The former chairman of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee on Sunday blamed Israel’s Mossad spy agency for attacks against his country and criticized Iran’s security forces for not doing enough to stop them.
“All the security attacks against Iran are perpetrated by the Mossad. Although these attacks take place in our country, no one has given a serious thought to the problem,” said Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, who is affiliated with the conservative political camp in Iran.
He also called Israel “the Islamic Republic’s rival in security and intelligence.” Falahatpisheh’s words echoed comments made recently by former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and former Iranian Intelligence Minister Ali Younesi, both of whom claimed the Mossad has managed to infiltrate the country’s intelligence services. A series of cyberattacks, mysterious explosions, fires and mishaps have plagued Iran in recent months.
On Saturday, the Iranian Transportation Ministry’s website was taken down by what state television said was a “cyber disruption,” a day after an apparent cyberattack on the state railway company.
Iran’s Fars news agency reported that the hack led to “unprecedented chaos” at rail stations.
Also on Saturday, a loud blast in north Tehran was caused by an “unknown object” exploding in a park near state television headquarters, Iranian media reported.
Iranian Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi warned on Saturday of possible ransomware attacks unless vulnerabilities in computer systems were dealt with, Iranian news outlets reported.
This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.
