Iran's nuclear energy agency says email hacked amid protests

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) – Iran's nuclear energy agency said Sunday an email server of one of its subsidiaries was hacked from a foreign country amid ongoing protests over the death of a young woman in police custody.

In a statement, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) confirmed the intrusion into an email server of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant from "a certain foreign country", with information about activities there being leaked online.

The agency, however, played down the hacking incident, saying the move was designed to "attract public attention" and "create media space".

"It is worth noting that the content in (hacked) users' emails carried technical messages and common, daily exchanges," the statement said, adding that the issue was examined quickly and a report was submitted to the agency officials.

Earlier, an Iranian hacking group by the name “Black Reward” in a statement posted on Twitter announced that it hacked information related to Iran's nuclear activities at the Bushehr plant, saying the move was in support of ongoing protests in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini.

Amini died in police custody last month after being detained by the country's morality police allegedly for wearing "inappropriate dress". The incident sparked widespread protests throughout Iran and drew strong reactions from world leaders.

In the statement posted on Saturday, the hacking group, which has claimed responsibility for information leaks of many Iranian organizations in recent weeks, said the hacking of the AEOI subsidiary was "in the name of Mahsa Amini and for women and life, freedom", invoking the slogan used by protesters in Iran and abroad.

The group said the leaked information included "management and operational schedules of different parts of Bushehr power plant,” besides visas of Iranian and Russian nuclear experts working there, financial receipts as well as agreements with local and foreign organizations.

Bushehr is Iran's first nuclear power plant situated along the Persian Gulf that was built with Russian technology and manpower in 2011.

It comes as indirect talks between Iran and the US on salvaging the 2015 nuclear deal have been effectively put on the back burner amid renewed tensions over the death of Amini and reports in the Western media about Iran supplying drones to Russia to be used in the Ukraine war.

While the two sides have stopped short of ruling out the resumption of the talks, blaming each other for creating hurdles, experts believe the progress made since April last year has been washed away amid fresh rounds of sanctions imposed by the US and the European Union on Iran.