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A sharp diplomatic confrontation has erupted between Paris and Tehran after France officially attributed an unprecedented cyberattack that compromised refrigeration systems across more than 700 supermarkets to an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) cyber unit, drawing a scathing rebuttal from Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, who mocked Paris for being "unable to manage fridges."
Rejecting the allegations, Araghchi accused the French government of manufacturing external scapegoats to divert attention from domestic unrest, while sharply criticising France's foreign policy in the Middle East. "Unable to manage fridges let alone addressing grievances of its people, French government is shifting blame for its failures onto others," Araghchi posted on social media platform X. "Yes, Iran is powerful. But unlike France, we do not exercise power via support for massacres in Gaza or bombings of schools and hospitals," he added. Araghchi's remarks came in response to an official Declaration of attribution issued by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, which directly linked the coordinated cyber campaign on French territory to the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to the French diplomatic statement, the cyber operationcarried out on the night of October 11 to 12remotely targeted the temperature controls of refrigeration systems across over 700 supermarkets. The attack resulted in widespread food spoilage valued in the "tens of millions of euros" and caused several refrigeration units to catch fire. France condemned the incident as an act of "unprecedented scale and aggressiveness," identifying it as the first offensive cyber campaign executed purely for physical sabotage on French soil. "Following investigations, France is now in a position to attribute these destructive actions to Iran: they were carried out by SHAHID KAVEH, an offensive cyber unit affiliated with the Electronic Warfare and Cyber Defence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps," the French Foreign Ministry stated. The ministry termed the group a "persistent threat to our critical infrastructure" and asserted that the breach violated international law and UN norms governing responsible state conduct in cyberspace. Highlighting a recurring pattern of hostile Iranian cyber activities, Paris recalled earlier cyber operations targeting the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2023 and attempted disruptions surrounding the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. In response to the supermarket attack, the French government confirmed that it will summon the Iranian Ambassador in Paris to lodge a strong diplomatic protest, push for expanded European Union sanctions targeting responsible Iranian entities and individuals, and reserve the right to deploy both "public and non-public" countermeasures. (ANI)
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