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Israel-Linked Hackers Claim Cyberattack That Shuts Down 70% of Iran’s Gas Stations
People wait at a gas station during gas station disruption in Tehran, Iran, Dec. 18, 2023. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
A hacking group that has been linked to Israel on Monday claimed responsibility for a cyberattack that paralyzed the majority of gas stations across Iran.
More than 70 percent of gas stations in Iran were knocked out due to service disruptions, the country’s Oil Minister Javad Owji confirmed to Iranian state TV.
A group known as “Gonjeshke Darande,” or “predatory sparrow” in Farsi, announced it was behind the attack in a post on X/Twitter.
“We, Gonjeshke Darande, carried out another cyberattack today, taking out a majority of the gas pumps throughout Iran,” the hackers wrote. “This cyberattack comes in response to the aggression of the Islamic Republic and its proxies in the region.”
Pointing the finger at Iran’s so-called “supreme leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the group added, “Khamenei, playing with fire has a price. A month ago we warned you that we’re back and that we will impose cost for your provocations. This is just a taste of what we have in store.”
(1/2) We, Gonjeshke Darande, carried out another cyberattack today, taking out a majority of the gas pumps throughout Iran. This cyberattack comes in response to the aggression of the Islamic Republic and its proxies in the region.
Khamenei, playing with fire has a price.
— Gonjeshke Darande (@darandegonjeshk) December 18, 2023
The hacker group is suspected to be of Israeli origin and reportedly linked to Israel’s Military Intelligence Directorate, although it is difficult to pinpoint with definite certainty the source of such cyberattacks. It has previously claimed responsibility for targeting the Iranian state-owned Khuzestan Steel Co. to halt production, as well as several Iranian gas stations.
According to Iranian state media, “the reason for the disruption in fuel distribution is a cyber attack by Israel and the USA, after their losses on the other fronts.”
In a second statement published on Telegram, Gonjeshke Darande said Monday’s cyberattack “was conducted in a controlled manner while taking measures to limit potential damage to emergency services.”
“We delivered warnings to emergency services across the country before the operation began, and ensured a portion of the gas stations across the country were left unharmed for the same reason, despite our access and capability to completely disrupt their operation,” the group wrote.
On the same day, meanwhile, Israel’s National Cyber Agency announced that an attempted cyberattack on the Ziv Medical Center in northern Israel last month was carried out by Iranian and Hezbollah hackers. According to the cyber agency, a joint investigation was conducted alongside the Shin Bet security agency and the Israel Defense Forces that confirmed the failed attack on the hospital was perpetrated by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry in coordination with the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon.
The statement said that while the hackers’ goal of disrupting hospital activities failed, “the group was found to have stolen some of the sensitive information stored in the hospital’s systems.”
Israel has allegedly carried out several cyber attacks against Iran, which US intelligence agencies frequently call the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism. Iran is the main international sponsor of Hamas, the Palestinian terror group that carried out the Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, launching the current war in Gaza.
One of the most notable cyberattacks said to involve Israel was the Stuxnet program, an alleged joint project of Jerusalem and Washington, DC that destroyed major parts of the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran. The attack heavily hampered the country’s nuclear program, which many experts and governments say is designed to build nuclear weapons.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
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