Iran says it's defused large cyberattack on infrastructure

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's telecommunications minister announced on Wednesday that the country has defused a massive cyberattack on unspecified 'œelectronic infrastructure" but provided no specifics on the purported attack.

According to the official IRNA news agency, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi said the 'œsecurity attack was very large'ť and that authorities were investigating its exact dimensions.

He said he cannot reveal any further details beyond saying that the 'œattack has been identified and defused.'ť

It was not clear if the reported attack caused any damage or disruptions in Iran's computer and internet systems, and whether it was the latest chapter in the U.S. and Iran's ongoing cyber operations targeting the other.

'œI cannot give details but yes, we were targeted by a very organized and governmental cyber attack," he said. 'œWe are looking into the attack's different dimensions and will release a report on it. It was a massive attack.'ť

On Tuesday, the minister dismissed reports of hacking operations targeting Iranian banks, including local media reports that accounts of millions of customers of Iranian banks were hacked.

'œBanks were not hacked," he said, adding that the rumors evolved from a blackmailing case by a former contractor who had managed to 'œaccess complex information."

This is not the first time Iran says it has defused a cyberattack, though it has disconnected much of its infrastructure from the internet after the Stuxnet computer virus, widely believed to be a joint U.S.-Israeli creation, disrupted thousands of Iranian centrifuges in the country's nuclear sites in the late 2000s.

In June, Washington officials said that U.S. military cyber forces launched a strike against Iranian military computer systems as President Donald Trump backed away from plans for a more conventional military strike in response to Iran's downing of a U.S. surveillance drone in the strategic Persian Gulf.

Tensions have escalated between the U.S. and Iran ever since President Donald Trump withdrew America last year from the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran and began a policy of 'œmaximum pressure.'ť Iran has since been hit by multiple rounds of sanctions.