Tehran [Iran], December 19: Iran said it suffered a cyberattack by the Zionist entity and the United States that disrupted fuel distribution across 60 percent of petrol stations on Monday. "Some gas stations across the country suffered a cyber attack and the fuel distribution stopped," Oil Minister Javad Owji told state TV. Owji blamed the attack on external powers, saying that since "the Zionist enemy and the United States suffered blows on other fronts, they sought to create trouble."
Deputy Oil Minister Jalil Salari earlier said there were problems with the cards Iranians use to buy subsidized petrol. Iran, a major oil producer, has among the cheapest petrol prices in the world, with a card that allows Iranians to buy up to 60 liters per month at a subsidized rate of 15,000 rials (around 3 US cents) per liter.
Following the system failure, petrol stations "disconnected the online system" and fuel was being supplied offline, Salari said. Monday's disruption caused long car queues outside some stations in Tehran while others were completely shuttered, according to an AFP correspondent. Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi called for an investigation and urged "immediate measures" to resolve the crisis.
Authorities formed a "crisis committee" and announced that repairs were underway to fix the fuel distribution system and that pumps would work manually "until further notice". Iran suffered a similar weeklong disruption in Oct 2021 which officials blamed on an unprecedented cyberattack by outside actors. Fuel cards were first introduced in 2007 with a view to reforming the subsidies system and curbing large-scale smuggling.
Iran's economy has been battered both by external pressure and internal mismanagement. In 2018, the US withdrew from a landmark nuclear agreement and reimposed sanctions that had been lifted for a few years. The government has accused arch-nemesis the Zionist entity of a wave of sabotage attacks and assassinations targeting its nuclear program. The US and the Zionist entity accuse Iran of orchestrating attacks against allied forces and ships in the region. - AFP
Source: Kuwait Times