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Dear John,
Citizen Lab, one of the world’s leading research centers on technology and human rights, has published a bombshell report [[link removed]] on a coordinated, AI-enabled influence operation that targeted Iranians during Israel’s bombing of Iran. An investigative report from the prominent Israeli outlet Haaretz [[link removed]] adds further corroboration and details how Israel’s social media manipulation has sought to boost the son of the deposed Shah and silence dissenting voices.
These reports are just the tip of the iceberg. As we know firsthand, Israel has propped up and amplified pro-war forces in the Iranian diaspora, using every propaganda tool at its disposal to slander, silence, threaten, and ultimately endanger Iranians, both inside and outside Iran.
Citizen Lab and Haaretz detail how the network of inauthentic accounts shared doctored AI video depicting uprisings as Israel bombed Evin Prison, calling in Persian for Iranians to descend on Evin to free the prisoners and falsely claiming the warzone was safe. Other posts promoted by the Israeli network included scenes of civil unrest, instability, and even efforts to trigger financial panic and a run on the banks.
The truth is coming out: Those who have attempted to undermine pro-peace voices and silence our community through slander and manipulation are being exposed. Support the effort to hold them accountable and fight for peace by donating today >> [[link removed]]
After the 12-day war, the Israeli network continued to sow anxiety and promote an uprising, including sharing a fake AI video featuring musicians like Shervin Hajipour performing Baraye with lyrics altered to call for an uprising.
Haaretz reported that a “large-scale digital influence campaign in Persian” has been operating out of Israel with Israeli government backing to promote the son of the deposed Shah, Reza Pahlavi, who has increasingly aligned with Israel including during Israeli attacks on Iran. As the report notes, the project seeks to boost Pahlavi’s public image and amplify calls for restoring the monarchy, relying on fake online personas posing as Iranian citizens. The report details how the campaign used artificial intelligence tools to craft narratives, generate content, and flood platforms like X and Instagram, while also working to amplify the posts of Pahlavi’s ally in Israel, Gila Gamliel, a minister in Netanyahu’s Likud party.
These efforts jeopardize the lives of Iranians amid war and repression and seek to impose authoritarianism on the Iranian diaspora by dividing and intimidating us. It is an assault on the very concept of democracy and human rights.
It is part of the same operation used against our community, including during the 2022 protests when policymakers, experts and organizations like NIAC were falsely attacked for our principled positions against war. These attacks have been designed to divide us, silence dissent, and strip away our collective power. Real strength comes from organizing people, not from manufactured lies. These efforts aim to fracture Iranian society precisely because they can’t build power organically.
These propaganda operations are profoundly dangerous and seek to stifle independent, organic, and people-led movements – whether it is Iranians organizing to build change in Iran, or Iranian Americans organizing to stand up to pro-war interests in the U.S.
These new tools of social media manipulation and artificial intelligence may be new, but they come from the same old handbook of repression. It is not the first time powerful actors have sought to manipulate ordinary people to satisfy their own interests. It's not the first time a fake figure has been propped up to try to sell devastating wars of regime change – which always serves powerful interests, not the people.
But as tensions rise between the U.S. and Iran, Iranians deserve to live free of bombing, disinformation, and authoritarian crackdowns – and we must build power and stand up to these interests by organizing our resources, and rejecting these efforts to manipulate and divide people in service of militarism and authoritarianism.
If you want to help us stand up to these powerful forces and work for peace, justice, and power for the people, please make a donation today >> [[link removed]]
In solidarity,
Jamal Abdi
President, NIACunsubscribe: [link removed]