A woman walks past empty fresh-food refrigerators at an Intermarché supermarket following a cyberattack in Névez, western France, on Oct. 12, 2026. Fred Tanneau/AFP via Getty Images
France summoned the Iranian ambassador after Paris accused the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of being behind last month’s cyberattack on refrigerators in hundreds of supermarkets.
French officials said on Monday that the Shahid Kaveh cyberoffensive unit, affiliated with the electronic and cybercenter of the IRGC, was responsible for the attacks on the night of Oct. 11 to Oct. 12 that targeted supermarket refrigeration controllers, affecting some 700 retail locations across France.
“The summoning of the Iranian ambassador, announced by the minister yesterday, took place this morning,” the foreign ministry said on Nov. 10.
Earlier, a statement by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs spokesperson dated Nov. 9, but published on the department’s English language X account on Nov. 10, said that it would summon the ambassador “to express its condemnation of these cyber attacks in the strongest terms.”
“France reserves the right to take any further steps, both publicly and non-publicly, that it deems appropriate and proportionate in order to respond to these cyber attacks,” the Nov. 9 statement said.
Jean-Noël Barrot, the minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, told French public broadcasting service franceinfo that French authorities “will take all measures we deem necessary and proportionate to respond to this attack and deter anyone who might be considering repeating it, in Iran or elsewhere.”
When asked to elaborate on what these measures could be, Barrot said that could mean sanctions by European nations, as well as freezing assets.
“But I also want to tell you: we are not ruling anything out, and we will take all measures, including those we will not mention publicly or on this program, that we deem proportionate and necessary to deter any further attacks and punish the perpetrators of this unacceptable aggression,” he said.
When asked about other recent cyberattacks, including against a refrigeration equipment supplier used by the French Blood Establishment, France’s public blood service, Barrot said that investigations are underway and being conducted by various government agencies.
“Depending on the results of these investigations, we will take all necessary measures, at least within the diplomatic sphere,” he said.
Iran Rejects Accusations
Tehran routinely denies carrying out malicious cyber operations.
According to Tasnim News Agency, Tehran’s semi-official news agency, the Iranian Foreign Ministry called the French allegations “baseless.”
Tasnim quoted the ministry’s statement as saying that “the Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes that it will not hesitate to take necessary and appropriate measures to protect its interests and national security against illegal foreign movements.”
Europe has seen a series of cyberattacks in recent months, including last week.
On Nov. 2, several supermarket chains across a number of European countries
reportedthat hackers had forced temperatures in their store refrigerators and freezers to rise.
Countries affected include Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Italy, and Germany. At least several stores were forced to throw away food.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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