The cyber attacks on French supermarkets that occurred on October 11 and 12 led to an increase in temperature in the refrigerators of these stores and, in some cases, resulted in the complete destruction of perishable food stocks. These attacks, attributed to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran, have been denied by Iranian officials.
Iran's Operations Expanding to Europe
While Paris officials have only referred to the attacks against French supermarkets, reports of similar incidents are also heard from at least 11 other European countries. Security sources and experts say that Iran has increased its operations on European soil since the onset of the war initiated by Israel and the United States in February.
Iran has also warned that any new attack could lead to retaliation. In recent days, Tehran has sent clear signals to several countries, warning that if another major bombing attack is carried out by the United States and Israel, there will be consequences in Europe.
Increase in Cyber Threats and Their Consequences
Iran has previously been accused of attempting to design and execute various attacks against U.S. interests in Europe, including attacks on two air bases used by the United States in the UK. Reports indicate that U.S. military forces evacuated their aircraft from Mildenhall Air Base on Monday due to security threats.
Additionally, Iran has been accused of hiring proxy forces to carry out attacks, including on a branch of Bank of America in Paris and targeting Jewish infrastructure in Belgium and the Netherlands. Paris has also accused Iran of spreading misinformation related to protests that have affected France and referenced the mistreatment of the second diplomat of the French embassy in Tehran in October.
In this context, the war between Iran and the United States has reached a stalemate, and efforts are underway to prevent the resumption of hostilities. Threats indicating that Europe may be targeted have also been echoed in propaganda released by media close to Tehran.
In an AI-generated promotional video titled "Europe on Fire," released by networks close to Iran, several European bases, including RAF Fairford Air Base in the UK and Istres Air Base in France, are shown under attack. The video depicts fears of missile attacks in Paris and London, with a voiceover in English stating: "You are not our enemy, but anyone in Europe who helps America harm our women and children is our enemy."
The SITE intelligence monitoring group reported that on November 8, the Persian-language media outlet Tiban released a video referring to what it calls "devil's nests," which points to U.S. military bases in Europe, including Ramstein in Germany and Bizerte in Bulgaria.
From terrorist threats to cyber attacks, these actions continue Iran's strategy of asymmetric threats and its determination to shift the battlefield to European soil. Clément Therme, an Iran specialist at the University of Montpellier Paul-Valéry, noted that these actions are similar to the methods Russia uses in its operations in Europe to strike at Ukraine's strategic depth.
While American or Jewish interests were previously the main targets, the scope of potential targets has now expanded to civilian infrastructure such as refrigeration systems.
