(Tehran) The Iranian Atomic Energy Organization (AEIO) said on Sunday that an e-mail server of one of its subsidiaries had been hacked by “a source from a foreign country”, with the aim to draw attention to the country, which is in the grip of protests.
Posted at 9:59
Iran has been rocked by a protest movement since the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd arrested three days earlier in Tehran by morality police who accused her of breaking the strict dress code of the Islamic Republic.
Dozens of people, mainly protesters but also members of the security forces, were killed during these demonstrations. Hundreds more, including women, have been arrested.
A group calling itself Black Reward issued a 24-hour ultimatum to Iranian authorities on Friday, urging them to release all “political prisoners, prisoners of conscience and people arrested during recent protests” or release documents related to Iran’s nuclear program.
When the ultimatum expired, documents were released on social media Saturday, allegedly by the group, including a short video claimed to show an Iranian nuclear site, as well as maps and payslips.
The IAEA acknowledged in a statement that one of its subsidiaries, the Atomic Energy Development and Production Company, had been targeted, while downplaying the importance of the documents in question.
“Unauthorized access to this company’s email system by a source from a specific foreign country has led to the content of certain messages being published on social media,” she said, without naming the country. .
These messages contain “technical messages and normal exchanges”, it is added.
“The purpose of such unlawful acts […] is to attract the attention of public opinion […] by carrying out psychological operations that have no value”, continues the IAEO.
These statements come as the West and Iran have been trying for more than a year to revive the JCPOA, the nuclear agreement reached in 2015 between the major powers and Tehran.
This agreement aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring atomic weapons in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions has been in disrepair since the unilateral withdrawal in 2018 of the United States of Donald Trump, which led to the imposition of American sanctions and the progressive release by Tehran of its obligations.
Negotiations with Iran, which denies seeking nuclear weapons, have been deadlocked for weeks.