REUTERS — The US military’s top Middle East commander has warned troops that cellphone videos shared online can help Iran target American bases, and sources told Reuters some deployed personnel could soon be ordered to surrender their phones.

Any crackdown on mobile communications would add a new dimension to the conflict for the thousands of US troops in the region, many of whom still rely on phones to message loved ones periodically and assure them they are well.

Admiral Brad Cooper, in a previously unreported letter, said Iran was benefiting from being able to see the success or failure of its strikes in near real-time by searching news reports or online posts by journalists mentioning “reactions, photos, and footage from the cellphones of our troops.”

“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, head of the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM), wrote in his July 28 letter, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.

He called on troops to “redouble our focus on operational security,” without prescribing specific steps in the memo.

In Jordan, which has been a frequent target of Iranian strikes, some troops have been told their phones will be confiscated in the coming days, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

A third source said such a move was being considered in the region due to operational security concerns but did not present the confiscation as a certainty.

Footage captured by a U.S. soldier reportedly shows an Iranian missile barrage targeting Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. pic.twitter.com/AHUeOeiLKA Advertisement if(typeof rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner != "function" || !rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner("#Article_Incontent1")){ window.tude = window.tude || { cmd: [] }; tude.cmd.push(function() { if(navigator.userAgent.indexOf("rgbmedia-app") > -1){ tude.setDeviceType("mobile"); } tude.refreshAdsViaDivMappings([ { divId: 'Article_Incontent1', baseDivId: 'Article_Incontent1', } ]); }); } — Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 22, 2026

Footage captured by a U.S. soldier reportedly shows an Iranian missile barrage targeting Muwaffaq Salti Air........

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