Pro-Iranian accounts widely trolled Trump and Netanyahu on social media, spreading rumors ranging from missile attacks to Netanyahu's death. Israeli and US-backed accounts were also active in spreading rumors about Iran and exaggerating their own achievements.
We use Google Cloud Translation Services. Google requires we provide the following disclaimer relating to use of this service:
This service may contain translations powered by Google. Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, expressed or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement.
Along with the numerous updates of the US/Israeli-Iranian attack that lasted for nearly 40 days, the trolling activities of various Iran-backed accounts around the world also remained popular. As the 2-week ceasefire approached, Iran was seen using its weapons, information technology tools and networks including X, Facebook, TikTok, and others to create an atmosphere in its favor. The Times of Israel report mentions that Iran has also used online media extensively to respond to and refute US President Donald Trump's statements.
2 weeks ago, when Israel and the US were continuously attacking Iran, Iranian military spokesman Ibrahim Zolfaghari appeared in a strange appearance. Brigadier General Ibrahim, who has become a world-renowned face along with the Iranian military and government spokesperson since the war began, was seen in the said video riding a skateboard in front of the missile launch site and drinking fruit juice. Although it is believed to have been created using artificial intelligence (AI), the video went viral after it was posted by an ex-account called ‘Iranian Embassy to South Africa’. Many saw it as a bold response to the US/Israeli claim that they had destroyed the Iranian military and infrastructure.
In videos of Iranian military spokesman Ibrahim, which are widely shared on social media, he is seen making statements to Trump in his own style, including saying ‘you are fired’. He has also jokingly countered Trump’s claims that the Iranian military has been dismantled or that the Iranian government is trying to make a deal. He has even gone so far as to call the US/Israeli operation ‘Operation Epic Fury’ ‘Operation Epic Fear’.
Along with Ibrahim, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Iranian Parliament Speaker Bagher Ghalibaf, and Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmail Baghei also became Iran's representative faces in the latest war with the help of social media.
Various media outlets have raised questions about social media companies not complying with sanctions on Iran and selling them verified accounts. Along with the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, various Iranian government agencies, embassies, consulates, and media outlets have taken verified accounts. It has been reported that there are 2 to 3 dozen such official X accounts.
The Times of Israel reported that dozens of accounts sharing misleading, edited, and outdated content in support of Iran have extremely high engagement. For example, in response to Trump's threat to 'open the Strait of Hormuz' on his Truth social media, an account called the Iranian Embassy in Zimbabwe trolled him by saying, 'The truth is lost'. Similarly, when Trump threatened to destroy Iran's energy production facilities and infrastructure such as bridges, an account called the Iranian Embassy in the UK posted a quote from the famous American writer Mark Twain, 'It is better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are stupid than to open your mouth to remove your dilemma.'
Iran-backed troll accounts are actively exaggerating and falsely portraying the Iranian military's attacks and counterattacks, according to an analysis by Efrat Livni and Parin Behrouz in the New York Times. However, they noted that Israeli and US-backed accounts were not far behind in spreading rumors about Iran and exaggerating their own achievements. In some cases, these social media content, which was also translated into Persian and Arabic, included Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging Iranians to rise up and overthrow the current government in Iran. Netanyahu, who was seen in a video saying that he was alive after Iranian-backed accounts spread rumors that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was dead.
that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and senior right-wing leader Ben-Zvir were dead, Netanyahu himself had to post 3-4 videos claiming that he was alive. The US government has been trying to reassure Americans by posting memes and footage from war-related movies and American pop culture superheroes from official accounts, including the White House and the Defense Ministry. A 41-second clip of Ben Stiller's film posted on X by the US President's Office with the message 'American way of justice' has been viewed by nearly 65 million people. The film's producer has criticized the Trump administration, saying 'war is not a movie.' The US Secretary of Defense, the State Department and other agencies have also posted short, threatening memes, movie clips and other trolls in the style of the president, similar to those of American pop culture, during the nearly 40-day war. The Iranian government, which has banned the use of the internet for the general public, has used hundreds of troll and supporter accounts to spread its message. In addition, the Times of Israel and the New York Times have reported that they have posted in Chinese, Russian and North Korean to spread the US's retaliatory rhetoric. X suspended about 2 dozen verified accounts for spreading disinformation in favor of Iran. However, Iran supporters have been seen to be playing Trump and Netanyahu in the troll game.
