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The most dangerous nation for cyber threats is Iran, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir told CNBC on Sunday.
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"The most dangerous nation behind cyber attacks? Iran," Al-Jubeir said.
The most dangerous nation for cyber threats is Iran, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir told CNBC on Sunday, saying that the country had been attacked "repeatedly" by its adversary.
Asked who he believed was the most dangerous nation in terms of cyber attacks and Al-Jubeir was unequivocal.
"The most dangerous nation behind cyber attacks? Iran," Al-Jubeir said.
"Iran is the only country that has attacked us repeatedly and tried to attack us repeatedly. In fact they tried to do it on a virtually weekly basis."
Speaking at the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, the foreign minister repeatedly criticized Iran for what he called "mischievous behavior" in the region, with particular reference to its support for Shia militant group Hezbollah, which holds influence in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East.
The Sunni monarchy's interests have for decades been diametrically opposed to Iran's, but the past year has seen tensions escalate against a backdrop of proxy conflicts in Yemen and Syria.
Given the mounting animosity between the Sunni monarchy and the Shia Islamic republic, Al-Jubeir's statement is perhaps not surprising. CNBC contacted the Iranian government for a response to Al-Jubeir's comments but has yet to receive a reply.
Al-Jubeir said his country was taking steps to combat the perceived cyber threat from Iran.
"We are taking all the steps necessary to provide defenses for our data banks and for our internet and so forth. And we are also taking steps necessary to train our own people in order to be able to engage in offensive operations to make it hopefully impossible for people to penetrate those systems," he said.
Cyber experts have also pointed to what they see as the country's seemingly increasingly sophisticated cyber-espionage capabilities.
Last September, the U.S. Treasury Department added two Iran-based hacking networks and eight individuals to a U.S. sanctions list, accusing them of taking part in cyber-enabled attacks on the U.S. financial system in 2012 and 2013, Reuters reported. Iran denied any role in the cyber attacks although it has also been linked to cyber attacks closer to home too.
Hackers believed to be linked to the Iranian government attacked Saudi state oil giant Aramco in 2012, successfully wiping 30,000 computers and paralyzing operations.