Cyberattacks on railways and government websites

Tehran – Iran’s capital, Tehran, was rocked by a powerful explosion on early Saturday morning. The blast took place in a park near the national news agency’s headquarters. The explosion was preceded and followed by cyberattacks on Iran’s railway system and two government websites. Out of these two cyberattacks, hackers released the phone number of Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s supreme religious leader, in the attack on the railway system. Four days ago, a warehouse in Karaj, Iran, caught fire on suspicion.

As per the information provided by the Iranian authorities, the blast took place in a garden in Millat Park in Tehran on Saturday. The Iranian authorities clarified that because the explosion took place early in the morning, loss of life was averted. However, the Iranian authorities did not give any information about how the explosion took place or its reason. The deputy police chief general, Hamid Hodavand, stated that an unknown object had exploded, and an enquiry was still in progress.

Some videos of the blast went viral on Iranian social media. The videos showed the damages caused to nearby buildings due to the explosion. However, Hodavand accused Iran’s enemies of making an old video viral for propaganda. However, the blast near the national news agency headquarters is viewed with suspicion. This has added to the list of suspected bombings carried out in Iran for the past two years. Before this explosion, the news of cyberattacks on Iran’s railway grid on Friday evening was circulated. Because of this, messages of trains getting delayed or cancelled were displayed on digital boards across all railway stations in Iran. This had caused confusion for a long time. The message that the railway system was completely disrupted had been circulating.

A phone number was posted on the digital boards at the train station to lodge a complaint or express concerns. But Iranian officials were shocked when it was revealed that the number belonged to Iran’s supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. The Iranian authorities alleged that this was a ploy carried out by the cyber-attackers.

Within 24 hours of these cyberattacks, the websites of Iran‘s transport and civil development ministries were also attacked on Saturday. This brought the work of both ministries to a standstill. Iranian leaders have claimed that ransomware attacks were behind the attacks on the railway and government ministry websites. Iranian authorities had claimed similar ransomware attacks in the past too. Meanwhile, Iran has blamed the United States and Israel for the current attacks.