How Israel ‘hacked’ a prayer app to ask Iranians to ‘lay down arms’

Team TOI PlusTIMESOFINDIA.COM
Mar 1, 2026 | 23:31 IST
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In the middle of being bombed, Iranians were told they were being ‘helped’ — on an app for routine religious reminders


A little before 10am in Tehran, just after the first set of explosions, phones across Iran started lighting up. “Help has arrived,” the first message said, a push notification on an innocuous app many Iranians use as a prayer calendar.

Over the next half an hour, the pings kept coming in quick succession on the app, BadeSabah. They were messages in Persian.
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