AIRLINK 74.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-0.34%)
BOP 5.14 Increased By ▲ 0.09 (1.78%)
CNERGY 4.55 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (2.94%)
DFML 37.15 Increased By ▲ 1.31 (3.66%)
DGKC 89.90 Increased By ▲ 1.90 (2.16%)
FCCL 22.40 Increased By ▲ 0.20 (0.9%)
FFBL 33.03 Increased By ▲ 0.31 (0.95%)
FFL 9.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.41%)
GGL 10.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.46%)
HBL 115.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.40 (-0.35%)
HUBC 137.10 Increased By ▲ 1.26 (0.93%)
HUMNL 9.95 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (1.12%)
KEL 4.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.22%)
KOSM 4.83 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (3.65%)
MLCF 39.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.13 (-0.33%)
OGDC 138.20 Increased By ▲ 0.30 (0.22%)
PAEL 27.00 Increased By ▲ 0.57 (2.16%)
PIAA 24.24 Decreased By ▼ -2.04 (-7.76%)
PIBTL 6.74 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.3%)
PPL 123.62 Increased By ▲ 0.72 (0.59%)
PRL 27.40 Increased By ▲ 0.71 (2.66%)
PTC 13.90 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-0.71%)
SEARL 61.75 Increased By ▲ 3.05 (5.2%)
SNGP 70.15 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-0.36%)
SSGC 10.52 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (1.54%)
TELE 8.57 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.12%)
TPLP 11.10 Decreased By ▼ -0.28 (-2.46%)
TRG 64.02 Decreased By ▼ -0.21 (-0.33%)
UNITY 26.76 Increased By ▲ 0.71 (2.73%)
WTL 1.38 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 7,874 Increased By 36.2 (0.46%)
BR30 25,596 Increased By 136 (0.53%)
KSE100 75,342 Increased By 411.7 (0.55%)
KSE30 24,214 Increased By 68.6 (0.28%)

TEHRAN: Iran said it suffered a cyber attack by Israel and the United States that disrupted fuel distribution across 60 percent of petrol stations on Monday.

“Some gas stations across the country suffered a cyber attack and the fuel distribution stopped,” Oil Minister Javad Owji told state TV.

Owji blamed the attack on external powers, saying that since “the Zionist enemy (Israel) and the United States suffered blows on other fronts, they sought to create trouble.”

Deputy Oil Minister Jalil Salari earlier said there were problems with the cards Iranians use to buy subsidised petrol.

Iran, a major oil producer, has among the cheapest petrol prices in the world, with a card that allows Iranians to buy up to 60 litres (16 gallons) per month at a subsidised rate of 15,000 rials (around 3 US cents) per litre.

Following the system failure, petrol stations “disconnected the online system” and fuel was being supplied offline, Salari said.

Monday’s disruption caused long car queues outside some stations in Tehran while others were completely shuttered, according to an AFP correspondent.

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi called for an investigation and urged “immediate measures” to resolve the crisis.

Authorities formed a “crisis committee” and announced that repairs were underway to fix the fuel distribution system and that pumps would work manually “until further notice”.

Iran suffered a similar week-long disruption in October 2021 which officials blamed on an unprecedented cyber attack by outside actors.

Fuel cards were first introduced in 2007 with a view to reforming the subsidies system and curbing large-scale smuggling.

Iran’s economy has been battered both by external pressure and internal mismanagement. In 2018, the US withdrew from a landmark nuclear agreement and reimposed sanctions that had been lifted for a few years.

The government has accused arch-nemesis Israel of a wave of sabotage attacks and assassinations targeting its nuclear programme.

The US and Israel accuse Iran of orchestrating attacks against allied forces and ships in the region.

Comments

Comments are closed.