Hackers Breach Iran State TV to Broadcast Exiled Prince's Message

Jon Gambrell Updated January 20, 2026 — 12:45pm,first published 11:40am You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Dubai: Hackers disrupted Iranian state television satellite transmissions to air footage supporting the country’s exiled crown prince and calling on security forces not to “point your weapons at the people”, online video showed, the latest disruption to follow nationwide protests in the country. The hacking came as the death toll in a crackdown by authorities to smother the demonstrations passed 4000, activists said. They fear the number will grow far higher as information leaks out of a country still gripped by the government’s decision to shut down the internet. Loading Meanwhile, tensions remain high between the US 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 after the demonstrations. A US aircraft carrier, which was in the South China Sea days earlier, was on a route that could bring it to the Middle East. The footage aired on Sunday night, Iran time, across multiple channels broadcast by satellite from Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, the country’s state broadcaster. Advertisement The video showed two clips of exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, then included footage of security forces and others in what appeared to be Iranian police uniforms. It claimed without offering evidence that others had “laid down their weapons and swore an oath of allegiance to the people”. “This is a message to the army and security forces,” one graphic read. “Don’t point your weapons at the people. Join the nation for the freedom of Iran.” The semiofficial Fars news agency, believed to be close to the country’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”. It did not discuss the contents of what was aired. A statement from Pahlavi’s office acknowledged the disruption that showed the crown prince. It did not respond to questions from The Associated Press about the hack. Pahlavi’s level of support inside Iran remains an open question, though there have been pro-shah cries at the demonstrations and at night since the crackdown. Advertisement The hack isn’t the first to disrupt Iranian airwaves. In 1986, The Washington Post reported that the CIA supplied the prince’s allies “a miniaturised television transmitter for an 11-minute clandestine broadcast” to Iran by Pahlavi that pirated the signal of two stations in the Islamic Republic. In 2022, multiple channels aired footage showing leaders from the exiled opposition group Mujahideen-e-Khalq and a graphic calling for the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. As tensions remain high between Tehran and Washington, ship-tracking data analysed by the AP this week showed the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and other American military vessels in the Strait of Malacca after passing Singapore – a journey that could take them to the Middle East. 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 travelling with the Lincoln. Advertisement Multiple US media reports quoting anonymous officials have said that the Lincoln, which has its home port in San Diego, was on its way to the Middle East. It likely would still need several days of travel before its aircraft would be in range of the region. The Mideast has been without an aircraft carrier group or an amphibious ready group, likely complicating any discussion of a military operation targeting Iran, given Gulf Arab states’ broad opposition to such an attack. Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum withdrew its invitation for Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to speak at Davos. Advertisement “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,” the forum said. Iran’s ambassador to Switzerland, Mahmoud Barimani, called the decision an “unreasonable act which was no doubt under the pressure and influence of anti-Iranian currents and radical American-Zionists”. The Munich Security Conference separately withdrew invitations for Iranian government officials over the crackdown. The death toll from the crackdown on the protests exceeds that of any other round of unrest in Iran in decades, and recalls the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution. Advertisement The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency put the death toll on Tuesday to at least 4029, warning it likely would go higher. It said of the dead, 3786 were demonstrators, 180 were security forces, 28 were children and 35 were people not demonstrating. The agency has been accurate throughout the years of demonstrations and unrest in Iran, relying on a network of activists inside the country that confirms all reported fatalities. AP was unable to independently confirm the toll. 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 US for the deaths. It was the first indication from an Iranian leader of the extent of the casualties from the wave of protests that began on December 28 over Iran’s ailing economy. The agency also reported that more than 25,700 people had been arrested. Comments from officials have led to fears of some of those detained being put to death in Iran, one of the world’s top executioners. Advertisement You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. More: Iran Donald Trump USA Trump's White House