Malware discovered at petrochemical plants, Iran claims

Iran said it discovered and removed malicious software from two petrochemical complexes, denying that the malware had played a role in the recent fires at the plants.

The head of Iran’s civilian defense told state agency IRNA that in a “periodical inspection of petrochemical units, a type of industrial malware was detected and the necessary defensive measures were taken.”

Gholamreza Jalali said the malware was not active and did play a role in the blazes.

“The discovery of this industrial virus is not related to recent fires,” he said, according to Reuters.

Iran’s oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said last week that the fires were a result of cut-backs in health and safety inspections in the privatized petrochemical companies.

Earlier this month, firefighting services put out a minor blaze at a petrochemical complex at the Imam Khomeini port, in southwestern Iran.

In late July, a fire broke out at the Bistoon Petrochemical Complex in the western province of Kermanshah.

Also in July, a large blaze broke out at the Bu Ali-Sina refinery in the southwest city of Bandar Mahshahr, raging for more than two days, according to the Tasnim News Agency.

The National Cyberspace Council had announced last week that it was investigating whether these blazes were caused by cyberattacks.