Iranian state media claimed that networking gear from Cisco, Juniper, Fortinet and MikroTik failed during the recent U.S.–Israeli strikes on Isfahan. The report says the devices rebooted or went offline even though Iran had already been cut off from the global Internet, a condition the outlet describes as evidence of deep sabotage and possibly engineered by actors in the region.

Washington has not directly refuted Tehran's technical accusations, but Pentagon officials confirmed cyber activity against Iran's communications network. General Dan Caine told a March 2 briefing that U.S. Cyber Command and Space Command acted as the “first movers” in Operation Epic Fury, launching coordinated space and cyber strikes that disrupted sensor feeds before kinetic attacks began across several contested zones today.

Chinese state media seized the moment, citing the National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center’s claim that the U.S. fabricated the Volt Typhoon campaign to mask its own operations. Five Eyes analysts have linked Volt Typhoon to Chinese actors targeting Western infrastructure, adding another layer of attribution dispute. With no independent verification, the technical allegations remain unproven and fuel geopolitical tension.