Bookstore Glossary Library Links News Publications Timeline Virtual Israel Experience
Anti-Semitism Biography History Holocaust Israel Israel Education Myths & Facts Politics Religion Travel US & Israel Vital Stats Women
donate subscribe Contact About Home

Nitro Zeus: A Secret U.S. Plan for Cyberattack on Iran

By Mitchell Bard

In case diplomatic measures to curb Iran’s nuclear program failed and led to a military conflict, according to Obama administration and intelligence officials the United States had a secret plan to carry out a cyber-attack against Iran code-named Nitro Zeus. The plan, developed as an alternative option to the P5+1 negotiations, would have largely disabled

Iranian air defenses and communications systems, as well as crucial parts of the Iranian power grid. According to security and intelligence officials, at one point the preparations for Nitro Zeus included investments of millions of dollars and thousands of employees implanting code and programs within Iranian computer networks. A separate plan was developed by U.S. intelligence agencies to disable the Fordow nuclear facility by planting a destructive “worm” in the computer system, in a covert operation that would have needed the sole authorization of the President to carry out. This operation would have been a follow-up to Operation Olympic Games, in which the United States and Israel mounted a cyber-attack on the Iranian Natanz facility that destroyed 1,000 centrifuges.

The existence of the Nitro Zeus plan was revealed while director Alex Gibney was researching for his documentary “Zero Days,” which explores the conflict between Iran and West in the years leading up to the nuclear agreement. Gibney’s findings were confirmed by separate New York Times interviews. The Nitro Zeus contingency plan was shelved after Iranian and P5+1 negotiators reached an agreement in July 2015.