Hackers have disrupted Iranian state television satellite transmissions to air footage supporting the country’s exiled crown prince and urge security forces to not “point your weapons at the people”.
The online video screened early on Monday is the latest disruption to follow nationwide street protests across the country.
The hacking comes as the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said the death toll in the crackdown by authorities that smothered the demonstrations reached at least 4029 people.
There are fears 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.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had his invitation to speak at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, withdrawn over the killings.
“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.
Araghchi denounced the decision, saying the forum “cancelled my appearance in Davos on the basis of lies and political pressure from Israel and its US-based proxies and apologists”.
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 US 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.
The footage of exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi aired on Sunday night across multiple channels broadcast by satellite from Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, the country’s state broadcaster.
The video aired two clips of the prince, 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.
How much support Pahlavi has inside of Iran remains an open question, though there have been pro-shah cries at the demonstrations and at night since the crackdown.
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