The hacker group Predatory Sparrow claimed responsibility on Tuesday for a cyberattack targeting Bank Sepah, one of Iran’s oldest financial institutions with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Army.
The group alleged it had “destroyed all data” at the bank.The claim comes amid reports of widespread banking disruptions in Iran.
Several Bank Sepah branches were closed on Tuesday, and customers told Iran International they were unable to access their accounts.
Bank Sepah has 1,800 branches in Iran and others in Britain, France, Germany and Italy. The United States imposed sanctions on Bank Sepah in 2019 after it withdrew from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal.
Users also reported that cards issued by Kosar and Ansar -- both linked to Iran’s military --banks were not functioning. Ansar was also under US sanctions.
Iranian authorities have not commented on the outages or the cyberattack. However, IRGC’s Fars news said that the issue at Sepah Bank will be resolved within a few hours
Predatory Sparrow, which has previously claimed cyber operations against Iranian steel plants and fuel stations, said in a social media post that Bank Sepah had been used to finance military programs and circumvent international sanctions.
The group, which Iran has previously accused of having foreign backing, notably from Israel, said it had targeted the bank for its alleged role in supporting Iran’s missile and nuclear efforts.
Respondents were asked: "On the night between Thursday and Friday, Israel launched an attack against military targets in Iran. In response, Iran fired hundreds of ballistic and cruise missiles at targets within Israel. What is your position?"
The results show a clear national divide between Jewish and Arab Israelis, the latter comprising 20% of the population.
“While Jewish Israelis largely see the Iran strike as unifying and justified even at high cost, Arab Israelis view it as divisive, dangerous, and diplomatically unjustified — underscoring a profound gap in public sentiment across Israeli society," the report said.
The research was carried out by Gayil Talshir and Nimrod Nir from the Department of Psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
When asked, “Do you support Israel carrying out military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities?” 58% of Jewish Israelis expressed support for strikes even without US backing, 40% favored military action only with American cooperation, and 2% preferred a diplomatic approach.
Among Arab Israelis, 11% support striking Iran’s nuclear facilities even without American backing, 6% support military action only with US cooperation and 73% prefer a diplomatic route.
When asked, “Do you think Israel can completely destroy Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and eliminate the military threat Iran poses to Israel without American military assistance?” 27% of Jewish respondents said yes, compared to just 9% of Arab respondents.
Only one-third (33%) of Jewish respondents say Israel should comply with US requests to halt the campaign if asked, compared to 78% of Arab respondents who believe Israel should stop the attacks to pursue an agreement preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
Goal of Israeli attacks
Respondents were also divided on the campaign’s ultimate goal. When asked, “What should be the ultimate goal of Israel’s action against Iran’s nuclear program?”, only 14% of Arab Israelis supported a full military dismantling of Iran’s capabilities, compared to 56% of Jewish respondents.
The report surveyed 1,057 Israelis aged 17-86 on the attacks on Iran, what Israel calls operation Rising Lion.
So far, 24 deaths have been reported in Israel since Friday, with hundreds more injured, but speaking to Iran International, former military intelligence officer Miri Eisin, said the operation is going far better than could have been expected, with minimal casualties compared to what had been prepared for and massive gains, including taking control of Iranian air space.
Iran says more than 200 people have been killed since Friday amid extensive Israeli strikes, which have killed scores of the country's military leadership.
Even Israelis opposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been supportive of the operation, seeing a changing sentiment towards the long-time premier.
US President Donald Trump on Monday issued evacuation warnings to Tehran, suggesting he will back Israel in its attacks in a bid to quash the threat of a nuclear armed Iran.
"Iran should have signed the 'deal' I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again!" Trump said in a post on Truth Social. "Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!" he added.