Iran rejects France's 'baseless' claims of IRGC role in fridge cyberattacks: 'They cannot even manage temperatures'

Iran on Tuesday (Nov 10) termed French accusations that it was responsible for cyberattacks on supermarket fridges as “baseless.” Iran's foreign ministry, in a statement, strongly condemned and categorically rejected French government accusations, stating that France is “merely projecting its own governance failures.” Hundreds of French supermarkets were hit in the October 11 and 12 cyberattacks, which raised the temperatures in their refrigerators and freezers, forcing many to throw away entire inventories of perishable food. Similar incidents were then reported in at least 11 other European countries in early November.

“Iran's foreign ministry categorically rejects the French government's baseless and one-sided accusations against Iran regarding alleged cyber activities in France. We strongly condemn this hackneyed policy of levelling accusations against the Islamic republic,” the ministry said in a statement. It said that it would “not hesitate to take necessary and appropriate measures to safeguard its national interests and security in the face of unlawful foreign activities.” It added that France "is merely projecting its own governance failures" with these accusations. "A government that cannot even manage the temperature of its own refrigerators now seeks to shift the blame onto foreign actors through these preposterous accusations," it continued.

In a post on X, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, “Unable to manage fridges let alone addressing grievances of its people, French government is shifting blame for its failures onto others. Yes, Iran is powerful. But unlike France, we do not exercise power via support for massacres in Gaza or bombings of schools and hospitals.”

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French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that Paris would “rule nothing out and will take all measures -- including those we may not disclose publicly -- that we deem proportionate and necessary to deter any further attacks.” France also summoned Iran's ambassador. Additionally, the European Union said that it would look to provide a "swift and united response" pending discussion with member states after France's announcement.

What France said?

France on Monday (Nov 9) has accused Iran of being behind cyber-attacks that raised the temperatures of supermarket fridges and freezers. It claimed that Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) were behind "unprecedented" cyberattacks on supermarket fridges and vowed sanctions on a European level against Tehran. Additionally, a Paris prosecutor also said that it has opened an investigation into an Iranian cyber unit affiliated with the IRGC over cyberattacks on refrigerators. Iran has not yet responded to Barrot's allegations. Laure Beccuau, the prosecutor, named the unit as Shahid Kaveh, which she said had an affiliation with the electronic and cyber centre of the IRGC.

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"I can confirm that this attack was carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said, adding: “This attack is unprecedented in both its scale and its level of aggression. We will implement sanctions at the European level against all those responsible for this attack.” Additionally, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said that a judicial investigation has been opened against the head of the Iranian group Shahid Kaveh, an offensive cyber unit affiliated with the Electronic and Cyber Center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC-CEC), against his two deputies, and against any other individuals who may be identified.