Page 43 - IRANRptAug21

“Cyber-disruption” hits Iran’s transport ministry and railways
India expects full-scale operations at Iran’s Chabahar oceanic port by end of May
southwest, has been added to the list.
“Started in 1927 and completed in 1938, the 1,394-kilometer-long railway was designed and executed in a successful collaboration between the Iranian government and 43 construction contractors from many countries,” UNESCO said in astatement.
The railway is remarkable for its scale and the engineering work that was required to overcome steep routes and other difficulties, UNESCO said. Its construction involved extensive mountain cutting. Rugged terrain in various areas meant it was necessary to construct 174 large bridges, 186 small bridges and 224 tunnels.
Unlike most early railway projects, construction of the Trans-Iranian Railway was funded by national taxes to avoid foreign investment and control, UNESCO noted.
The World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization announced the additions to the World Heritage List after an online meeting in Fuzhou, China.
World Heritage sites can be examples of outstanding natural beauty or architecture, or they can be important geologically or ecologically or keys to human culture and tradition.
Iran’s Majlis (parliament) has passed the Iran-Afghanistan Rail Cooperation Agreement that aims for unhindered railway connections between the neighbouring countries, ICANA reported on May 31.
A “cyber-disruption” in computer systems took websites of Iran’s transport and urbanisation ministry out of service on July 10, according to official news agency IRNA.
The previous day, Iran’s railways appeared to suffer a cyber-attack. Local reports told how messages about train delays and cancellations were posted on display boards at stations across the country, while the electronic tracking of trains across Iran reportedly failed.
Fars news agency said in a report that was later deleted that there was “unprecedented chaos” at stations with hundreds of trains delayed or cancelled. It added that the incident followed “a widespread disruption in ... computer systems that is probably due to a cyber-attack”.
Sadegh Sekri, a spokesman for Islamic Republic of Iran Railways, told ISNA news agency on July 11 that “there has been no disruption or cyber-attack for passenger, cargo or intercity trains”. However, the Fars report included a picture of a station’s departures and arrivals board showing rows of cancelled trips. A message read “long delays due to cyber-attacks”.
Iran has suffered a multitude of cyber-attacks in recent years, but is also believed to have orchestrated many itself. Israel, sometimes regarded as backed by the US, has usually been seen as the foe and the target. Some Israeli cyber-attacks are thought to have targeted Iran’s nuclear fuel production efforts.
India expects that full-scale operations will start at Iran’s sole oceanic port, Chabahar, by the end of May, according to the Indian ports and shipping minister.
Iran and India are jointly developing Chabahar, located on the Gulf of Oman and offering unhindered access to the Indian Ocean, given its potential for facilitating trade with Afghanistan and central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, with the avoidance of New Delhi’s arch-rival Pakistan. Pakistan and China are jointly developing Gwadar on the Arabian Sea, a short distance from Chabahar across the border from Iran in Pakistan, as a rival port.
43 IRAN Country Report August 2021 www.intellinews.com