Why Moscow is ignoring US cyberattacks on Iran
Despite Russia's partnership with Iran, Moscow turns a blind eye to American cyberattacks on key Iranian targets.
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Calibri; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} span.s2 {text-decoration: underline ; font-kerning: none; color: #042eee; -webkit-text-stroke: 0px #042eee} Despite Russia’s partnership with Iran and routine criticism of US policy toward Tehran, Moscow’s response to reports that the United States launched a cyberattack on “computer systems that control Iranian missile launches” has been very curious. Most interesting is that Russia has hardly responded at all.
Russian officials have publicly acknowledged reports that President Donald Trump approved and then canceled military strikes on Iran; the day following this news, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov described the situation surrounding Iran as one that was “on the brink of war.” Nevertheless, Ryabkov did not address the reported US cyberattacks either in those comments or later. A capable professional, Ryabkov speaks to the media regularly about Iran-related diplomacy as Russia’s principal negotiator of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, from which the Trump administration has withdrawn; he has also been one of Russia’s top diplomats in addressing other nuclear and security issues. Other Russian officials have not discussed the reported cyberattacks either.
