Iran Petrol Station Network Crippled By Cyber-attack

Tehran, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Oct, 2021 ) :Iran struggled Wednesday to restart its petrol distribution system after it was hit by an unprecedented cyber-attack which security officials said was launched from abroad.

The unclaimed attack crippled the country's system of government-issued electronic cards which motorists use to buy heavily subsidised fuel.

Long queues formed outside petrol stations, angering motorists in a country already suffering under tough economic sanctions over its nuclear dispute with major powers.

"Guys, can you tell me where we can get gasoline in the east, northeast or even north of Tehran?" one user asked on Twitter.

Of Iran's 4,300 petrol stations connected to the system, only 220 had been reconnected, Fatemeh Kahi, a spokeswoman for the National Oil Products Distribution Company, told the official IRNA news agency.

However, she added, "nearly 3,000 stations can distribute fuel offline, but at the open price" -- the rate consumers must pay once they have used up their monthly allowance of subsidised fuel.