Iran on Tuesday rejected accusations from France that its Revolutionary Guards were behind cyberattacks on hundreds of supermarket fridges in October, calling the claims "baseless." The Iran France fridge cyberattack dispute has also drawn in the European Union.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was behind attacks on French supermarket fridges on the night of 11-12 October, according to Euronews. Hundreds of French supermarkets were hit, raising temperatures in fridges and freezers and forcing many to throw away entire inventories of perishable food.
Euronews reports that stores belonging to Carrefour, Monoprix, Intermarché and Coopérative U were among those hit, when attackers manually overrode fridge temperatures.
Iran’s foreign ministry said the French accusations were "baseless and one-sided" and "strongly condemns this hackneyed policy." Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X that the French government is "shifting blame for its failures onto others," according to Euronews.
France has summoned Iran’s ambassador and is seeking European-level sanctions. It said it would "rule nothing out" to deter further attacks, according to Euronews.
The European Union said it would look to provide a "swift and united response," pending discussion with member states, according to France 24. The details of that response are not yet available.
The scale beyond France is disputed. Euronews reports similar incidents in at least 10 other European countries in early November. Citing AFP, the Straits Times reports at least 11 other European countries.
Analysts say the fridge attacks extend Iran’s asymmetric campaign against the United States onto European soil, according to AFP. The Straits Times reports that Iran has ramped up operations on European soil since the war launched by Israel and the US in February, according to security sources and experts.
French authorities have previously cited alleged Iranian "destabilisation acts," including a 2023 hack on Charlie Hebdo and hostile actions during the 2024 Olympic Games, according to Euronews.
Independent confirmation of who was responsible is not available, so the attribution to the Revolutionary Guards remains France’s claim. The sources do not describe the evidence France presented, and they give no figure beyond "hundreds" for affected supermarkets or fridges. The France 24 account was available only as a headline and short excerpt.
France says it will take further measures, some possibly not disclosed publicly, while the EU discusses a response with member states.
Sources
This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.