Counter Iran! U.S. Military Warns Middle East Troops: Don't Upload Attack Footage, Hand Over Phones

Brad Cooper, the highest-ranking U.S. military commander for Middle East operations and head of U.S. Central Command, has warned American troops stationed in the Middle East in an unclassified letter that videos uploaded to the internet could assist Iran in identifying the locations of U.S. military bases.

Reuters reported on Wednesday, the 29th, citing sources, that restrictions on soldiers' mobile phone communications would have new implications for thousands of U.S. troops stationed across the Middle East. Currently, many service members still rely on their phones to stay in contact with their families and regularly report their safety.

In a letter issued on the 28th, Cooper stated that Iran is leveraging publicly available information to gather intelligence on U.S. military operations. He explained that Iran can search news reports or social media posts for 'reactions, photos, and videos' taken on soldiers' personal phones—often cited by journalists—to nearly determine in real time the effectiveness of Iranian strike operations.

"The direct and unavoidable cost of this open-source intelligence could be measured in American military lives and civilian casualties in targeted nations across the Persian Gulf region," Cooper wrote in the letter.

He urged military personnel to "further prioritize operational security," though he did not specify concrete measures in the letter.

Two sources familiar with the matter revealed that in Jordan, a country frequently targeted by Iranian attacks, some U.S. troops have already been informed that their phones will be collected in the coming days.

Another source indicated that, due to operational security concerns, the U.S. military is considering similar measures across the Middle East, though it remains uncertain whether the phone collection will definitively be implemented.