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Tuesday, May 19, 2020, 09:51
Washington Post: Israel linked to cyberattack on Iranian port
By Reuters
Tuesday, May 19, 2020, 09:51 By Reuters

In this file photo, an Iranian employee instructs truck drivers after they had loaded shipping containers at the Shahid Rajaee port, some 20 kms west of the Persian Gulf port city of Bandar Abbas, on February 21, 2016. (BEHROUZ MEHRI / AFP)

WASHINGTON - Israel appears to be behind a cyberattack earlier this month on computers at Iran’s Shahid Rajaee port that caused massive backups on waterways and roads leading to the facility, the Washington Post reported on Monday.

A foreign government security official said the attack was “highly accurate” and the damage to the Iranian port was more serious than described in official Iranian accounts, according to the Post

Citing unnamed US and foreign government officials, the Post said the May 9 disruption of Iranian computers was presumably in retaliation for an earlier attempted cyberattack on rural water distribution systems in Israel.

ALSO READ: Iran's parliament approves motion to address Israel's 'hostile measures'

The Israeli Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters on the Post report.

The managing director of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization, Mohammad Rastad, told Iran’s ILNA news agency last week that the cyberattack did not penetrate the organization’s computers and was only able to infiltrate and damage a number of private operating systems.

ALSO READ: Iran warns UN nuclear watchdog not to use Israeli allegations

A foreign government security official said, however, the attack was “highly accurate” and the damage to the Iranian port was more serious than described in official Iranian accounts, according to the Post.

The Post reported on May 8 that Iran was linked to the attempted cyberattack on the Israeli water network in April. The intrusion was detected and thwarted before significant damage was done, the Post said, citing officials familiar with the incident.

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