DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Hackers disrupted Iranian state television’s satellite broadcasts of footage supporting the country’s exiled crown prince and calling on security forces not to “point guns at the people,” footage showed online early Monday, the latest disruption after nationwide protests in the country.
The hacking comes as the death toll in an authorities crackdown on demonstrations has reached at least 3,919 people killed, activists said. They fear the number will rise significantly as information trickles out of a country still gripped by the government’s decision to shut down the internet.
Meanwhile, tensions remain high between the United States and Iran over the crackdown after President Donald Trump drew two red lines for the Islamic Republic — the killing of peaceful protesters and Tehran conducting mass executions following demonstrations. A US aircraft carrier, which a few days earlier was in the South China Sea, passed over Singapore overnight to enter the Straits of Malacca – putting it on a course that could take it to the Middle East.
State television disrupted
The images were broadcast late Sunday on several satellite channels from the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, the country’s state-owned broadcaster that owns a television and radio monopoly. The video showed two clips of Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi in exile, then included images of security forces and others in what appeared to be Iranian police uniforms. He claimed, without providing evidence, that others “laid down their arms and pledged allegiance to the people”.
“This is a message to the military and security forces,” one graphic read. “Don’t point guns at the people. Join the nation for Iran’s freedom.”
The semi-official Fars news agency, believed to be close to the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, quoted a statement from the state broadcaster as acknowledging that the signal in “some areas of the country was momentarily disrupted by an unknown source”. There was no discussion of what was broadcast.
A statement from Pahlavi’s office acknowledged the disruption shown by the crown prince. He did not respond to questions from The Associated Press about the hack.
“I have a special message for the army. You are the national army of Iran, not the army of the Islamic Republic,” Pahlavi said in the hacked broadcast. “You have a duty to protect your own lives. You don’t have much time left. Join the people as soon as possible.”
Social media footage shared abroad, possibly from those with Starlink satellites to avoid internet shutdowns, showed the hack in progress across multiple channels. Pahlavi’s campaign also shared the footage.
Sunday’s hack is not the first to see Iranian airwaves disrupted. In 1986, The Washington Post reported that the CIA provided the prince’s allies with “a miniaturized television transmitter for an 11-minute clandestine transmission” to Iran by Pahlavi, who hacked the signal of two stations in the Islamic Republic.
In 2022, several channels broadcast footage showing leaders of the exiled Mujahedeen-e-Khalq opposition group and a graphic call for the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Pahlavi’s father, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fled Iran before the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Pahlavi, the son, called on protesters to take to the streets on January 8 as Iranian authorities shut down the Internet and sharply stepped up repression.
How much support Pahlavi has in Iran remains an open question, although there were pro-Shah chants at the demonstrations.
US aircraft carrier possible on route to Middle East
As tensions remain high between Tehran and Washington, ship tracking data reviewed by the AP on Monday showed the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and other US military ships are in the Malacca Strait after passing Singapore on a route that could take them to the Middle East.
Lincoln was in the South China Sea with his strike group as a deterrent to China due to tensions with Taiwan. Tracking data showed that the USS Frank E. Petersen Jr., USS Michael Murphy and USS Spruance, all Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, were traveling with the Lincoln through the strait.
Multiple US media reports citing unnamed officials said the Lincoln, which is homeported in San Diego, was en route to the Middle East. He would probably need several more days of travel before his aircraft was within range of the region. The Middle East has been left without an aircraft carrier group or an amphibious ready group, likely complicating any talk of a military operation targeting Iran, given the broad opposition of the Gulf Arab states to such an attack.
The death toll from the crackdown is rising
The death toll exceeds that of any other round of protests or unrest in Iran in decades and is reminiscent of the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution. The US-based Human Rights Activists news agency on Sunday put the death toll at at least 3,919 people killed, warning it was likely to rise.
The agency has been accurate throughout Iran’s years of demonstrations and unrest, relying on a network of activists inside the country to confirm all reported deaths. AP could not independently confirm the charge.
Iranian officials have not given a clear death toll, although on Saturday Khamenei said the protests had left “several thousand” people dead and blamed the deaths on the United States. It was the first indication from an Iranian leader of the extent of casualties from the wave of protests that began on December 28 over Iran’s struggling economy.
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Associated Press writer Elena Becatoros contributed to this report.