Iranian regime spreading anti-Israel propaganda across dozens of social media accounts: report
A new Clemson University report found dozens of social media accounts associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) pushing anti-Israel and anti-U.S. content to sow online discord during the ongoing Iran-U.S. war.
According to a report released Wednesday, at least 62 accounts across X, Bluesky and Instagram were found to have connections to the IRGC despite claiming to be users from the Americas, England, Scotland or Ireland. Though most accounts were less than 1 year old, some were created as far back as 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,” the report said.
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Prior to President Donald Trump and Israel’s military strikes against Iran, most accounts largely focused on divisive domestic positions. However, after Feb. 28, once Israel and the U.S. launched surprise airstrikes against Iran, they began pushing pro-Tehran messages in favor of the regime.
“There is a coordinated inauthentic social-media campaign targeting online discourse around the war between Israel, the United States, and Iran,” the report noted.
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The accounts also used several AI-generated images and false videos pushing inaccurate reports on the ongoing strikes.
“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 report concluded.
In a response to Fox News Digital, Bluesky confirmed that all the accounts listed in the report were taken down for violating community guidelines.
A Meta spokesperson reiterated the company’s stance against content promoting terrorism and pointed out that, of the accounts listed in the report, one third of them were not active during the war while the remaining accounts have fewer than 2,000 followers combined.
“Meta prohibits coordinated inauthentic behavior and individuals and organizations tied to terrorism, and we remove violating accounts once we become aware of them,” a Meta spokesperson said.
Fox News Digital also reached out to X for comment.
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Clemson University located 47 X accounts, nine Instagram accounts and five Bluesky accounts that fell into the IRGC “network.”
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The university found that X accounts alone created 59,403 original posts that were reposted thousands of times with organic engagement by thousands of followers, potentially reaching millions.
Karoline Leavitt demands retraction of ABC News story claiming FBI warned Iran could attack California
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt demanded Thursday that ABC News retract a story claiming that the FBI has officially warned Iran may try to attack California with drones.
ABC News posted on Wednesday, “BREAKING: The FBI has warned police departments in California that Iran wants to retaliate for American attacks by launching offensive drones against the West Coast, according to an alert reviewed by @ABC News.”
Leavitt blasted the post, writing, “This post and story should be immediately retracted by ABC News for providing false information to intentionally alarm the American people.”
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She added further, “They wrote this based on one email that was sent to local law enforcement in California about a single, unverified tip. The email even states the tip was based on *unverified* intelligence. Yet ABC News left out this critical fact in their story! WHY?”
“TO BE CLEAR: No such threat from Iran to our homeland exists, and it never did,” she wrote.
She followed up by retweeting a post with side-by-side screenshots of the story ABC wrote and the FBI alert actually sent out. The post from Assistant Director for Public Affairs at the FBI Ben Williamson read, “On the left is the way ABC (or their source) reported the FBI alert. On the right is the actual FBI alert that went to JTFF partners. You will notice the word left out —’Unverified.’”
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ABC News has since updated its story with an editor’s note declaring, “The FBI has posted a fuller version of its alert to California authorities, which includes that the information was unverified. The latest version of this story has been updated with the full statement.”
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Asked about the unverified report in the alert, President Donald Trump said Wednesday, “It’s being investigated. But you have a lot of things happening, and all we can do is take them as they come, and the war itself is being prosecuted as well as anybody has ever seen.”
Trump says Iran’s World Cup participation may not be ‘appropriate,’ while adding men’s team is still ‘welcome’
Iran’s participation in the 2026 FIFA World Cup remained in doubt this week after the country’s sports minister reportedly threatened to pull the men’s soccer team from the tournament largely taking place in the United States this summer.
Iranian Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali reportedly told state television this week that it’s “not possible” for the country to take part in the highly anticipated tournament after the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed amid the U.S. and Israeli joint military operations against Iran, which began on Feb. 28.
President Donald Trump has spoken about Iran’s status for the World Cup previously, but suggested Thursday that while the men’s squad is “welcome” to compete in the U.S. after qualifying, it might not be “appropriate.”
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“The Iran National Soccer Team is welcome to The World Cup, but I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety,” Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social post on Thursday.
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Iran is slated to play in Inglewood, California, against New Zealand on June 15. It is also scheduled to face Belgium on June 21 before finishing group play against Egypt in Seattle on June 26. The U.S. is hosting the tournament with Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.
Last week, Trump said “I really don’t care” if Iran takes part in the 48-nation tournament.
On Tuesday, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said Trump “reiterated” to him that Iran’s men’s national soccer team would be “welcome to compete” at this summer’s World Cup.
Infantino shared the details of his conversation with the president in a lengthy post on Instagram on Tuesday. “This evening, I met with the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump to discuss the status of preparations for the upcoming FIFA World Cup, and the growing excitement as we are set to kick off in just 93 days.”
Infantino also acknowledged that Iran has met all requirements to qualify for the tournament.
“We also discussed the current situation in Iran and the team’s qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” he said. “During those talks, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States.”
FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
The geopolitical crisis has also cast uncertainty over the Iranian women’s national soccer team.
Earlier this week, Australia granted asylum to five members of the women’s team who were visiting the country for a tournament when the Iran war began, a government minister confirmed.
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The team drew speculation and news coverage in Australia when players didn’t sing the Iranian anthem before their match against South Korea on March 2.
Pentagon estimates Iran war cost $11.3B in the first six days in closed-door congressional hearing: report
Pentagon officials on Tuesday told legislators during a closed-door briefing that they estimated that the cost of the Iran war was more than $11.3 billion during the initial six days of the conflict, the New York Times reported, citing three unnamed individuals familiar with the briefing.
That estimate did not encompass many expenses tied to the effort, such as buildup of military assets and personnel prior to the first strikes, the outlet added.
Other reports indicate that the briefing involved senators.
A Senate Armed Services Committee staffer, who noted that he could only speak for the minority staff and Ranking Member Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., referred Fox News Digital to a March 10 letter that the senator sent to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, pressing for information about the costs of the war.
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“Since the initial strikes on February 28, 2026, how much has the Department spent on these operations? How much are the daily costs of these operations? What are the costs to readiness? How much funding does the Department need to replenish munitions and aircraft combat losses?” Reed asked in part of the letter.
No comment was provided by the GOP side of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Fox News Digital also reached out to the Department of War and the House Armed Services Committee Republican communications office on Thursday.
The war-related outlays come as the ever-expanding U.S. national debt nears the $39 trillion mark.
And while President Donald Trump has been waging the costly war in conjunction with Israel, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, Americans have been seeing a significant surge in gas prices at home.
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“The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money. BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stoping [sic] an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World. I won’t ever let that happen!” Trump said in a Thursday Truth Social post.
US destroys aging Iranian warplanes, video shows
As the American military continues bombarding Iran amid the ongoing war against the Islamic Republic, U.S. Central Command shared video footage of strikes against aircraft sitting on the ground.
“The Iranian regime is losing air capability day by day,” CENTCOM wrote in a late Wednesday post on X.
“U.S. forces aren’t just defending against Iranian threats, we are methodically dismantling them,” the post added.
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No American fighter planes have been downed by Iran, according to CENTCOM.
“An IRGC leader has claimed that a U.S. F-15 was shot down today south of Tehran. LIE,” CENTCOM indicated in a Wednesday post on X.
“No U.S. fighter aircraft have been shot down by Iran. U.S. forces continue to exercise air superiority over vast swaths of Iran. TRUTH,” the post added.
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The Wall Street Journal indicated in a report last week that while the U.S. and Israel are operating modern aircraft like the F-35, the age and weakness of Iranian aircraft mark a vulnerability that requires Iran to rely on the ballistic missile program targeted by American and Israeli strikes.
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Earlier this month CENTCOM reported that three U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets had been downed in “an apparent friendly fire incident.”
“During active combat — that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones — the U.S. Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses,” the March 2 press release. “Kuwait has acknowledged this incident, and we are grateful for the efforts of the Kuwaiti defense forces and their support in this ongoing operation.”
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The release noted that the six aircrew members safely ejected and were recovered.