France blames Iran's Revolutionary Guards for supermarket fridge cyberattack

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Monday that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was behind a series of cyberattacks on French supermarket refrigeration units last month. He spoke after a G7 ministerial meeting in Paris.

Barrot said the Iranian ambassador had been summoned. He also said sanctions would be brought against Iran at European level, and DW reported that he said they would apply to all those responsible.

The Paris prosecutor's office said it had opened an investigation into a cyber unit affiliated with the Guards. According to Al Jazeera, the office also requested international arrest warrants against the leader of Shahid Kaveh and his two deputies. Euronews reported that the investigation is still under way.

According to Euronews, the attack targeted refrigeration units across more than 700 French retailers. Stores belonging to Carrefour, Monoprix, Intermarché and Coopérative U were among those hit. Attackers manually overrode the temperatures of the fridges.

DW reported that the attack was launched on October 11. It spoiled large quantities of produce, and in some cases temperatures were set so high that refrigeration units caught fire. Al Jazeera also reported fires and food waste.

DW said a series of similar incidents hit French supermarkets last week. It also reported that authorities noted a failed attempt to hack cooling units at blood banks.

Barrot described the attack as serious. "This attack is unprecedented in both its scale and its level of aggression," he said, according to DW. France 24 reported that he said there would be consequences for Iran.