Iran says cyberattack closes gas stations across country
Source: AP
By JON GAMBRELL
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A cyberattack crippled gas stations across Iran on Tuesday, leaving angry motorists stranded in long lines.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which rendered useless the government-issued electronic cards that many Iranians use to buy subsidized fuel at the pump.
It bore similarities to another attack months earlier that seemed to directly challenge Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the country’s economy buckles under American sanctions. Those economic problems worsen as the U.S. and Iran have yet to jointly re-enter Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers.
State television quoted an unnamed official in the country’s National Security Council acknowledging the cyberattack, hours after it aired images of long lines of cars waiting to fill up in Tehran. Associated Press journalists also saw lines of cars at Tehran gas stations, with the pumps off and the station closed.
A worker leans against a gasoline pump that has been turned off, at a gas station in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021. Gas stations across Iran on Tuesday suffered through a widespread outage of a system that allows consumers to buy fuel with a government-issued card, stopping sales. One semiofficial news agency referred to the incident as a cyberattack. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/business-middle-east-iran-dubai-united-arab-emirates-0342c10733bc89379e00d99152fe7a1f
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