France threatens actions against Iran over supermarket cyberattacks

France's foreign minister said Tuesday that Paris ruled out "nothing" to respond to a major cyberattack on hundreds of supermarket fridges in October that it has blamed on Iran. Read moreFrance accuses Iran of hacking supermarket fridges Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told FranceinfoTV that Iran's ambassador would be summoned and European-level sanctions would be sought. "I can also tell you that we rule nothing out and will take all measures – including those we may not disclose publicly – that we deem proportionate and necessary to deter any further attacks," he added. The goal, Barrot said, is "to deter anyone who might be tempted, in Iran or elsewhere, to do it again". Barrot said Monday that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was behind cyberattacks on supermarkets in the first such large-scale cyber sabotage on French territory. "This attack is unprecedented in both its scale and its level of aggression," Barrot said on the sidelines of a G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Paris. Hundreds of French supermarkets were hit in the October 11 and 12 cyberattacks, which raised the temperatures in their refrigerators, forcing many to throw away entire inventories of perishable food. Similar incidents have since been reported in other European countries. On November 2, stores in at least nine other European countries were hit by a suspected cyberattack on their freezer systems. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said Monday she had opened an investigation into Shahid Kaveh, a shadowy cyber unit of the IRGC, the Islamic republic's ideological army, over the attacks. The prosecutor's office has requested international arrest warrants be issued for two Shahid Kaveh officials. (FRANCE 24 with AFP)