Iranian state television was hacked on Saturday, allowing opposition messages from exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi to be broadcast across the nation roiling from mass protests against the Islamic state, according to multiple international media reports.
Pahlavi’s message carried on for several minutes, according to reports in the Times of Israel and Jerusalem Post, which cited the opposition-allied outlet Iran International. His press office posted nearly six minutes of the broadcast Saturday on X.
ویدئوی دیگری از هک شبکههای تلویزیونی رژیم جمهوری اسلامی با تصاویر انقلاب ملی ایران و پیامهای شاهزاده رضا پهلوی pic.twitter.com/wHvvrynalp
— Reza Pahlavi Communications (@PahlaviComms) January 18, 2026
The Times and Post also said videos of protests against the regime were shown in defiance of a harsh and widespread communications crackdown. The footage was aired across multiple channels as the hack was done via satellite, the papers noted.
Iran’s nationwide crisis began late last month with protests over a collapsing economy, and exploded into massive anti-government unrest. The government’s response has been brutally violent, involving mass arrests, lethal force and a near-total internet blackout.
Thousands of protesters are reported to have been killed, injured or detained, though estimates vary widely due to the information blackout. Two of Iran’s most acclaimed filmmakers, “It Was Just an Accident” director Jafar Panahi and “There Is No Evil” director Mohammad Rasoulof, issued a stark warning last week over a renewed and dangerous crackdown by the Islamic Republic.
In a joint letter obtained by TheWrap, said authorities have moved to isolate the country by cutting internet access, mobile service and landlines — measures that rights groups warn often precede the harshest phases of repression. Read the full text of their letter here.
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