• Analysis
Iran Revolutionary Guards cyber-attack on France: Barrot blames IRGC for supermarket fridge hacks
France says an Iran Revolutionary Guards cyber-attack hit French supermarket fridges on 11 and 12 October: foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed on Monday that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps carried out the hacks and pledged European sanctions.
Barrot confirms the IRGC was behind the October hacks
Foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed on Monday that the October hacks, which targeted supermarket fridges on 11 and 12 October, were the work of Iran's Revolutionary Guards. He described the operation as unlike anything France had faced before.
"I can confirm that this attack was carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of the Islamic Republic of Iran."
Barrot said the attack was unprecedented in both its scale and its level of aggression.
Europe to sanction those responsible
The minister said the response would come from Brussels, not Paris alone.
"We will implement sanctions at the European level against all those responsible for this attack."
Second wave reached blood banks across Europe
A second wave of hacking this month went beyond supermarket fridges, hitting more than 100 establishments across Europe. Among the targets were refrigerators used by French blood banks.
- •More than 100 European establishments were affected in the second wave.
- •French blood bank refrigerators were among the systems targeted.
- •Staff had to move some blood to other cold storage units.
Iran silent amid speculation
Iran's mission to the United Nations did not return messages seeking comment. Iran routinely denies carrying out malicious cyber operations. The repetition of the fridge hacks across countries fuelled speculation about who was responsible, amid ongoing concerns over Russia's suspected sabotage campaign in Europe, the US-Iran war and AI-powered cyberattacks.
