France summoned Iran’s ambassador on Tuesday following an alleged cyberattack orchestrated by Tehran that disrupted commercial refrigeration systems across hundreds of supermarkets nationwide.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot warned that Paris is prepared to retaliate with sovereign cyber measures and push for European Union sanctions.
Speaking to France Info, Barrot condemned the incident as an “attack of unprecedented scale and aggression” on French soil. French prosecutors stated that an ongoing investigation has focused on Shahid Kaveh, an offensive cyber unit linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Authorities are seeking international arrest warrants for two officials tied to the unit.
The cyberattacks, which hit approximately 700 sites in France during October, involved hackers breaching web interfaces to trigger abnormal defrost cycles while disabling crucial temperature sensor alerts.
Similar coordinated disruptions were subsequently reported across at least nine other European nations on November 2.
The incident has further strained diplomatic relations between Paris and Tehran, compounding existing tensions surrounding Iran’s nuclear program, regional activities, and the detention of French nationals. While the Iranian UN mission has yet to respond, French officials stressed that authorities retain a broad spectrum of overt and covert deterrent options.
