Hacked Prayer App Urges Iranians to Surrender During Early-Morning Strikes
Feb 28th 2026
During US and Israeli strikes, the widely used BadeSaba prayer app sent push notifications urging Iranian forces to surrender while the country experienced major internet and communications outages.
- Explosions hit Tehran and other cities after US and Israeli forces launched what they called preemptive strikes.
- Users of the BadeSaba Calendar prayer app received push notifications urging military personnel to surrender and promising amnesty.
- BadeSaba has about 5 million downloads on Google Play and the messages carried the title "Help is on the way" with calls to join liberation forces, according to shared screenshots.
- No group has claimed responsibility and cybersecurity analysts say attribution remains unclear.
- Security experts say the messaging likely required a prior compromise and was delivered as a timed or triggered payload.
- Iran has significantly reduced internet and communications, with NetBlocks reporting overall traffic down to 4 percent and state-affiliated sites briefly disrupted, raising concerns about loss of documentation and outside visibility for civilians.