Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari made the remark on Friday, in response to a recent New York Times report, which cited US officials as claiming that there has been a surge in cyberattacks by Iran against US State Department officials over the past month.
“In our view, the lack of an efficient legal system in the international scene to prevent and prohibit cyberattacks is one of the gravest shortcomings in this field,” he said.
Jaberi Ansari stressed that Iran has been a victim of serious cyberattacks in recent years, referring to the Stuxnet case in which a malware -- built jointly by the US and the Israeli regime -- attacked Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant in 2010. The offensive failed, however, as it was averted in time by Iranian experts.
“Iran as currently holding the rotating presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), has always been committed to adopting and promoting international deterrent mechanisms to prevent cyberattacks, and has called on all countries, especially the West, to cooperate and prevent such destructive attacks,” he said.
The Iranian top diplomat further voiced his regret over the fact that certain countries had failed to take constructive measures in this respect, and had damaged international norms.
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