The top U.S. commander in the Middle East is warning American troops that their own cellphone videos could help Iran kill U.S. service members.
Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, issued the stark warning in a July 28 letter as the military moves to crack down on troops posting footage from bases targeted by Iranian missiles and drones.
Cooper said Iran is watching videos, photos and news reports in near real time to figure out whether its strikes are hitting American positions.
Personnel deployed across the Middle East could soon be ordered to surrender their phones, according to Reuters, even as thousands of troops rely on mobile devices to communicate with spouses, children and other family members back home.
‘The direct, unavoidable cost of this open-source intelligence could be measured in the lives of American service members and civilian residents in targeted Gulf countries,’ Cooper wrote to the troops in letter dated July 28.
The warning comes as U.S. forces remain under pressure across the region following the collapse of President Donald Trump’s ceasefire with Iran.
Sources told Reuters that troops stationed in Jordan, which has been targeted by Iranian drone and missile attacks, could have their phones confiscated within days.
The military is trying to stop information from leaking into the open where Tehran can use it to refine future attacks.
A video posted online this month showed a service member filming as troops ran for cover during a deadly July 17 Iranian attack on a base in Jordan.
Cooper appeared to reference that clip in his letter, noting it was recorded on camera-equipped Meta smart glasses and posted to Instagram.
The footage revealed where and how the wearer evacuated to a bunker, according to the letter.
That kind of detail can matter on a battlefield where seconds, locations and damage assessments can shape the next strike.
Cooper said U.S. electronic jamming and other countermeasures can leave Iran largely unable to determine whether its attacks were effective.
But troops posting online can hand Tehran the answer for free.
‘Iran knows the weapons were fired; however, their forces do not know if they missed by 50 meters, hit an empty tarmac, or successfully struck a crowded facility,’ Cooper wrote in the letter.
He continued, ‘Detailed lists, descriptions, and analyses of what was hit, openly published by news outlets are essentially performing Iran’s Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) for them, free of charge.’
The top US CENTCOM commander in the Middle East warned troops that photos and videos shared from personal phones could reveal the extent of damage caused by US strikes to Iran and help it plan further attacks, Reuters reports. pic.twitter.com/FjmeswP5mq
— The Sudan Times (@thesudantimes) July 29, 2026
The warning lands after weeks of deadly attacks on U.S. forces in the Middle East.
Eighteen U.S. troops have been killed and more than 600 wounded since the conflict with Iran began in February.
The war has also become a growing political problem at home, with public support falling as American casualties rise.
Military commanders have long restricted phone use in sensitive environments, and troops on certain missions are often required to lock away devices.
Phones can be banned outright during special operations and other high-risk assignments.
But a broader phone crackdown in the Middle East would hit ordinary deployed personnel who use them to check in with loved ones during an increasingly dangerous mission.
That possibility has rattled some military families, especially as Iranian claims of attacks on U.S. bases continue to spread online.
Pentagon officials have warned for years that mobile apps, fitness trackers and location data can expose troop movements and military sites to foreign adversaries.
Commercially available smartphone location data has also been used to monitor and target U.S. forces abroad.
Now Cooper is making the threat plain for troops on the ground.
A quick video may look harmless to the person posting it.
To Iran, it could be a targeting report.
Cooper warned that if Tehran can determine whether its first strike worked, it could come back harder.
He concluded that allowing Iran to judge whether its attacks succeeded could prompt it to launch ‘a secondary, much more devastating wave of attacks.’
For U.S. troops in the region, the message was simple.
Put the phone away before the enemy uses it against you.
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