TEHRAN – Since the enemies, including the U.S., have realized that they are not able to confront counter Iran militarily, they are seeking a cyber-war against Iran’s primary infrastructure, including power generation, chief of Iran’s civilian defense announced on Saturday.

Gholamreza Jalali made the remarks in a maneuver held on power outage and assessing readiness to use uninterruptible power supply (UPS). 

“Since the enemy has become disappointed of military confrontation with Islamic Iran due to high defense and deterrence capability and firm determination” they have changed the tact and are seeking cyberwar on the country’s primary infrastructure, Jalali said at the presence of TAVANIR managing director Hossein Motavalizadeh and some other power industry managers.

The civil defense chief said Iran’s military capability was best exemplified when Iran shot down the U.S. RQ-4A Global Hawk drone over the Persian Gulf in June 2019.

Jalali said attacks in cyberspace are frequent since the attacker is ambiguous.  
He said since electricity is a key industry and all major things are dependent on it, it is necessary to protect it from cyberattacks. 

The policy of the Civil Defense Organization is preventing cyberattacks and identifying possible vulnerabilities, Jalali explained.

He went to say, “Lack of disruptions in the country’s electricity infrastructure shows its resistance as well as the ability of the country’s electricity industry and this is admirable.”

Jalali suggested that holding cyber war exercises in the electricity field should be held regularly so that vulnerabilities are identified and promote the resistance of the power network.

In mid-October, Iran announced large cyberattacks on two Iranian government institutions. One of the targets was the electronic infrastructure of the country’s ports.

On the sidelines of the cyberwar maneuver, a cooperation document was also signed between the Civil Defense Organization and TAVANIR to supply uninterruptible power for key and sensitive centers.

Tavanir stands for Iran's Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution Management Company.  

PA/PA