The Islamic Republic of Iran has viewed the January 2026 events as a direct extension of what was known as the “12-Day War” in June 2025, relying on an in-depth analysis of the operational and technical lessons revealed by that war. The US and the Zionist entity’s reliance on “hybrid networks” combining human agents and satellite communications, particularly the Starlink system, was a key takeaway.
After the 2025 war, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and cyber defense forces conducted a comprehensive reverse engineering of the enemy’s tactics. The goal wasn’t just understanding, but transforming these experiences into counter-tools deployed in the field during the January 2026 events.
Key applications included disabling and blocking Starlink services within Iran by 90-100%. The “lessons of the 2025 war” were turned into a technical weapon used to disrupt the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (C4I) systems relied upon by opponents during the 2026 movements.
Key Tactics:
- Starlink Signature: Iran’s radars and intelligence intercept systems recorded patterns, frequencies, and signal behavior, allowing for rapid detection in 2026.
- C4I Disruption: Iran exploited vulnerabilities in communication apps, creating a fake command network to broadcast false data and orders, leading to group disarray.
- Human Error Exploitation: Iran focused on agents’ mistakes, like carrying personal phones or staying in one location, using AI to analyze data and pinpoint operations.
- Localized Jamming: Instead of random blocking, Iran targeted specific hotspots, isolating them digitally and deploying special task units.
- Speed Disruption: Iran slowed down communications, crippling operational coordination.
The internet shutdown wasn’t punitive but an electronic entrapment tactic, forcing agents to activate Starlink and reveal their locations.
The disruption of the Starlink network led to a kind of “operational blindness” for the Americans, the Zionist entity, and their agents on the ground. With the loss of 30% of signals initially, then 80% later, reaching 90% on Thursday, January 8, 2026, coordination collapsed, operational groups disintegrated, and chaos prevailed.
Israeli sources publicly acknowledged that the main reason for the defeat was the disruption of secure communications. The technology they relied on backfired, as Iran turned its former strengths into lethal weaknesses, using the experience of the 2025 war as a basis for a sophisticated technical hunt in the 2026 events.