Iranian Communications and Information Technology Minister Mahmoud Vaezi (pictured above) warned that Israel would face a “crushing response” to any cyber attack. Photo: Fars News Agency.

A senior Iranian official threatened a “crushing response” to any Israeli attempt to tamper technologically with its infrastructure, Iran’s semi-official state news agency Fars reported on Sunday.

“If the Zionist regime dares to launch a cyber attack on Iran, we will surely respond to it,” Mahmoud Vaezi, Iranian Communications and Information Technology Minister, said.

He claimed that Iran didn’t need to launch cyber attacks against other countries, but warned, “If our country comes under such an attack, Iran will adopt a totally different policy.”

Vaezi’s comments come in the wake of an announcement made earlier this month by Brigadier General Gholam Reza Jalili, the head of Iran’s Civil Defense Organization, that the country had designed a new threat-assessment command-and-control system, which includes establishing defenses against cyber attacks.

According to Fars, these steps are the culmination of efforts initiated by Iran in 2012, when the Khamenei regime announced plans to strengthen its cyber capabilities by establishing the Supreme Council of Cyberspace.

The Council was formed on the orders of Supreme Leader Khamenei himself, who tasked then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with its establishment.