maw. What are these tentacles? -- our mindless media. These are the arms and mouth of Moloch.

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gerd (unregistered) 09.10.2012 04:18

Europe and esp. Germany should be obstaining from any sanctions .Not to forget the Year 1918-1919 after WW1 when the western powers kept sanktions in place (to work out this dirty Versaile Treaty), desite the war was over and 100 000 children in Germany alone starved to dead,NOT WORRY OF KARMA ?What if  Russia shut the pipline in a cold winter ????

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