TEHRAN — Iran’s atomic energy agency said on Sunday that its subsidiary’s email server had been hacked in a “foreign” attack aimed at drawing “attention” amid protests over Masa Amini’s death.
The Islamic Republic has been embroiled in weeks of demonstrations in the wake of the September 16 death of 22-year-old Amini after he was arrested on suspicion of violating a strict dress code for women.
Street violence has left dozens dead, mainly among protesters but also security forces, and hundreds of demonstrators arrested.
A group called Black Rewards issued an ultimatum on Twitter on Friday, urging documents on Tehran’s nuclear program to be released unless “political prisoners, prisoners of conscience and those arrested in recent protests” are released within 24 hours. threatened to go public.
Social media materials the group allegedly released on Saturday included a short clip from an alleged Iranian nuclear site, as well as documents containing agreements, maps and payslips.
The Atomic Energy Agency acknowledged in a statement that the hack targeted its subsidiary Nuclear Power Development Company, but downplayed the importance of the document.
Iranians protest the death of Masa Amini, who was detained by moral police in Tehran on October 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Middle East Images, File)
“Unauthorized access to this company’s email system by certain foreign-originating sources has resulted in the publication of some email content on social media,” the company said in a statement.
It added that these emails contained “technical messages and normal and routine correspondence.”
“The purpose of such desperate and illegal efforts is to create public attention, create a media atmosphere and psychological manipulation,” the statement continued.
In 2015, Iran reached a landmark agreement with world powers after years of negotiations on its nuclear program. The agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), eased sanctions on Iran in return for limiting Iran’s nuclear program.
In 2018, then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the United States, which derailed the agreement, but from April 2021 onwards, talks are underway for its revival.
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