Hegseth: US taking ‘countermeasures’ to communicate with Iranians during internet blackout

United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says Washington is “taking countermeasures” amid internet blackouts in Iran in order to communicate with the Iranian people and “certain audiences” during the campaign against the country.

“As far as the internet, we’re watching the regime try to tighten its grip as much as possible,” Hegseth says during a Pentagon briefing.

“We’re obviously taking countermeasures, many of which we can’t talk about here, to ensure that messaging is delivered, not just to the Iranian people at large, but to the right audiences, certain audiences that need to hear certain things about what their fate might look like or what their choices are,” he says, without elaborating further.

He also criticizes “AI images… fake reports, fake images,” that he says are being dispersed by the regime in an effort to “make it look like something’s happening when the exact opposite is.”

AI images and videos alleging false developments such as the death of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and extreme damage from Iranian strikes in Israel have been widely circulated online since the conflict began.