France summoned Iran’s ambassador in Paris on Tuesday after accusing Tehran of responsibility for cyberattacks that disrupted refrigeration systems at more than 700 French supermarket sites in October.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said France would seek European Union sanctions and was considering further measures that could remain undisclosed.
The French Foreign Ministry said an investigation attributed the attacks to Shahid Kaveh, a cyber-offensive unit affiliated with the electronic and cyber centre of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The attacks occurred overnight on October 11-12 and targeted internet-connected refrigeration controllers, according to French authorities and reporting by CNBC.
Systems were remotely manipulated to trigger extended defrost cycles, causing food losses, equipment damage and fires at some locations.
The French government estimated losses from spoiled food at tens of millions of euros.
Major retailers affected included E.Leclerc, Intermarché, Carrefour, Monoprix and Coopérative U.
The Paris prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation and is seeking international arrest warrants for Shahid Kaveh officials, according to the supplied reports.
Because published accounts differ on the number of warrants sought, no figure is included here.
Barrot said France’s cyberdefence framework provided several possible responses and that Paris would propose EU measures against individuals and entities held responsible.
Reuters reported that Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Iran has previously denied conducting malicious cyber operations.
The latest French attribution follows previous European action against an Iranian cyber actor.
On March 16, the Council of the European Union sanctioned Iranian company Emennet Pasargad under its cyber sanctions framework.
The Council said the company had compromised a French subscriber database and advertising billboards during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, while also targeting a Swedish SMS service.
France’s Foreign Ministry separately cited attacks involving Charlie Hebdo in 2023 and the Paris Olympics when describing what it considers a continuing Iranian cyber threat.
Reports of manipulated refrigeration systems have also emerged elsewhere in Europe since the French incidents, although attribution for those cases has not been publicly established in the material reviewed.