Iran's bombIran: Stuxnet part of Western sabotage campaign
Iran claims that the Stuxnet virus which infected more than 30,000 computers used in industrial control systems in the country — many of them in Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities, especially to yet-to-become operational Bushehr nuclear power plant — is part of a covert Western plot to derail its nuclear program; this is the most direct admission by Iran that the West — read: the United States and Israel — have been engaged in a systematic covert sabotage campaign to derail Iran’s weapons program
Iran claimed Tuesday that a computer worm found on the laptops of several employees at the country’s nuclear power plant is part of a covert Western plot to derail its nuclear program.
Iranian officials have suggested in recent days that the Stuxnet worm that has affected computers of employees at the Bushehr nuclear power plant could be a conspiracy to damage Iran’s nuclear activities. Voice of American reports that Tuesday’s comments by Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast, though, were the strongest accusations of Western sabotage so far.
Mehmanparast said sabotage and pressure won’t make Iran stop its nuclear activities. “They (the West) have shown by their words and actions that they try, through any possible means, to prevent or delay our peaceful nuclear activities,” Mehmanparast told a news conference. “These actions won’t make us give up our (nuclear) rights at all. These methods won’t help stop or delay nuclear activities in our country,” he added.
The malicious computer code, designed to take over industrial sites such as the Bushehr nuclear plant, has also emerged in India, Indonesia, and the United States.
Iran said the Stuxnet worm infected personal computers of Bushehr employees but not the plant’s main systems.
The startup of Bushehr has been delayed but on Monday, Iran’s vice president Ali Akbar Salehi said it was not because of Stuxnet. He said a leak was delaying the start.
Who created the Stuxnet code and what its precise target is, if any, remains a mystery. Some foreign experts have speculated it was designed to target Tehran’s nuclear program.
The Web security firm Symantec Corp. says the computer worm was likely spawned by a government or a well-funded private group. It was apparently constructed by a small team of as many as five to ten highly educated and well-funded hackers, Symantec says.
The Bushehr plant has so far stood outside the current controversy over Iran’s nuclear program since Russia will be providing the fuel for the plant and supervising its disposal. Once the reactor becomes operational, though, there will little that could be done to prevent Iran from diverting spent uranium to a separation plant in which weapon-grade plutonium will be extracted.
Other aspects of Iran’s nuclear work, especially its enrichment of uranium, are of more immediate concern to the United States and other world powers. Enrichment can be used to produce weapons as well as make fuel for power plants.
Iranian Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi has announced the arrests of several people it alleged were suspected of nuclear espionage but he gave no details and did not clearly link the suspects with the investigation into Stuxnet.
