TEHRAN – About 200 new cyber defense products have been produced inside Iran, Civil Defense Organization chief Gholam Reza Jalali has said.

Highlighting the country’s major scientific progress, Jalali said the necessary cyber defense products are made by the country’s knowledge-based companies, Tasnim reported on Wednesday.

Jalali referred to the constructive interaction between the Civil Defense Organization and knowledge-based companies, saying some threats facing Iran now are technological and related to cutting-edge sciences, including nanotechnology and biotechnology.

He argued that fending off such threats in cyberspace and other areas is carried out via Iran’s scientific and research capacities.

“Fortunately, with implementation of policies adopted by the country’s Civil Defense Organization in this area, we have managed to make about 200 serious cyber defense products,” he added.

The remarks came against the backdrop of reports that the U.S. has carried out a secret cyber-attack against Iran in the week after Yemen’s strikes on key Saudi oil facilities, which Washington blamed on Tehran.

Two American officials, who were speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters on Wednesday that the operation took place in late September and targeted what they called Tehran’s ability to spread “propaganda.”

One of the officials claimed that the cyber-attack had affected physical hardware, without elaborating.

The Pentagon declined to comment about the reported cyber strike, with spokeswoman Elissa Smith saying, “As a matter of policy and for operational security, we do not discuss cyberspace operations, intelligence, or planning.”

Tehran has not reacted to the report so far.

On September 14, Yemeni armed forces conducted a large-scale operation against two Aramco installations, knocking out half of Saudi Arabia’s oil production.

MH/PA