Hackers target Iran state TV’s satellite transmission to broadcast exiled crown prince

A woman crosses an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] Dubai, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Hackers disrupted Iranian state television satellite transmissions to air footage supporting the country’s exiled crown prince and calling on security forces to not “point your weapons at the people,” footage online showed early Monday, the latest disruption to follow nationwide protests in the country. The hacking comes as the death toll in a crackdown by authorities that smothered the demonstrations reached at least 3,919 people killed, 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. 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 in the wake of the demonstrations. A U.S. aircraft carrier, which days earlier had been 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. State TV disruptedThe footage aired Sunday night across multiple channels broadcast by satellite from Iran-broadcasting" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="11781" data-entity-type="organization">Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, the country’s state broadcaster which has a monopoly on television and radio broadcasting. The video aired 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 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 what had been 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. “I have a special message for the military. You are the national army of Iran, not the Islamic Republic army,” 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 get around the internet shutdown, showed the hack in progress across multiple channels. Pahlavi’s campaign also shared the footage. Sunday’s hack isn’t the first to see Iranian airwaves disrupted. In 1986, The Washington Post reported that the CIA supplied the prince’s allies “a miniaturized television transmitter for an 11-minute clandestine broadcast” to Iran by Pahlavi that pirated the signal of two stations in the Islamic Republic. Pahlavi’s father, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fled Iran ahead of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Pahlavi, the son, urged protesters onto the streets Jan. 8 as Iranian authorities shut down the internet and drastically intensified their crackdown.How much support Pahlavi has inside of Iran remains an open question, though there have been pro-shah cries at the demonstrations. As tensions remain high between Tehran and Washington, ship-tracking data analyzed by the AP on Monday showed the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, as well as other American military vessels, in the Strait of Malacca after passing Singapore on a route 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 traveling with the Lincoln through the strait.