Hackers disrupt Iran’s state TV to broadcast pro-monarch, anti-graft message
Hackers disrupted Iran’s state television satellite broadcast of aerial footage in support of the country’s exiled crown prince and called on security forces to “not point weapons at people,” an online video showed early Monday, the latest disruption following protests across the country.
This robbery comes as the death toll in the massacre by the authorities that ended the protests reached at least 4,029 people, activists said. They are afraid that this number will increase a lot since the leakage of information in a country that is still gripped by the government’s decision to close the internet. Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, had his invitation to speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, revoked over the massacre.
Meanwhile, tensions remain high between the United States and Iran over the rift after President Donald Trump drew two red lines for the Islamic Republic – the peaceful killing of protesters and Tehran carrying out mass killings following protests. An American aircraft carrier, days ago in the South China Sea, passed Singapore overnight to enter the Strait of Malacca – putting it on a route that could bring it to the Middle East.
The images were broadcast Sunday night on several satellite channels from the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, the country’s national broadcaster. The video broadcast two clips of exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, and included images of security forces and others in Iranian police uniforms. It says that without giving evidence some “laid down their weapons and swore an oath of loyalty to the people.”
“This is a message to the army and the security forces,” read another image. “Don’t point your weapons at the people. Join the nation for the freedom of Iran.”
Iran now appears to be quiet after days of widespread protests, and severe retaliation by the Iranian authorities, including many reported killings. Members of the Iranian diaspora are now urging US President Donald Trump to make good on his promises to fight the regime.
The Fars news agency, believed to be close to the country’s Revolutionary Guard, quoted a statement from state radio as acknowledging that the broadcast “in some parts of the country was temporarily interrupted by an unknown source.” It did not discuss what was broadcast.
A statement issued by Pahlavi’s office acknowledged the disturbance that the crown prince had shown. It did not respond to The Associated Press’ questions about the hack. How much support Pahlavi has inside Iran remains an open question, although there have been pro-shah cries at protests and nights since the crackdown.
Sunday’s hack isn’t the first time Iranian waves have been disrupted. In 1986, the Washington Post reported that the CIA provided the prince’s associates with “a small television transmitter for an 11-minute secret broadcast” to Iran by Pahlavi that intercepted a two-channel signal in the Islamic Republic.
In 2022, many channels broadcast images showing leaders of the exiled Mujahedeen-e-Khalq opposition group and a clear image of the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
A US aircraft carrier possibly on its way to the Mideast
As tensions remain high between Tehran and Washington, ship tracking data analyzed by the Associated Press on Monday showed the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, along with other US military vessels, in the Strait of Malacca.
The Lincoln had been in the South China Sea with its strike group as a deterrent to China over tensions with Taiwan. Tracking data indicated that the USS Frank E. Petersen Jr., USS Michael Murphy and USS Spruance, all Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, were accompanying Lincoln through the challenge.
Several US media reports citing unnamed officials said the Lincoln, which has its port in San Diego, was on its way to the Mideast. It will probably take a few days of travel before its flight is halfway there. The Mideast lacked an aircraft carrier or amphibious landing force, potentially complicating any discussion of military action directed at Iran as Gulf Arab states oppose the attack.
As the Iranian government quells protests across the country, some in the Iranian diaspora hope that foreign intervention can push this latest revolutionary effort to the next stage. For insight, CBC’s Stephen Quinn spoke with Maryam Mazrooei, an Iranian freelance journalist who was arrested during the 2022 protests in her country. He says the scale and devastation at this time cannot be compared to what he experienced there.
Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum has withdrawn its invitation for Araghchi to speak in Davos.
“Although he was invited last fall, the tragic loss of human lives in Iran in the past few weeks means that it is not appropriate for the Iranian government to be represented at Davos this year,” said the forum.
Iran’s ambassador to Switzerland, Mahmoud Barimani, called this decision “a senseless act that was undoubtedly under the pressure and influence of anti-Iranian spirits and hard-line American Zionists.”
The Munich Security Conference separately withdrew an invitation to Iranian government officials over the crackdown.
The death toll from fracking is rising
The death toll exceeds that of any other cycle of protest or unrest in Iran in decades, and is reminiscent of the chaos that took place in 1979. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency put the death toll on Tuesday at at least 4,029, warning it could rise.
It said of the dead, 3,786 were protesters, 180 were soldiers, 28 were children and 35 were non-demonstrators.
The organization has been accurate throughout the years of protests and riots in Iran, relying on a network of activists inside the country to verify all reported killings. AP could not independently verify the toll.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, acknowledged that thousands of people had been killed during anti-government protests in the past two weeks, but blamed the US for the death toll. He also called President Donald Trump a criminal for supporting the protests, which has faced tens of thousands of pro-government protesters. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said it has confirmed the deaths of 3,090 people, including 2,885 protesters, and more than 22,000 people arrested. CBC News talks to exiled Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad about the protests.
Iranian officials have not commented on the death toll, although on Saturday, Khamenei said the protests had left “several thousand” people dead and blamed the United States for the deaths. It was the first indication from Iran’s leader of the extent of casualties from the wave of protests that began on December 28 over Iran’s ailing economy.
The organization also reported that more than 26,000 people have been arrested. The officials’ comments have led to fears that some of those arrested will be executed in Iran, which has one of the world’s largest prisons.
“While the murderers and the terrorist rebels will be punished, the mercy and sensitivity of Islam will be applied to those who were deceived and did not play a (successful) role in the terrorist incident,” said a statement on Monday from Iran’s president, justice chief and parliament speaker.
