The Iranian authorities said, "The distribution of gasoline has returned to normal a day after a cyber attack that affected 4,300 stations across the country." This comes at a time when Tehran announced its readiness to participate in direct talks with European parties on the nuclear deal.

"The cyber attack that targeted the refueling system on Tuesday did not achieve its goals," said Oil Minister Javad Oji.

He added that 3,000 petrol stations across the country have returned to the service of refueling manually.

For her part, a spokeswoman for the National Company for the Distribution of Oil Derivatives, Fatima Kahi, announced that the electronic systems were reactivated in 80% of gas stations after the cyber attack.

For his part, the country's President Ibrahim Raisi said that given the antagonism of what he called Iran's enemies, "we should prepare to face any cyber attacks in the future."

Raisi added that enhancing the security of the refueling system against cyber attacks is one of the most important tasks of the concerned agencies, at the present time.

He stressed - during a visit to the Ministry of Oil to see the efforts to rehabilitate the fuel supply system - on the need to remove citizens' concerns about the possibility of refueling.

The Supreme Committee of Virtual Space, affiliated to the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, confirmed that the electronic systems of gas stations were subjected to a cyber attack.

Local media reported that fuel filling stations in the capital, Tehran, and a number of other cities, stopped working due to a technical defect that affected the electronic systems of the fuel distribution network.

Many have accused Israel of being behind the attack.

The Secretary of the Supreme Council of Virtual Space, Abul-Hassan Firouzabadi, also accused an unnamed foreign country of being behind the cyber attack.

Firuzabadi revealed that his country had recently witnessed such a cyber attack on the railway system, and the damages were dealt with in a short time.


nuclear deal

On the other hand, Iran's Press TV quoted an unidentified source as saying today, Wednesday, that Tehran is ready to hold talks with European parties on the 2015 nuclear deal.

"Iran has officially announced its readiness to hold direct talks with the three European parties that are signatories to the nuclear deal," this source said.

He added that Iran invited the three parties to visit Tehran or to organize visits to the capitals of the three countries, to hold such talks, but it has not received any response yet.

In turn, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that his country is "closely monitoring the progress of Iran's nuclear program and is concerned about the steps Tehran has taken since its withdrawal from the nuclear agreement."

Sullivan stressed that Washington's priority is to return to the negotiating table and reach an agreement that ends Iran's nuclear program.

"The negotiating window is not open forever. We need to go back to diplomacy and make progress at the negotiating table. We of course reserve all other options so that we can deal with this program as necessary."