A fake post spreading from an X account in India falsely claimed that Iran had announced it was building nuclear weapons — a claim that subsequently spread to Israel, the United States, and various other countries. The fabricated quote later found its way into Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s own speech. Several US politicians and Fox News also broadcast the claim.
The New York Times reported that on the morning of August 5, an anonymous X account in India claimed that the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had said Iran would not abandon its desire to build nuclear weapons as long as Israel and the United States possessed them. However, no evidence was ever found to support that statement — nor is there any evidence that Iran has built nuclear weapons.
After the fake quote spread across several Israeli accounts, an Israeli television channel broadcast it as the first public declaration of Iran’s intent to build a nuclear bomb. That evening, the quote found its way into Netanyahu’s own remarks. Speaking at an event at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, he referenced Iran’s stated desire to build nuclear weapons.
The fake claim quickly reached the United States as well. Mike Waltz, the Trump administration’s ambassador to the United Nations, re-shared the quote. Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott also shared it. Fox News hosts and guests also presented it as evidence of Iran’s alleged nuclear ambitions.
According to The New York Times’ investigation, the quote — attributed to Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi — was part of a campaign that succeeded in misleading politicians and media outlets across multiple countries. Who created the quote remains unclear. However, its purpose appeared to be reinforcing Netanyahu’s longstanding claim that Iran is determined to build nuclear weapons and that war against the country is necessary.
Darren L. Linvill, a researcher at Clemson University’s Media Forensics Hub who tracks the spread of disinformation and propaganda on social media, said: “This quote was clearly manufactured to derail peace talks.”
Iran’s nuclear program has been one of the biggest subjects of international concern and diplomacy for the past three decades. However, Iranian officials have consistently maintained that their nuclear program’s goals are civilian, not military. The current status of the country’s nuclear program remains unclear. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei described the fake post as “an example of the flood of lies against the Islamic Republic.” He blamed Israel for it but provided no evidence.
The first trace of the fake claim was found on that Indian X account. The account, which has roughly 175,000 followers, had already faced criticism from fact-checkers for spreading false and Islamophobic information. The fake quote was accompanied by a photo of Vahidi and an AI-generated, cartoonish image of a mushroom cloud. The post’s English text contained spelling and grammatical errors.
Two hours later, another Indian X account published the same quote in Hindi. According to information from the Bodkim Project, an independent Israeli fact-checking organization, that account had published another similar fake quote attributed to Vahidi just a week earlier. The claim then spread rapidly internationally after being posted on Israel’s influential “Mossad Commentary” account. Although the account’s name resembles that of Israel’s intelligence agency, it has no known affiliation with the agency.
Within just half an hour, the quote appeared in an English-language post from Israel’s Channel 14. Netanyahu’s son, Yair Netanyahu, also posted about it. In less than three hours, the fake quote appeared in his father’s speech. Netanyahu said: “Today we heard the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Vahidi clearly declare Iran’s continued desire to build nuclear weapons.”
The claim initially generated significant response in Washington. Mike Waltz wrote that Iran was “finally admitting what has been obvious for years.” Skepticism later emerged, however. Waltz’s post was removed from X without explanation. Fox News later also said the quote was “unverified and false.”
Clemson University’s Linvill called the episode a textbook example of “narrative laundering” — a technique in which false information is first spread through a few sources and then repeated in so many places that it begins to appear true. In his words: “It’s a simple propaganda technique. But simple propaganda can be extremely effective.”
Experts view the entire episode as a classic example of “narrative laundering,” or the transformation of information’s character — a real-world demonstration of how a simple false post on social media can circulate through mainstream media and reach the desks of influential politicians.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report