An Iranian knowledge-based company claims to have developed paraxylene separation technology previously held only by American and French firms, according to a report by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps cyber unit that could not be independently verified.

The announcement comes as Iran faces nationwide protests that began on December 29, with authorities deploying information warfare tactics including content distributed through IRGC cyber channels.

The IRGC's cyber warfare division said on January 12 that Nico Forouzan Taban Refinery Services and Nouri Petrochemical Company signed a memorandum of understanding during the third Iran Petrocom International Exhibition for the technology.

The company claims to have produced a molecular sieve adsorbent that separates paraxylene from xylene mixtures, technology that has been controlled by foreign companies for years, according to the IRGC cyber statement.

The report stated this breaks a decades-long American and French monopoly in the field.

The memorandum aims to deploy the domestically developed technology on an industrial scale, reducing foreign dependency, eliminating heavy foreign exchange costs and increasing the petrochemical industry's resilience, the IRGC cyber unit claimed.

Press TV and other state media outlets have not carried reports on this claimed technological breakthrough.

Independent verification of the company's claims was not possible.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article is based solely on claims made by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps cyber warfare unit and could not be independently verified through technical experts, industry sources or neutral parties.

The timing and sourcing raise questions about the report's credibility given ongoing information warfare operations during current protests.