Mike Baker

But that pipeline sprung a leak over the weekend.

Multiple Iranian state television channels were abruptly hijacked in a coordinated cyber attack, interrupting regular programming to broadcast footage of Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last Shah, along with images of anti-government protests that the regime has been working relentlessly to suppress.

This breach came amid a near-total internet shutdown inside Iran, which remains in place after weeks of nationwide protests challenging the authority of the mullahs and the Revolutionary Guard Corps.

With social media blocked, messaging apps crippled, and outside communication severely restricted, the regime believed it had sealed the information battlefield.

The cyber attack proved otherwise.

According to reporting, hackers targeted the satellite transmission feeds used to distribute state television across the country.

For viewers inside Iran and for the regime officials monitoring their own channels, the interruption was shocking.

State media, normally locked down tight, was suddenly broadcasting the face of the exiled monarchy and scenes of unrest that the regime was insisting either don't exist or are being orchestrated by foreign enemies.

Messages aired urging Iranian security forces not to fire on civilians, an explicit attempt to drive a wedge between the regime and the men tasked with enforcing its rule.

Iran's government moved quickly to acknowledge the incident, confirming, quote, technical disruptions while insisting control had been restored.

But the damage was already done for a regime obsessed with projecting control.

Even a brief loss of the narrative is a serious blow.

Say television is one of the Islamic Republic's most tightly guarded assets.

Unlike social media platforms that can be throttled or shut down, television remains the primary source of information for millions of Iranians, especially older audiences and rural communities.

A successful intrusion there carries weight far beyond a viral clip online.

Just as important is who appeared on screen.

Reza Pahlavi, again the son of the former Shah, carries enormous symbolic weight.

To supporters, he represents an idealized version of pre-revolutionary Iran under his father, more secular, more open, and less isolated from the world.

It remains a powerful contrast to life under the Islamic Republic.

Now, obviously, there's a significant portion of the population in Iran that has no interest in revisiting the monarchy.