Former intelligence officials said that US Cyber Command launched a retaliatory digital strike against the Iranian group believed to be behind a recent series of mine attacks on commercial ships.
The military's cyberspace wing was said to have carried out the digital strike against an Iranian spy group with ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps — a division of Iran's Armed Forces — on Thursday night, two former intelligence officials told Yahoo News.
The spy group supposedly used limpet mines to attack two oil tankers, Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous and Norwegian-operated Front Altair, while they were in the Gulf of Oman on June 13.
Former intelligence officials said that US Cyber Command launched a retaliatory digital strike against an Iranian spy group Thursday, one week after two oil tankers were attacked (file)
The spy group is said to have been digitally tracking and targeting both military and civilian ships in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway used to transport 17.4million barrels of oil daily, for several years now.
It's unclear what the Cyber Command's retaliatory strike involved and what time it took place. A Pentagon spokesperson only told Yahoo News that 'as a matter of policy and for operational security, we do not discuss cyberspace operations, intelligence or planning.'
The Cyber Command's strike against the Iranian spy group is said to have occurred on the same day that Iran shot down a $180million US surveillance drone.
On Thursday, Tehran claimed that it had 'indisputable' evidence the drone violated its airspace. But the US said the drone was shot down 21 miles off the Iranian coast, in the Strait of Hormuz.
Pentagon video footage showed a smoke trail from the surveillance aircraft following a missile strike on the drone, which it says was flying over international waters.
On Friday morning, President Trump tweeted that he had planned to authorize physical attacks on three Iranian sties Thursday night, but called off the strikes after learning the assault would kill an estimated 150 people.
The Cyber Command attack is said to have been carried out against the spy group that used limpet mines to attack two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on June 13
The Japanese Kokuka Courageous off the coast of Fujairah in the UAE - it was attacked along with the Norwegian Front Altair in the Gulf of Oman on June 13
Blast damage to the Kokuka Courageous after it was attacked in the Gulf of Oman
