Iranian Regime Operating Social Media Campaign to Spread Anti-Israel and Anti-US Propaganda

A comprehensive investigation by Clemson University has uncovered a sophisticated network of at least 62 social media accounts linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that are actively promoting anti-Israel and anti-US narratives amid ongoing regional tensions.

The accounts, distributed across X, Bluesky, and Instagram, were designed to appear as if they belonged to users from the Americas and the United Kingdom despite their connections to the Iranian regime. While most were created within the past year, some date back to December 2023.

“All these accounts systematically amplify politically divisive content and disinformation aligned with IRGC narratives, and they are designed to exploit regional fault lines to advance Iranian regime interests,” states the report released Wednesday.

Researchers identified a significant shift in messaging strategy following the February 28 military strikes against Iran by Israel and the United States. Prior to the strikes, these accounts primarily focused on stoking domestic political divisions within Western countries. However, afterward, they pivoted sharply to spreading pro-Tehran messaging and regime propaganda.

“There is a coordinated inauthentic social-media campaign targeting online discourse around the war between Israel, the United States, and Iran,” the report emphasized. The investigation documented numerous instances where these accounts deployed AI-generated imagery and fabricated videos to spread false information about ongoing military operations.

The network’s reach is substantial. Clemson researchers identified 47 accounts on X, nine on Instagram, and five on Bluesky as part of this IRGC-affiliated operation. On X alone, these accounts generated nearly 60,000 original posts that were subsequently shared thousands of times, potentially reaching millions of users across the platform.

When contacted by Fox News Digital about the findings, Bluesky confirmed it had removed all accounts identified in the report for violating community guidelines. Similarly, Meta, the parent company of Instagram, stated that it “prohibits coordinated inauthentic behavior and individuals and organizations tied to terrorism,” adding that they remove such accounts upon discovery.

Meta also noted that approximately one-third of the Instagram accounts mentioned in the report were inactive during the conflict, while the remaining accounts collectively had fewer than 2,000 followers.

This investigation highlights the growing sophistication of state-backed information operations in social media environments. Foreign influence campaigns have become increasingly common tools in international conflicts, with government actors exploiting social platforms to shape narratives and influence public opinion across national boundaries.

The timing of this campaign coincides with heightened tensions between Iran, Israel, and the United States following multiple rounds of military exchanges. These information operations appear designed to shape public perception of the conflict by amplifying narratives favorable to Iranian interests while undermining support for American and Israeli positions.

“It will be important to continue to monitor communities found to be at particular risk of foreign influence to mitigate potential harms to authentic discourse. This is particularly true at times of global crisis,” the Clemson researchers concluded in their report.

The discovery underscores the ongoing challenges social media platforms face in identifying and countering coordinated inauthentic behavior, particularly when backed by state actors with significant resources. As geopolitical tensions continue in the Middle East, the digital information space remains a critical battleground where influence operations can have real-world implications for public support of foreign policy decisions.