Iran denies role in Gulf cyberattacks

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian officials have denied any role in recent cyberattacks against oil and gas companies in the Persian Gulf.

The Sunday report by the semiofficial IS NA news agency quotes Mahdi Akhavan Bahabadi, who is head of the National Center of Cyberspace, as saying that allegations of an Iranian link to the attacks on Saudi state oil company Aramc

o and Qatari natural gas producer RasGas are "politically motivated."

Bahabadi said Iran is ready to cooperate in finding the source of the attacks. He said Iran has offered help to boost the companies' cybersecurity, as Iran has itself recently been the victim of cyberattacks on offshore oil platforms.

Last week a former U.S. government official said American authorities believe that Iranian hackers, likely supported by the government, were responsible for the Gulf cyberattacks.