Iran's Revolutionary Guard behind France's 'refrigerator cyberattack,' minister says

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been identified as the force behind a cyberattack last month that sent temperatures soaring inside refrigerators at hundreds of supermarkets across France, spoiling all stored food.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot condemned the attack Monday (local time), saying "we can confirm that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps carried out this attack," according to Reuters and AFP.

In mid-October, a cyberattack struck 700 supermarket locations across France, pushing refrigerator temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius — sauna-like heat that ruined everything stored inside and forced mass disposal of food. The hacking then spread beyond France, with similar incidents reported in other European countries. France was subsequently hit by another cyberattack that drove temperatures in blood bank storage facilities to extreme highs. Experts described the incidents as an organized campaign designed to shock the public by demonstrating that the security and safety of everyday life could not be guaranteed.

Barrot called the attack "unprecedented in scale and sophistication," adding that it was "the first large-scale cyberattack targeting sabotage on our soil and an attack on our national interests and the security of the French people."

Barrot said France would "impose sanctions at the European level against all those responsible for this attack" and would "take any necessary and proportionate measures to respond to this incident and deter anyone who seeks to repeat it." He added that the Foreign Ministry had summoned the Iranian ambassador to France and lodged "a very strong protest against this extremely serious act."

The Paris prosecutor's office immediately opened an investigation into the Revolutionary Guard. Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the probe targeted "the leader of Shahid Kaveh, a cyberattack unit linked to the IRGC's Electronic Cyber Center, his two subordinates, and any other individuals who may be identified."

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas backed France's position when asked about the incident, saying "our response must be very strong." Reuters reported that Iran's mission to the UN did not respond to a request for comment, noting that Iran typically denies involvement in such malicious cyber operations.

It also emerged that a similar incident had occurred in the United States before the European attacks. At least six refrigerators malfunctioned at US military bases in August, and Reuters reported that the US Department of Defense suspects Iran was behind the hacking. The Pentagon said Tuesday it was "aware of speculation about a possible cyber incident" but declined to comment further for security reasons, citing an ongoing military investigation.