Hackers Post Khamenei’s Phone Number as Iran Rail Network Breached

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei delivers a speech marking the annual Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, in Tehran, Iran May 7, 2021. Official Khamenei Website/Handout via REUTERS
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei delivers a speech marking the annual Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, in Tehran, Iran May 7, 2021. Official Khamenei Website/Handout via REUTERS
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Hackers Post Khamenei’s Phone Number as Iran Rail Network Breached

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei delivers a speech marking the annual Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, in Tehran, Iran May 7, 2021. Official Khamenei Website/Handout via REUTERS
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei delivers a speech marking the annual Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, in Tehran, Iran May 7, 2021. Official Khamenei Website/Handout via REUTERS

Train services in Iran were delayed by apparent cyberattacks on Friday, with hackers posting the phone number of the country's supreme leader as the number to call for information, state-affiliated news outlets reported.

Trains were delayed or cancelled as ticket offices, the national railway's website and cargo services were disrupted, with "unprecedented chaos at railway stations across the country", the state broadcaster IRIB reported, according to Reuters.

A notice on electronic boards at stations asked travelers to call a number which in fact belonged to the office of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, IRIB and the semi-official news agency Fars said.

"Long delays due to cyberattacks," said another notice on station boards, Fars added.

IRIB later quoted a state railway company spokesman as saying technicians were checking the disruptions and denying that there were major delays.



Iran to Hold Nuclear Talks with Three European Powers in Geneva on Friday

Western countries successfully moved a resolution at the IAEA to censure Iran over its nuclear program - AFP
Western countries successfully moved a resolution at the IAEA to censure Iran over its nuclear program - AFP
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Iran to Hold Nuclear Talks with Three European Powers in Geneva on Friday

Western countries successfully moved a resolution at the IAEA to censure Iran over its nuclear program - AFP
Western countries successfully moved a resolution at the IAEA to censure Iran over its nuclear program - AFP

Iran plans to hold talks about its disputed nuclear program with three European powers on Nov. 29 in Geneva, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday, days after the UN atomic watchdog passed a resolution against Tehran.
Iran reacted to the resolution, which was proposed by Britain, France, Germany and the United States, with what government officials called various measures such as activating numerous new and advanced centrifuges, machines that enrich uranium.
Kyodo said Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's government was seeking a solution to the nuclear impasse ahead of the inauguration in January of US President-elect Donald Trump, Reuters reported.
A senior Iranian official confirmed that the meeting would go ahead next Friday, adding that "Tehran has always believed that the nuclear issue should be resolved through diplomacy. Iran has never left the talks".
In 2018, the then-Trump administration exited Iran's 2015 nuclear pact with six major powers and reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to violate the pact's nuclear limits, with moves such as rebuilding stockpiles of enriched uranium, refining it to higher fissile purity and installing advanced centrifuges to speed up output.
Indirect talks between President Joe Biden's administration and Tehran to try to revive the pact have failed, but Trump said in his election campaign in September that "We have to make a deal, because the consequences are impossible. We have to make a deal".