The US Central Command posted footage of Tomahawk missiles striking Iranian military installations on X within two hours of the operation on June 10, garnering over two million views in its first three hours. The footage — showing missiles entering their terminal phase and destroying hardened bunkers — was the most-watched military content on the platform since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. [1]

The decision to post the footage was described by CENTCOM spokesperson Patrick Ryder as "part of our commitment to transparency with the American public." The posts included strike footage, satellite imagery of destroyed targets, and a brief operational summary. The thread accumulated 45,000 retweets and 120,000 likes in its first hour. [2]

The Information War

The CENTCOM posts represent a shift in how military operations are communicated to the public. Previous conflicts — the 2003 Iraq invasion, the 2011 Libya operation, the 2020 Soleimani strike — relied on Pentagon press conferences, official statements, and embedded journalists. The June 10 operation used social media as the primary distribution channel, bypassing traditional media entirely. [3]

The strategic logic is straightforward. By posting strike footage on X, CENTCOM controls the narrative before Iran can respond. The footage shows precision — missiles hitting specific targets, secondary explosions indicating ammunition storage, no visible civilian structures. It tells a story of competence and proportionality. Iran's response, when it comes, will be contested against this footage. [4]

The precedent was set during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, where the Ukrainian government used social media to document Russian losses and build international support. CENTCOM adopted the model, posting footage from the February 2025 Yemen strikes and the March 2026 Hormuz enforcement operations. The June 10 operation was the first time strike footage was posted during an active exchange. [5]

The platform's role is notable. X, owned by Elon Musk, has not restricted military content under its current content moderation policies. The footage was not flagged, age-restricted, or removed — a decision that drew criticism from digital rights organizations. The Electronic Frontier Foundation called the posting "a dangerous precedent for the use of social media as a military distribution channel." [6]

What the CENTCOM posts represent is the completion of a circle. Social media was born as a tool for personal expression. It became a tool for political communication. It became a tool for wartime propaganda. On June 10, it became a tool for live military operations — a distribution channel for strike footage, a real-time battlefield update, and a propaganda instrument, all in a single thread. [7]

-- MAYA CALLOWAY, New York