Iranian authorities have “temporarily cut off” access to the country’s banking system for Iranians abroad to “prevent cyberattacks,” Iranian state news agency IRNA reported.
IRNA said on July 4 that "the restrictions were applied on the recommendation of the competent authorities and in order to deal with cyber threats."
The news agency did not specify the "competent authorities" but added that the action "only concerns a limited number of banks that have the most connections abroad to banking systems, including online banking and mobile banking applications."
Iran has faced a number of cyberattacks in recent years. It has also faced accusations that it has orchestrated cyberattacks on rival nations, including Israel and Saudi Arabia.
On June 27, one of Iran's biggest steel companies was forced to halt its operations until further notice after being targeted by a cyberattack.
The Khuzestan Steel Company said in a statement that experts had determined the firm was unable to continue production due to technical problems following cyberattacks.
In 2021, an attack on the electronic-transaction system used to distribute subsidized fuel paralyzed more than 4,000 gasoline stations across the country and resulted in long lines of angry motorists unable to use their government-issued smart cards.
Iran was also targeted about a decade ago by the Stuxnet computer worm, which is widely believed to have been engineered by the United States and Israel to sabotage the country’s nuclear program.