Shawn M. Carter
CNBCMon, 24 Jun 2019 09:41 UTC
© Real Iran
, after the country shot down an unmanned U.S. surveillance drone, according to a
new report in Washington Post. The systems were used to operate missile launches.
The strike, carried out against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was launched Thursday
but had been in the works for some time, according to the
Post, which also noted that the Pentagon initially proposed launching the assault earlier this month after Iran's alleged attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
The operation was said to cripple Iranian military command and control systems but did not involve casualties.
It was the first offensive show of force since the U.S. Cyber Command, part of the U.S. Department of Defense, was elevated to a full combatant command in May after being given new authority by the president.
Iranian cyber forces have tried to carry out cyber hacks against the U.S. Navy over the last few years. And in April, the United States designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization in response to its destabilizing behavior in the Middle East.
Comment: Anonymous sources told the Associated Press a similar story - however, the Pentagon would not confirm the
reports:
Trump secretly authorized U.S. Cyber Command to carry out a retaliatory cyberattack that disabled Revolutionary Guard systems that control rocket and missile launches, several officials told The Associated Press. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the operation.
The Pentagon declined to confirm the cyberattack reports: "As a matter of policy and for operational security, we do not discuss cyberspace operations, intelligence or planning," spokeswoman Heather Babb said in a statement.
The cyberattack was in retaliation for the drone as well as for recent attacks on oil tankers in the region, according to reports. Iran has denied involvement in the oil tanker attacks.
Comment: Anonymous sources told the Associated Press a similar story - however, the Pentagon would not confirm the reports: