Iranian Regime-Backed Hackers Shut Down UK Power Plant

Iranian Regime-Backed Hackers Shut Down UK Power Plant

Iranian regime-backed hackers attacked a power plant in the UK, causing it to shut down for several days. Hackers linked to Iran’s Islamic Guard (IRGC) “shut down a British power plant for four days in an unprecedented cyber attack,” The London-based daily Telegraph reports.

This is the first attack of its kind that “succeeded in bringing a British power plant to a standstill,” the newspaper noted.

The attack on the British power grid highlights Iran’s capability and intent to strike critical infrastructure in the West. According to The Telegraph, British security services “warned that cyber warfare was a “significant area of asymmetric strength” for Iran, which spends tens of millions of dollars on hacking groups, each containing hundreds of people.”

In March, Iran fired ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia, the joint British-U.S. military base in the Indian Ocean, demonstrating an extended reach that puts European cities within its range.

BREAKING: Iran shut down a British power plant for four days in an unprecedented cyber attack.

The UK refrained from joining the operation against Iran and has now taken zero steps to respond to yet another attack. pic.twitter.com/kCzXDUMnAQ

— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) August 23, 2026

The Iranian attack came despite outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s decision not to join the U.S. military operation against the regime. Starmer declared that the conflict with Iran was ‘not our war.’ He also refused to dispatch the British Navy to secure the Strait of Hormuz. All this appears to have been of no avail.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the war in the Middle East:

"This is not our war. We will not be drawn into the conflict. That is not in our national interest. pic.twitter.com/VIG8opYUUo

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) April 1, 2026

The Telegraph continued:

It is thought to be the first time that hackers affiliated to the Iranian regime have succeeded in closing down such a facility in the UK, and believed to be the most successful cyber attack of its kind.

The Telegraph understands that the incident took place at the same time as a series of attacks on US water infrastructure last month, which affected 12 states and caused concern in the White House.

British officials refused to be drawn on which power plant had been affected, citing security concerns, but it is understood that the facility was disabled for four days while staff fought to bring it back online.

It is understood that the plant affected was relatively small and that the outage had no impact on the UK’s wider power supply or energy generation.

In response, the Government briefed the chief executives of power companies and wrote to businesses with advice, direction and next steps.

The incident is understood to have been reported to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a public-facing branch of the GCHQ spy agency that issues advice to companies on keeping national infrastructure safe from foreign threats.

British and American intelligence agencies have repeatedly warned of the risk posed by hackers from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, which bombard critical national infrastructure and government agencies with attacks on a daily basis. (…)

[I]t is possible that the incident was designed to prove that hackers linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps could gain access to systems in the UK and close down sensitive infrastructure sites. (….)

Iran has dramatically stepped up its cyber attacks on Western countries in the wake of the conflict in the Middle East, and especially since the US and Israel began air strikes in February.

Suspected Iranian attacks have been reported in Germany, Poland, Finland, Belgium, Poland and Albania, although Israel and other Middle Eastern countries are the most common targets.

The U.S. had alerted the British government of a possible Iranian cyber-attack. “US government security agencies issued a warning earlier this year of cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure by hackers linked to the IRGC,” UK newspaper The Guardian reported. “The US has alleged that an Iran-affiliated group known as “CyberAv3ngers” carried out a campaign against it in 2023 that compromised at least 75 devices in multiple infrastructure sectors.”

Similar attacks have been reported in the U.S. as well. In April, the FBI warned that Iranian regime-linked hackers were targeting U.S. critical infrastructure.

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.