The France Iran cyberattack on supermarket freezers was blamed on Tehran on Monday, when French officials accused Iran’s Revolutionary Guards of responsibility for the hacks that knocked out commercial refrigerators across France last month. Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the government could confirm the attack was carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and he warned there would be consequences for Iran. The Iranian ambassador has been summoned to France’s foreign ministry, and Paris said it will seek sanctions at the European level against those responsible.
The France Iran cyberattack struck on 11 and 12 October, when hackers overrode the temperature controls on commercial fridges and freezers in hundreds of establishments. About 700 of the country’s 10,000 supermarkets were affected, and at least 15 fires broke out as the hackers cranked up the heat. Food losses ran into the tens of millions of euros, and the chains hit included Casino, Leclerc, Cooperative U, Metro, Carrefour and Intermarche. The hackers activated defrost cycles and pushed temperatures up, spoiling fresh and frozen food across the country.
France Iran cyberattack traced to Shahid Kaveh
The France Iran cyberattack was traced to Shahid Kaveh, a cyber offensive unit tied to the Revolutionary Guards, in a joint report issued by French spy and cyber agencies. The report named three alleged associates: Hamid Reza Lashgarian, who heads the cyberattacks branch of the Guards, and Reza Salarvand and Mahdi Lashgarian, who run the Shahid Kaveh operation. The hackers worked through front groups masquerading as vigilante hackers, including CyberAveng3rs and the Cyber Isnaad Front. The techniques used are known to have been used by the Shahid Kaveh unit since at least April 2026, according to the report.
The announcement came only minutes after Reuters revealed that investigators privately suspected Iran of being behind the attacks. Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not return messages seeking comment, and Iran routinely denies carrying out malicious cyber operations. The Paris prosecutor’s office has opened a formal judicial investigation into the alleged involvement of the head of Shahid Kaveh, two deputies and other potential participants. The investigation covers suspected organised cybercrime, and the French government said it will use all available means of response.
France Iran cyberattack called unprecedented
The France Iran cyberattack was described by France’s foreign ministry as the first cyber offensive campaign carried out purely for the purpose of sabotage on national territory. Barrot called the attack unprecedented in both its scale and its level of aggression. The hacks were among the most disruptive cyberattacks of the Iran war that began in February, a conflict marked by scattered incidents of alleged digital disruption. France’s Cyber Crisis Coordination Centre, which brings together the national cybersecurity agency, the foreign and domestic intelligence services, the armaments directorate and the cyber defence command, published the findings in a report on Monday.
The attacks did not stop in October. In early November, a second wave hit more than 100 establishments across Europe, with grocery stores in Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg and Sweden reporting widespread food losses after temperatures were pushed as high as 50 degrees Celsius. Refrigerators used by French blood banks were also affected, and staff had to move blood to different cold storage units. Les Mousquetaires said refrigerators at about 150 of its stores rose to 50 degrees for six hours. The French announcement was the first official attribution to Iran of this type of refrigeration system sabotage.
France Iran cyberattack and the response
The France Iran cyberattack has pushed Paris to act with its European partners. The French government said it would use all available means of response, including within the European Union and alongside its European and international partners, to anticipate, prevent, deter and respond to destabilising and destructive actions in cyberspace. France reserves the right to take any additional measures, public and non public, deemed necessary and proportionate. Sanctions at the European level are expected to follow, and the ambassador’s summons was the first step.
The France Iran cyberattack left hundreds of supermarkets counting their losses and a government accusing a foreign state of sabotage on French soil. The investigation will now run through the courts, and the sanctions process will run through Brussels. Iran has denied this kind of operation before, and it has not commented on the latest accusation. The freezers have been fixed, but the dispute between Paris and Tehran has only grown.