ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – France on Monday accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of being behind cyberattacks in mid-October that caused significant financial and material damage at more than 700 sites across French territory, warning that Paris was determined to use “all available means of response.”

In mid-October, a cyberattack campaign targeted supermarket refrigeration controllers deployed in more than 700 large retail outlets in France casuing “considerable material damage, fires, and food losses estimated at tens of millions of euros,” according to a statement attributed to Pascal Confavreux, the spokesperson for the French foreign ministry.

“Following its investigation, France is able to attribute these destructive actions to Iran, carried out by the SHAHID KAVEH cyber-offensive unit, affiliated with the electronic and cyber center of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”

Shahid Kaveh, an offensive cyber unit affiliated with Iran’s IRGC, has been accused of conducting cyberattacks in pursuit of the Islamic Republic’s interests over the years, with allegations raised by the US, Israel, UK, and France.

“This actor poses a persistent threat to our critical infrastructure,” said the spokesperson.

Following the cyberattack, Iran’s IRGC-affiliated Fars News reported that hackers had targeted refrigeration systems at French retail chains, causing temperatures to rise by up to 50°C, without identifying the perpetrators or claiming responsibility for the attacks.

It said that around 150 shops were targeted.

“France is determined to use all available means of response … to anticipate, prevent, deter, and respond to destabilizing and destructive actions targeting it in cyberspace,” the statement added, noting that it would pursue initiatives within the EU and with international partners.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot also accused IRGC of being behind the cyberattack and summoned the Iranian ambassador, describing the cyberattack as “unprecedented in both its scale and its level of aggression.”

Paris will implement sanctions “at the European level against all those responsible for this attack,” he said.

In late September Iran closed the French Language Center (CLF) in Tehran, accusing the institution of conducting activities that were “threatening national security,” undermining the country’s cultural norms, and facilitating the identification and departure of Iranian elites from the country.

Soon after the center’s closure, France’s foreign ministry condemned the incident in the “strongest possible terms,” noting that attacks on French cultural activities and its diplomatic mission staff in Iran are “unjustifiable and unacceptable,” and that France will take “appropriate measures in response.”

In July, France said that two officials from its embassy in Tehran were detained by Iranian security forces “without reason” for several hours and interrogated, claiming that one of them was “assaulted”, with Barrot describing the incident as an “extremely serious” act of intimidation by Tehran.

Tehran later denied the allegations as “baseless and false,” claiming that they were involved in a meeting with “security suspects.”