Hackers disrupted Iranian state television satellite transmissions early Monday, airing footage supporting exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi and calling on security forces to not “point your weapons at the people,” according to the Associated Press. The disruption came after protests across Iran were met with a crackdown that activists said had killed at least 4,029 people, with fears the toll could rise as information leaks out of a country whose internet access has been shut down.
The AP said the broadcast aired Sunday night across multiple channels operated by satellite by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, the state broadcaster. The footage included two clips featuring Pahlavi, followed by scenes of security forces and others in what appeared to be Iranian police uniforms.
The video presented on the state channels appeared to include claims without offering evidence that others had “laid down their weapons and swore an oath of allegiance to the people.” One graphic in the broadcast said: “This is a message to the army and security forces,” and it added: “Don’t point your weapons at the people. Join the nation for the freedom of Iran.”
Fars news agency, which the AP described as close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, quoted a statement from the state broadcaster acknowledging that the signal in “some areas of the country was momentarily disrupted by an unknown source.” Fars said the broadcaster did not discuss what had been aired.
A statement from Pahlavi’s office, the AP reported, acknowledged the disruption that showed the crown prince. It did not respond to questions from the AP about the hack. The AP said how much support Pahlavi has inside Iran remains an open question, noting that pro-shah chants have appeared at demonstrations and at night since the crackdown began.
The AP also reported that the hack was not the first time Iranian airwaves had been disrupted. It cited a Washington Post report from 1986 that said the CIA had supplied the prince’s allies “a miniaturized television transmitter for an 11-minute clandestine broadcast” that pirated the signal of two Iranian stations. The AP added that in 2022, multiple channels aired footage showing leaders from the exiled opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq and a graphic calling for the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
While the television disruption unfolded, tensions remained high between Tehran and Washington over the crackdown, the AP reported. The AP said President Donald Trump had drawn two “red lines” for Iran tied to the killing of peaceful protesters and Tehran conducting mass executions in the wake of the demonstrations. In that context, ship-tracking data analyzed by the AP on Monday indicated the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and other U.S. vessels were in the Strait of Malacca after passing Singapore overnight.
The AP said the Lincoln had been in the South China Sea with its strike group as a deterrent to China over tensions with Taiwan. Tracking data showed that the USS Frank E. Petersen Jr., the USS Michael Murphy and the USS Spruance, all Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, were traveling with the Lincoln through the strait. The AP said multiple U.S. media reports quoting anonymous officials indicated the Lincoln was on its way to the Middle East, adding it likely would need several days before its aircraft would be in range of the region.
In Europe, the AP said the World Economic Forum withdrew an invitation for Abbas Araghchi to speak at Davos, Switzerland. The forum said “Although he was invited last fall, the tragic loss of lives of civilians in Iran over the past few weeks means that it is not right for the Iranian government to be represented at Davos this year.” Araghchi denounced the decision and said the forum “cancelled my appearance in Davos on the basis of lies and political pressure from Israel and its U.S.-based proxies and apologists,” according to the AP. The AP also reported that the Munich Security Conference withdrew invitations for Iranian government officials over the crackdown.
The AP said the death toll activists reported exceeded that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades. Human Rights Activists News Agency put the Tuesday death toll at at least 4,029 people, and it said 3,786 of the dead were demonstrators, 180 were security forces, 28 were children and 35 were people not demonstrating. The AP said it was unable to independently confirm the toll, though Iranian officials have not given a clear nationwide death count.
The AP said Khamenei, on Saturday, told people the protests had left “several thousand” people dead and blamed the United States for the deaths. The AP also reported that Human Rights Activists News Agency said more than 26,000 people had been arrested, and that comments from officials have fueled fears that some detained people could face execution.
The AP reported that on Monday a statement from Iran’s president, judiciary chief and parliament speaker said: “While the killers and seditious terrorists will be punished, Islamic mercy and leniency will be applied to those who were deceived and did not have (effective) roles in the terrorist event.”