US military weighs restricting troops' phones in Middle East, warning Iran could use footage to guide strikes

The US military is considering restricting troops' use of mobile phones in the Middle East, Reuters reported Wednesday (local time).

Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command, which oversees military operations in the region, wrote in a letter to troops Wednesday that Iran is monitoring the success of its strikes "in near real time" through media reports and photos and videos taken by service members on their phones. "The cost of this open-source information could be paid in the lives of US service members and civilians in the Middle East," he said, urging tighter security practices.

Multiple sources said some US troops stationed in Jordan had been notified that their phones would be confiscated within days.

However, another source said the phone confiscation plan had not yet been finalized.

The review stems from concerns that photos and videos taken by troops could be used to help Iran refine its attacks.

In one recent incident, a US service member at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan filmed themselves taking cover in a bunker during an Iranian missile and drone strike and posted the footage on social media.

Cooper said Iran knows it launched weapons "but doesn't know if it missed by 50 meters, hit an empty runway, or struck a facility with a lot of people in it." He said media reports and social media posts containing detailed information about US casualties amounted to performing battle damage assessments on Iran's behalf, free of charge.

The US military has used jamming equipment and other measures to prevent Iran from assessing the results of its strikes, but Cooper said media coverage and social media posts are undermining those efforts.

"Detailed disclosure of strike results could be a green light for Iranian forces to carry out a far more lethal second strike," he said.

The US government has long warned that location data and various apps on mobile phones could be exploited by adversarial nations.

Phone use policies for deployed troops vary by unit. Many service members are required to store their phones separately, and special operations forces are prohibited from using phones entirely during key missions.