Tehran: In a dramatic cyber-psychological operation, Iranian state television was briefly hijacked on Sunday, with hackers airing protest visuals from the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement. The footage showed Iranian women removing their hijabs and cutting their hair, accompanied by a voice-over encouraging citizens to rise against the regime. A logo associated with the Israeli military’s “Operation Rising Lion” also appeared on screen, raising alarms within Iran’s cyber defense establishment.
The incident is being seen as part of a larger psychological warfare campaign, merging digital disruption with military symbolism. Iran’s state broadcaster, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), later confirmed the intrusion, stating that the disruption was caused “due to cyberattacks carried out by the Zionist enemy that is disrupting satellite transmission.”
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Protest Footage from Mahsa Amini Uprising Resurfaces
The hijacked broadcast aired powerful imagery from the nationwide protests following the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who died in custody of Iran’s morality police. Her death triggered widespread demonstrations, with women at the forefront, rejecting compulsory hijab laws and systemic repression.
According to international human rights groups and media outlets like the BBC, the ensuing crackdown by Iranian authorities resulted in the deaths of over 500 people. The reappearance of this footage on national TV is a symbolic reminder of the unrest, intended to reignite public dissent and international attention toward Iran’s ongoing human rights concerns.
Cyber-Conflict Between Israel and Iran Escalates
While Israel has not formally taken responsibility for the cyberattack, Israeli UN spokesperson Jonathan Harounoff shared a clip of the hijack on his social media handle, indirectly amplifying the incident. Cybersecurity experts say the attack reveals significant vulnerabilities in Iran’s broadcast and telecommunications systems.
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This incident adds to a growing list of Israeli-linked cyberattacks targeting Iranian infrastructure. Earlier, Predatory Sparrow, an Israeli-aligned hacker group, claimed responsibility for a cyberattack that disabled Sepah Bank’s ATM network, leaving citizens unable to access funds. The same group had previously targeted Iran’s fuel infrastructure and military-linked industries, reflecting a pattern of strategic digital offensives designed to undermine public trust in state institutions.
The latest hijack underscores the fragile state of Iran’s cyber defenses and suggests that cyberwarfare is now a central tool in the Israel-Iran conflict, used not just to paralyze systems but also to sow dissent and encourage regime destabilization from within.