“Our vulnerability in the nuclear area has reached the minimum level,” however “if circumstances require it, the uranium enrichment facilities will be relocated to safer places,” Brigadier General Gholam Reza Jalali told the Mehr News Agency.
He also said that the measures necessary to enhance the safety and security of the nuclear facilities have been adopted.
“If Americans and Israelis had been able to launch strikes to damage our nuclear facilities, they would certainly have done so,” he stated.
On the security of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, Jalali said that the facility is located in a border area, so any attack on it will undermine the security of the neighboring countries.
He added that the Bushehr power plant was the target of a cyber attack in the last Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20), which was successfully repelled by Iranian experts, reassuring that the Islamic Republic is completely prepared to counter any possible cyber threat.
On the measures taken to deal with the most recent computer worm, namely Duqu, which has reportedly targeted some Iranian organizations and companies, the official said that fortunately the computer worm has not spread through the computer systems of state organizations.
In addition, he said Iranian experts have indentified Duqu and developed an anti-virus software program to clean up infected systems.
Over the recent years, Iran has been the target of several cyber attacks.
In September 2010, international news agencies reported that the Stuxnet worm, which is capable of taking over power plants, had infected many industrial sites in Iran.
Later, Western officials and media outlets claimed that the cyber attack had hindered Iran’s nuclear program.
Iranian officials confirmed that some Iranian industrial systems had been targeted by a cyber attack, but insisted that no crashes or serious damage to the country’s industrial computer systems had been reported and said Iranian engineers had rooted out the problem.
Iran also dismissed the claim that the cyber attack had seriously affected its nuclear program.
In April 25, Iranian officials announced that the country had been targeted by a new computer worm named Stars.
At the time, it was announced that experts were investigating the malware, but the results of their investigation have not been released yet.
AM/PA
END
MNA