Iranian forces have carried out what they called cyber-warfare tactics
for the first time as the Islamic republic's naval units staged
manoeuvres in the key Strait of Hormuz, media reports said on Monday.
The
navy "launched a cyber-attack against the computer network of the
defensive forces in order to infiltrate the network and hack information
or spread virus," the English-language Iran daily reported, quoting
Rear Admiral Amir Rastegari.
Rastegari said the cyber-attack was successfully detected and blocked.
Over
the past three years, Iranian industrial facilities including oil and
nuclear sites, as well as communications networks and banking systems,
have all come under cyber-attacks blamed on the United States and
regional arch-foe Israel.
Tehran says it has developed civil and military cyber units to counter such attacks.
Naval
forces of the elite Revolutionary Guards have been engaged in a
military drill in the Strait of Hormuz as well as in the Gulf of Oman
for the past week.
Iranian military officials say the exercises
are aimed at demonstrating Tehran's "defensive naval capabilities and
sending a message of peace and friendship to regional countries."
Submarines are taking part in the drills in which several missile systems are being tested, Iranian media reported.
Military
officials have said that the manoeuvres were not aimed at closing the
strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway through which much of the world's
oil supply passes.
In the past Tehran has repeatedly threatened to block the strait if its vital interests such as nuclear sites are attacked.
Israel
says it has not ruled out a military strike against Iran's
controversial nuclear programme, which it and the West suspect is aimed
at developing atomic weapons, a charge Tehran denies.