The FISMA Focus IPD

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Iranian Armed Forces are equipped with the state-of-the-art technologies and are prepared to defend the country against any possible cyber attack, a senior commander said on Tuesday.

“Today, the Armed Forces are equipped with the most advanced information technologies (IT) and today we should be ready to confront enemies in the field of electronic warfare,” Commander of the Information and Communication Technology Department of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Aqakishi said in the Northwestern city of Zanjan today.

He also underlined the Iranian Armed Forces’ full preparedness to defend the country against any possible cyber war by the enemies.

In relevant remarks in October, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan warned of enemies’ possible plots to wage a cyber war against the country to destroy Iran’s scientific and industrial infrastructures.

“Today the area of threat has expanded to all angles and dimensions; throughout the history war has been taken from land to sea and then to the sky and space, and today its has come to the internet and cyber space,” Dehqan said, addressing a conference on Civil Defense in Tehran.

“The cyber war is serious; today, information technology has been institutionalized in all bodies and the enemy come in control over this system, it may destroy it,” he added.

Also in February 2013, Rapporteur of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Seyed Hossein Naqavi Hosseini pointed to numerous cyber attacks by the US against the websites of other countries which oppose its policies, and warned Washington against retaliatory measures by those states.

“After the fallacy of 9/11 scenario was revealed, today Washington seeks to revive it in the cyber space to pursue the long-term and short-term objectives of its foreign policy,” the lawmaker added.

In January 2013, Iran’s mission at the United Nations criticized the US for its involvement in cyber attacks against Tehran, and stressed that Iran respects international laws and regulations against the use of malwares against other nations’ economic sectors.

In a statement issued at the time, the mission said Iran condemns any use of malware that target important institutes by violating the national sovereignty of states.

“Unlike the United States, which has, per reports in the media, given itself the license to engage in illegal cyber-warfare against Iran, Iran respects the international law and refrains from targeting other nations’ economic or financial institutions,” the statement read.

It also rejected claims that Iran has allegedly orchestrated cyber attacks on the US financial institutions, and said, “We believe that raising such groundless accusations are aimed at sullying Iran’s image and fabricating pretexts to push ahead with and step up illegal actions against the Iranian nation and government.”

In December 2012, Iran announced that it has thwarted a second cyber attack on one of its Culture Ministry institutes.

The cyber attack, originated from the US city of Dallas via switches in Malaysia and Vietnam, had targeted the information center of the Culture Ministry’s Headquarters for Supporting and Protecting Works of Art and Culture.