Iran's Four Major Banks Bank Melli, Tejarat, Saderat, and Export Development Bank Suffer Limited Cyber Attacks
Iran's four banks, Bank Melli, Bank Tejarat, Bank Saderat, and Export Development Bank, experienced limited cyber attacks, leading to disruptions in online and remote banking services.
The Iranian Banking Coordination Council stated that technical teams quickly identified abnormal activities and took protective measures, ensuring customer data and infrastructure were safeguarded, although some POS, mobile app, and transfer services were affected.
Market mechanisms indicate that geopolitical risks are driving investors to accelerate withdrawals from Iranian-related assets, with funds flowing from sanctioned banking systems to more stable jurisdictions or crypto assets, benefiting risk-averse capital while local financial service providers face pressure.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Iran's banking system has previously faced multiple cyber attacks, including significant incidents targeting Bank Sepah and Melli between 2024-2025, often linked to regional conflict escalations. Groups like Predatory Sparrow have claimed responsibility and erased data.
In terms of capital pathways, the Iranian government mobilizes technical resources through national coordination mechanisms to quickly isolate attacks and switch to backup systems, aiming to maintain domestic payment stability and prevent bank runs, while relying on local infrastructure to address external threats under sanctions, continuing to invest in cyber defense to support limited international trade.
Similar cases include attacks by Israeli-related hackers on Iranian bank data centers in 2025, and targeted attacks on financial infrastructure amid global geopolitical conflicts. Iran is currently in a phase of strengthening its banking system defenses under ongoing cyber warfare exposure.
Essentially, this reflects regulatory changes: geopolitical tensions force Iran's financial system to accelerate localization and backup construction through cyber attack mechanisms, pushing capital from vulnerable centralized banks towards distributed and crypto alternatives, and accelerating financial decoupling under international sanctions pressure.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
Cyber attacks do not destroy systems but expose the real leverage of financial dependencies. The more centralized the banks under sanctions, the more severe the capital flight from external strikes. The speed of defense determines the sustainability of trust; backups are the real assets in geopolitical risks.