TEHRAN, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Fars News Agency reported Tuesday that during a U.S. attack on Iran's central Isfahan Province, a "significant" amount of U.S.-made communications equipment in the country suddenly stopped working.
The report did not specify which attack it was referring to. However, a photo published with the report showed wreckage of an American aircraft destroyed during a U.S. military operation earlier this month that was said to be aimed at rescuing the pilot of a downed fighter jet.
Citing field observations, the report said the equipment included products made by Cisco, Juniper Networks and Fortinet. It said the devices failed at the same time as the attack.
The report described the timing as "suspicious" and said Iran had no international internet access at the time, with global gateways blocked or unreachable.
Fars said the simultaneous failures showed signs of "deep-seated sabotage" embedded in the equipment. It quoted cybersecurity sources as saying Iran's cyber laboratories would soon release technical details and evidence of "coordination" between the manufacturers and U.S. and Israeli "enemies."
"This attack showed that the backbone of a country's cybersecurity cannot depend on foreign equipment," the report said.
The 40-day U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, starting Feb. 28, killed Iran's then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, along with senior military commanders and more than 3,000 civilians. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and U.S. assets in the Middle East.
A two-week ceasefire between Iran and the United States took effect on April 8. Lengthy talks between Iranian and U.S. delegations were later held in Islamabad, but failed to produce an agreement. ■
