Iranian missiles fly amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran. Image used for representation purposes only.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Paris, France:

From hitjobs to sabotages and cyberattacks, Israel has either been blamed for or has itself claimed a variety of attacks against Iran.

In Israel’s sights are Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Tehran’s nuclear programme.

As Israel launched a series of air strikes Saturday, which it said were aimed at Iran’s military infrastructure, AFP looks at the other attempts over the years.

Revolutionary Guard

Israel has been blamed for targeting top members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, mostly in attempts outside their country’s borders.

Latest victims include a general killed on September 27 by the side of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli strike in the suburbs of Beirut. 

An air strike blamed on Israel on Iran’s consular annex building in Damascus on April 1, 2024 killed, according to Tehran, seven members of the Revolutionary Guards, including two of top rank.

The recent killings are only the latest in a long list.

In December 2023, a commander died in Syria in an attack blamed on Israel, a year after a colonel was killed, also in Syria. 

In May 2022, Sayyad Khodaei, a member of the Quds Force, the unit in charge of the Guards’ external operations, was gunned down by two motorcyclists on his way home in Tehran. According to the New York Times, Israel told the United States that it was responsible for the hitjob. 

General Hassan Moghadam, responsible for armament programmes, was killed in an explosion at a munitions depot in November 2011 close to Tehran, in an operation blamed on the United States and Israel.

Iran’s nuclear programme

Israel has also been accused of carrying out targeted assassinations against several high-ranking Iranian physicists, often linked to Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Among them are nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, killed in November 2020 and presented after his death as a vice minister of defence. 

Scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, who was working on the Natanz nuclear site, and Majid Shahriari, the founder of Iran’s nuclear society, as well as particle physics professor Massoud Ali Mohammadi were others killed over the years.

Israel has also been accused of sabotaging Iranian nuclear installations, mainly the Natanz complex to the south of Tehran.

On April 11, 2021, the site saw a small explosion, according to Iran’s atomic energy agency.

The New York Times reported that Israel played a part in the “strong blast” that apparently took out the internal electric system supplying uranium enrichment centrifuges.

Another “accident” also hit Natanz in July 2020, in what Iran’s atomic agency had said was a “sabotage”.

In September 2010, a cyberattack using the Stuxnet virus took out the enrichment centrifuges at Natanz. 

Iran accused Israel and the United States, while information security experts also pointed the finger at Washington. 

Iran’s allies

Iran’s allies too have found that Tehran is not always safe shelter.

Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed on July 31 in Iran’s capital in an attack blamed on Israel. He was in Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s new president Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iranian petrol

In March 2021, the Wall Street Journal, citing US and Middle East officials, reported that Israel had in 2019 targeted at least a dozen vessels travelling to Syria and in most cases, transporting Iranian petrol.

The report said Israel had deployed underwater mines in the assault.

Through 2021, Israel and Iran accused each other of naval sabotages.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Four weeks after Iran attacked Israel with a barrage of ballistic missiles to avenge the strikes on ally Hezbollah, the Jewish state responded at the time of its choosing. The tensions never simmered in the region and now Iran says it is ready to respond to the ‘act of aggression’.

Iran is prepared to respond to any Israeli “aggression,” Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, citing sources. “There is no doubt that Israel will face a proportional reaction for any action it takes,” Tasnim quotes the sources as saying.

The Israeli army has warned Iran that it will “pay a heavy price” if it begins a new round of escalation. Iran said the attack caused “limited damage”.

Israel Strikes Back

Iranian state TV reported “strong explosions” around Tehran on Saturday morning, without specifying their cause. The semi-official Tasnim News Agency noted that no rockets or aircraft were reported in the skies over Tehran at the time of the explosions. 

Iranian state TV claimed that the blasts heard around Tehran were due to the “activation of the air defence system.” “The loud blasts heard around Tehran were related to the activation of the air defence system against the actions of Zionist regime which attacked three locations outside of Tehran city,” state TV reported.

Israel-Iran Live Updates: Israel Begins Strikes On Military Targets In Iran

Iranian authorities suggested the noises could be related to defensive measures, hinting at the possibility that Iran’s air defence systems had been activated.

In addition to Tehran, residents in the nearby city of Karaj reported hearing blasts. Iranian authorities say that operations at critical sites such as the Imam Khomeini International Airport, Mehrabad Airport, and a prominent oil refinery south of Tehran were “normal” and unaffected by the strikes. However, several military bases near Tehran were reportedly targeted by Israeli forces, according to Iran’s Fars News Agency.

Israeli officials said the attacks are justified as measures of self-defence. IDF’s spokesperson Daniel Hagari also urged Israeli citizens to “remain alert and vigilant.”

Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials are assessing the security situation after the strikes. Meanwhile, Iran has suspended all flights until further notice.

What Happened On October 1

A few hours before midnight, Iran attacked Israel with missiles and rockets after tensions escalated in West Asia following artillery and air strikes on Lebanon to target Hezbollah, a Shia militant outfit and a strong ally of Iran.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the attack was in response to the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Videos show the night sky lighting up with explosions after air raid sirens echoed across the country.

The missiles were raining down on Israel and the Iron Dome and Arrow air defence system were in action to intercept and neutralise the targets. Iran fired over 100 missiles, Israeli media reported and several videos showed intercepted missile debris falling over Israeli cities. 

In Tehran, the Iranian capital, the sound of explosions could be heard, with State-run media there initially acknowledging the blasts and saying some of the sounds came from air defense systems around the city.

A Tehran resident told The Associated Press that at least seven explosions could be heard, which rattled the surrounding area. The resident spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

International flights began diverting around western Iran as news of the strikes broke, flight-tracking data showed.

– AP

Representational image of rockets in the sky after Iran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles towards Israel
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Israel launched airstrikes early Saturday (October 26, 2024) targeting what it described as military targets in Iran in retaliation for a ballistic missile assault on October 1, officials said. There was no immediate information on damage in the Islamic Republic.

Israel’s military described the attack as “precise strikes on military targets in Iran,” without immediately elaborating.

“The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7 – on seven fronts – including direct attacks from Iranian soil,” an Israeli military statement said. “Like every other sovereign country in the world, the State of Israel has the right and the duty to respond.”

Explosions in Tehran

In Tehran, the Iranian capital, the sound of explosions could be heard, with state-run media there initially acknowledging the blasts and saying some of the sounds came from air defence systems around the city.

ALSO READ: A three-tier war in West Asia with no endgame

Iran has launched two ballistic missile attacks on Israel in recent months amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip that began with the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel also has launched a ground invasion in Lebanon.

The strike happened just as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was arriving back in the U.S. after a tour of the Middle East where he and other U.S. officials had warned Israel to tender a response that would not further escalate the conflict in the region and exclude nuclear sites in Iran.

Damascus:

Tehran’s top diplomat in Damascus on Saturday threatened an “even stronger” reaction to any aggression, as Israel readied its response to an Iranian missile attack earlier this week.

“Our reaction to any attack by the Zionist regime is completely clear,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in the Syrian capital, where he met top officials including Tehran’s ally President Bashar al-Assad.

“For every action, there will be a proportional and similar reaction from Iran, and even stronger,” he said.

He spoke after an Israeli military official told AFP on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to discuss the issue publicly, the army was “preparing a response to the unprecedented and unlawful Iranian attack”.

In Damascus earlier, Araghchi renewed his call for ceasefires in the Gaza Strip and in Lebanon.

Araghchi’s visit, his first since he took office in August, comes almost a year after Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel, triggering the war in Gaza.

The conflict has also drawn in Iran’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah, and on September 23 Israel sharply intensified its campaign against the militant group.

“The most important issue today is the ceasefire, especially in Lebanon and in Gaza,” Araghchi said.

“There are initiatives in this regard. There have been consultations that we hope will be successful.”

His meetings in Damascus follow a visit to Beirut on Friday during which he voiced support for a truce in Lebanon acceptable to Hezbollah, “simultaneously with a ceasefire in Gaza”.

He travelled to Syria’s capital by air after Lebanon said an Israeli air strike on Friday severed the main international highway linking the two countries.

Israel said the strike aimed to prevent the flow of weapons to Hezbollah from neighbouring Syria.

Iran has been a staunch ally of Assad throughout the civil war that erupted in 2011 following the suppression of anti-government protests.

Earlier on Saturday, Assad’s office quoted him as saying Iran’s missile attack on Israel was “a strong response and taught the Zionist entity a lesson”.

The attack came just days after an Israeli air strike in southern Beirut killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Doha:

President Masoud Pezeshkian insisted Wednesday that Iran was “not looking for war” but pledged a stronger response if Israel retaliates for its missile attack.

“If it (Israel) wants to react, we will have a stronger response, this is what the Islamic Republic is committed to,” Pezeshkian said in a joint press conference with Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, in Doha.

“We are not looking for war, it is Israel that forces us to react,” he said.

Pezeshkian spoke a day after Iran fired about 200 missiles including hypersonic weapons towards Israel, sending frightened civilians into shelters.

Israel intercepted most of them, while medics reported two people lightly wounded by shrapnel. One of the missiles damaged a school building.

On Wednesday the Israeli military said several Iranian missiles fell inside air force bases without causing any damage.

“The dirty goal of the Zionist regime is to cause insecurity and spread crisis in the region,” Pezeshkian said.

“What we want from US and European countries is to tell the entity they have planted in the region (Israel) to stop the bloodshed.”

Sheikh Tamim warned that Israel was drawing the region to the “brink of the abyss” with its attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The emir also condemned ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, saying Doha would press on with efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas, whose October 7 attacks triggered the war.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Iran on Tuesday fired 200 missiles, including hypersonic weapons, at Israel as tensions in the Middle East reach breaking point. Israel has vowed that Iran will “pay” for the attack. But relations between the two countries were not always sour. Unthinkable as it may sound, Israel and Iran had collaborated, with help from the United States, to fight a common enemy. 

In the 1960s, both Israel and Iran found a mutual adversary in Iraq. While Israel was locked in a broader struggle against hostile Arab regimes, Iran, under the Shah, viewed Iraq’s leadership as a direct threat to its security and regional ambitions. This laid the groundwork for one of the most secretive partnerships of the era, involving the Mossad – Israel’s intelligence agency – and SAVAK – Iran’s secret police – both of which played key roles in bolstering Kurdish insurgents against the central Iraqi regime. These Kurdish groups, seen as the Achilles’ heel of Iraq’s Arab nationalist leadership, were crucial to undermining the Iraqi government from within.

The cooperation between Israel and Iran reached new heights with the formation of a trilateral intelligence alliance code-named Trident, which also included Turkey. Beginning in 1958, Trident saw these three non-Arab powers exchange critical intelligence and engage in joint counterintelligence operations. As the relationship matured, Israel and Iran became even closer, forming deep military and intelligence ties that extended well into the Shah’s reign.

The Shah’s Ambitions And Israel’s Influence

The Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was driven not only by shared geopolitical interests but by a belief in Israel’s influence in Washington. The Shah saw Israel as a potential means for enhancing relations with the United States, especially after the Kennedy administration voiced concerns about his authoritarian rule.

The burgeoning Israeli-Iranian relationship became a key feature of Iran’s strategy to align itself with the West, resulting in the establishment of a permanent Israeli delegation in Tehran by the mid-1960s, which functioned as a de facto embassy.

The Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi with US President Jimmy Carter
Photo Credit: Getty

However, the relationship was not without complications. The Shah, aware of the widespread anti-Israeli sentiment across the Arab world, carefully managed the public face of Iran’s relationship with Israel. While he became more critical of Israel after the 1967 Six-Day War, his strategic interests continued to outweigh ideological or diplomatic positions.

Cooperation In The Shadows

The 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran drastically changed the country’s political landscape, transforming it into an anti-Israel Islamic Republic. Yet, even after Ayatollah Khomeini’s rise to power, the new regime found itself quietly collaborating with Israel, driven once again by common enemies. As the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) dragged on, both countries recognised the advantage of working together against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.

Israel, too, saw an opportunity in aiding Iran. In particular, it viewed Saddam Hussein’s Iraq as a more immediate and dangerous threat to its security, given Baghdad’s ambitions for regional dominance and its pursuit of nuclear capabilities. Iraq’s formidable military, supplied by both the United States and the Soviet Union, posed a risk, and Israel’s shipment of arms to Iran – particularly after Prime Minister Menachem Begin approved the sale of military equipment in 1980 – was a calculated decision to undermine Iraq’s strength.

Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin (L) chats to Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat at his home where the ministers discussed events in Iran in 1979.
Photo Credit: Getty

These covert arms deals were conducted despite US policy that barred military support for Iran until the release of American hostages held in Tehran. In exchange for Israeli military aid, Khomeini’s regime allowed a significant number of Iranian Jews to emigrate to Israel or the United States, a concession that underscored the pragmatic nature of the relationship.

The Iran-Contra Affair

By the mid-1980s, Iran’s need for military support reached a critical point. The Iran-Iraq War had drained the country’s resources, and its economy was teetering on the brink of collapse. It was against this backdrop that the Iran-Contra affair unfolded – a secretive, high-stakes operation involving arms sales facilitated by Israel, with the backing of senior Ronald Reagan administration officials, to secure the release of American hostages held by Iran-sponsored Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Algeria’s President Houri Boumedienne, (center), is flanked by Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi of Iran, (left), and Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, (right) in 1975.
Photo Credit: Getty

For Israel, these arms deals were lucrative and strategically valuable, further enhancing its role as a clandestine ally of Iran in its war against Iraq. Iran, desperate for arms and resources, was willing to engage with both Israel and the United States, even as it continued to publicly vilify Israel. 

The Secret Missile Project: Operation Flower

The Israeli-Iranian partnership extended beyond conventional arms deals. One of the most ambitious projects was Operation Flower, a secret multibillion-dollar initiative that began in 1977 under the Shah’s regime. The project involved the modification of surface-to-surface missiles, potentially capable of being fitted with nuclear warheads, for sale to Iran. However, the nuclear aspect of the project was not pursued.

As part of the deal, Iran made a substantial down payment in 1978 by sending $260 million worth of oil to Israel, a New York Times report from 1986 claimed. Work on the missile program continued until the Islamic Revolution in 1979, after which Khomeini’s regime abruptly halted the collaboration. 

Spare Tyres For F-4 Fighter Jets

Israel covertly supplied Iran with 250 spare tyres for American-made F-4 fighter jets in October 1980, as Iran waged war against Iraq, according to a New York Times report from 1981. 

After Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Iran in September 1980, Israel found itself in an unusual position. The Israeli sale of 250 retreaded tires, valued at around $300,000, was a secretive transaction aimed at bolstering Iran’s air force. The F-4 Phantom jets, a key component of Iran’s military, had been grounded due to wear and tear. With no immediate access to parts due to the embargo placed by the US on Iran, Israel stepped in to fill the gap. According to the New York Times, retreaded tyres were produced in Israel and then covertly transported to France, where they were flown to Iran on chartered planes.

The Shah of Iran, in St. Louis to discuss buying F-4 Phantom jets built by McDonnel Douglas aircraft company.
Photo Credit: Getty

The transaction occurred during a delicate period for US-Iran relations, with 52 American diplomats still held hostage in Tehran. The Jimmy Carter administration, keen to secure their release, urged Israel to suspend further military deals with Iran until the hostages were freed. According to officials involved, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin agreed to American pressure and paused all military dealings, despite Israeli strategic interests in preventing an Iraqi victory in the war.

Beyond regional power politics, Israel had a more personal concern: the fate of the Jewish population in Iran. At the time, approximately 60,000 Jews lived in Iran, and there were growing fears in Israel that they could become targets of repression or persecution under the new regime. Maintaining some form of back-channel communication with Iran was seen as a way to protect these Jewish communities.

Hostility And Rivalry 

By the 1990s, the era of cooperation between Israel and Iran had all but evaporated. The geopolitical factors that had once united them -Arab socialism, Soviet influence, and the threat of Iraq – had disappeared, leaving little incentive for continued collaboration. Iran, now firmly under the control of its revolutionary government, embraced an anti-Israel ideology, supporting groups like Hezbollah and Hamas in their conflicts with the Jewish state.

By the early 2000s, the election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose Holocaust denial and aggressive rhetoric against Israel stoked tensions further, cemented Iran as Israel’s most prominent adversary in the region. As Israel fought wars with Hezbollah in 2006 and Hamas in 2008, Iranian support for these non-state actors – collectively termed the ‘Axis Of Resistance’ – became a central concern in Israel’s strategic calculations.

2024 And Threat Of All-Out War

Ties between Iran and Israel are now non-existent. The two Middle Eastern countries are now on the brink of all-out war, evidenced by Israel’s multi-frontal conflict against Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthis in Yemen. All three of these armed militant groups are part of Iran’s ‘Axis Of Resistance’. 

New Delhi:

In a direct address to the people of Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a clear and forceful message on Monday. The Israeli leader’s speech, delivered in English and subtitled in Persian, conveyed both a warning to the Iranian regime and an assurance to its citizens. The message comes amidst Israel’s escalating actions against Iranian-backed groups in the Middle East.

Netanyahu condemned Iran’s leadership for allegedly prioritising regional conflicts over its own people’s welfare. “Every day, you see a regime that subjugates you make fiery speeches about defending Lebanon, defending Gaza,” Netanyahu said, adding that the Iranian government was “plunging the region deeper into darkness and deeper into war.”

Referring to Iran’s support for Hezbollah and Hamas, groups that have been engaged in violent conflicts with Israel, Netanyahu said that Iran’s proxies were being systematically targeted. “Iran’s puppets are being eliminated,” he said. adding that there was “nowhere we will not go to protect our people.”

“With every passing moment, the regime is bringing you – the noble Persian people – closer to the abyss,” he said. “The vast majority of Iranians know their regime doesn’t care a whit about them. If it did care, if it cared about you, it would stop wasting billions of dollars on futile wars across the Middle East. It would start improving your lives.

“Imagine if all the vast money the regime wasted on nuclear weapons and foreign wars were invested in your children’s education, in improving your health care, in building your nation’s infrastructure, water, sewage, all the other things that you need. Imagine that.”

Netanyahu predicted a future where Iran is free from theocratic rule, envisioning a new era of peace between Israel and Iran. He expressed confidence that change would come “a lot sooner than people think.” According to Netanyahu, a post-regime Iran would enjoy prosperity through global investments, tourism, and technological advancements. 

“When Iran is finally free – and that moment will come a lot sooner than people think – everything will be different,” he said. “Our two ancient peoples, the Jewish people and the Persian people, will finally be at peace. Our two countries, Israel and Iran, will be at peace.

“When that day comes, the terror network that the regime built in five continents will be bankrupt, dismantled. Iran will thrive as never before: Global investment; massive tourism; brilliant technological innovation based on the tremendous talents that exist inside Iran. Doesn’t that sound better than endless poverty, repression and war?”

This direct message comes in the wake of Israel’s intensified operations against Iranian proxies. Days before Netanyahu’s statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) executed a major airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah at the group’s headquarters in Beirut. The strike also reportedly took the life of a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) official. Nasrallah’s death has been met with celebration by anti-regime Iranians worldwide.

“You deserve better. Your children deserve better. The entire world deserves better. I know you don’t support the rapists and murderers of Hamas and Hezbollah, but your leaders do. You deserve more. The people of Iran should know – Israel stands with you. May we together know a future of prosperity and peace,” Netanyahu added. 

Following Nasrallah’s assassination, reports surfaced that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was moved to a secure location amid fears of further Israeli action.

The tension between Israel and Iran reached new heights earlier this year when Iran launched over 300 missiles and drones at Israel in retaliation for an alleged Israeli strike in Syria that killed several high-ranking IRGC officers. The vast majority of those missiles were intercepted by Israeli defence systems, with the support of a US-led coalition. Israel responded to Iran’s actions with a limited drone strike targeting a nuclear research centre in Isfahan.

Nasrallah’s assassination also came amid Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has seen frequent cross-border attacks against Israel, allegedly in solidarity with Hamas during its ongoing war with Israel in Gaza. Israel has steadily escalated its strikes on Hezbollah targets, leading to significant losses within the group’s leadership. Earlier in the month, mysterious explosions attributed to Israel destroyed Hezbollah’s communication devices, injuring thousands and intensifying the ongoing conflict.
 

New Delhi:

It’s June, 2009. The streets of Tehran have erupted in protests over the results of a presidential election. The incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has emerged victorious with an overwhelming majority against Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Protesters alleged a fraudulent victory. Among them is a woman named Neda Agha-Soltan, who on her way to join the main protests, parked her car at some distance from the gathering and stepped out as the vehicle’s air conditioner was not working. As she breathed in the fresh air, a sniper belonging to a government-funded militia took aim and shot her square in the chest. She was dead.

While this was unfolding in Tehran, around 300 kilometres to the south at the Natanz nuclear facility, the heart of Iran’s nuclear program – ‘strange’ things were happening. Just days after Neda’s death, the CIA reportedly received approval to initiate a cyber operation against this facility. The operation involved uploading a sophisticated piece of malware, known as Stuxnet, directly onto Iranian hardware. This malware had been in development for years, a collaborative effort between the United States and Israel, and represented the world’s first digital weapon.

Stuxnet: The Genesis

Stuxnet was not a new presence in Iran’s nuclear infrastructure; it had been causing disruptions for years. However, this new version was designed to deliver a decisive blow. 

The story of Stuxnet’s development and deployment began years earlier. The inception of Stuxnet can be traced back to the early 2000s, during a period of heightened tension between Iran and Western nations over Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The Bush administration, concerned about Iran’s potential to develop nuclear weapons, sought unconventional methods to impede Tehran’s progress. Thus, the covert operation codenamed ‘Olympic Games’ was born. This initiative, involving close collaboration between the CIA, the NSA, and Israel’s Mossad, aimed to create a digital weapon capable of physically disrupting Iran’s nuclear enrichment capabilities.

Stuxnet was not an ordinary piece of malware. Its design reflected a level of sophistication unprecedented in the realm of cyber weapons. The malware targeted Siemens Step7 software, used to control industrial equipment, specifically focusing on the centrifuges at Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment facility. These centrifuges, essential for enriching uranium, operated at high speeds and required precise control to function correctly.

Stuxnet: The Execution

The US built a replica of Iran’s nuclear facility in its Oak Ridge facility in the state of Tennessee, where they meticulously studied the centrifuges to understand how to sabotage them without detection. In 2007, the first version of Stuxnet was released, targeting these centrifuges by preventing the release of pressure through the valves, causing the uranium gas to solidify and the centrifuges to spin out of control and ultimately self-destruct.

Iran’s nuclear facility was air-gapped, meaning its network was offline, so Stuxnet had to be introduced via an inside agent using a USB drive. The malware operated undetected, using a rootkit to hide its presence and stolen digital certificates to appear as legitimate commands. Despite its effectiveness, initial versions of Stuxnet only slowed Iran’s progress, and did not sabotage it entirely.

In response, US researchers developed a more aggressive version of Stuxnet, using four zero-day exploits and stolen private keys to sign its commands. This version could spread rapidly, even across air-gapped networks, and reprogram the centrifuges to destroy themselves while masking the sabotage as hardware malfunctions.

Stuxnet: The Implications

An insider at Natanz introduced this new version of Stuxnet, and it quickly spread throughout the facility’s network. However, its aggressive nature led to unintended consequences: the malware spread beyond Natanz, infecting computers across Iran and eventually the globe. The CIA, realising the uncontrollable spread of Stuxnet, decided to continue with the operation, hoping it would remain undetected within Natanz.

Their hopes were dashed when cybersecurity firm Symantec discovered Stuxnet and published a detailed report on the malware. Iran soon realised the extent of the cyber attack and took measures to protect their nuclear program. Despite the setbacks caused by Stuxnet, Iran vowed to continue its nuclear ambitions.

One of the earlier hints of Stuxnet’s existence emerged in June 2010 when a Belarusian cybersecurity firm discovered an unusual piece of malware on an Iranian computer. As cybersecurity experts from around the world began analysing the code, they were astounded by its complexity and purpose. 

Impact On Iran’s Nuclear Program

Stuxnet’s impact on Iran’s nuclear program was significant but not immediately catastrophic. By 2009, Iran had installed over 7,000 centrifuges at Natanz, but Stuxnet caused approximately 1,000 of these to fail. The disruptions forced Iran to temporarily halt its enrichment activities and replace the damaged equipment, delaying its nuclear ambitions by several months to years.

The Iranian government, initially oblivious to the cause of the centrifuge failures, eventually recognised the cyber intrusion. Publicly, Iran downplayed the impact of Stuxnet, but internally, it spurred significant investment in cybersecurity measures and the development of offensive cyber capabilities.

Over the following years, targeted assassinations of key Iranian nuclear scientists further crippled their program. Car bombings and other attacks eliminated many of the leaders involved, including the director of the Natanz facility.

Stuxnet: Global Fallout

Stuxnet did not confine itself to Iran. It spread to other countries, including India, Indonesia, and Pakistan, affecting industrial systems worldwide. In India, several critical infrastructure facilities,  reportedly infecting as many as 80,000 computers. Several power plants and manufacturing units were also found to be vulnerable to similar attacks.

In 2013, India adopted the National Cyber Security Policy which focused on “protection of information infrastructure and preservation of the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information in cyberspace”. The following year, the Centre announced the formation of the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre to further safeguard India’s cyber security space.