Transport in Chaos After Israeli Cyberattack in Iran’s Bandar Abbas

Cyberattack crippled terminal at key port

Over a week of chaos at Bardar Abbas, a key Iranian port on the Strait of Hormuz, has been explained as resulting from an Israeli cyberattack on the port’s terminal, crippling computers and bringing the port grinding to a halt.

Unnamed US officials pointed to Israel as being behind the attack, saying it was a retaliation for an Iranian cyberattack on Israeli water systems. Israeli officials hinted at involvement, but officially the Israeli government has refused comment.

One Israeli official noted that while the Iranian attack did no damage it “crossed the line” and convinced them they needed to retaliate with attacks of their own. Iran has yet to comment directly on the matter, or say just how much damage was done in Bandar Abbas.

Iran is hit fairly often with cyberattacks, generally from the US or Israel. In some cases, like the notorious Stuxnet, the damage done spread into other countries as well. Fortunately, that does not seem to be the case this time.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.