Iran mounted a comprehensive campaign to undermine American public support for military action against its nuclear facilities by deploying a sophisticated bot network that disseminated hundreds of thousands of deceptive messages, according to groundbreaking research commissioned by the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism.
The investigation, which analyzed social media activity on X during Operation Rising Lion, identified at least 100 fabricated accounts systematically promoting Tehran's strategic messaging. Beyond merely spreading disinformation to glorify Iranian successes while fabricating Israeli failures, Tehran invested substantial resources in targeting domestic audiences within Israel and the United States.
Researchers examined approximately 100 X accounts exhibiting clear signs of automated rather than human operation. These accounts maintained continuous activity across all hours without typical human patterns of rest. Moreover, they generated content at superhuman speeds, posting thousands of messages daily. The content frequently appeared identical or remarkably similar across multiple suspicious accounts, strongly indicating coordinated bot activity. The examined network ultimately distributed 241,712 posts reaching millions of users worldwide.
Iranian messaging operations divided into four distinct categories – promoting regime loyalty and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. "The bot network advanced Iranian nationalism, seeking to frame the conflict as targeting Iran's people rather than its government," according to the research.
A second messaging category targeted both Iranian domestic audiences and Israeli citizens with fabricated reports of Israeli military failures. These automated accounts circulated manipulated imagery and AI-generated content depicting false scenarios such as Tel Aviv engulfed in flames or Israeli aircraft destroyed over Iranian territory.
Additional messaging streams sought to characterize Israel as a terrorist state that "murders children" and "massacres Palestinians."
However, the research identifies Iran's most significant operation as systematic efforts to turn American public opinion against President Donald Trump's military action targeting Iranian nuclear infrastructure.
These accounts amplified messaging identical to Republican critics of the military strikes. Following Trump advisor Steve Bannon's claims that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exercises control over the president, Iranian accounts circulated imagery depicting Trump as Netanyahu's marionette or as a dog owned by the Israeli leader. Research findings show Trump was consistently portrayed across the bot network as Netanyahu's puppet, according to the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs investigation.
The network also promoted antisemitic messaging targeting the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and Jewish Americans as allegedly controlling US decision-making, echoing themes from American isolationist movements. The research notes, however, that Iranian bots did not directly coordinate with actual American opposition voices.
Tzur Bar-Oz, director of the research division at the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and longtime analyst of anti-Israel delegitimization campaigns, explained to Israel Hayom that historical evidence demonstrates the measurable impact of sustained messaging operations, particularly those originating from Iran. "Over many years, Qatar and other opponents of Israel systematically funded and distributed antisemitic and anti-Israeli content. Western nations often accommodated these efforts under principles of enlightenment, liberal tolerance, and intellectual openness."
"We now observe how these messages denying Israel's fundamental right to exist have gradually penetrated and gained significant traction throughout Western societies. This identical process may repeat if Iran continues spreading its poisonous messaging without effective countermeasures. These campaigns primarily target Israel's international legitimacy while attempting to fracture the US-Israel alliance," Bar-Oz concluded.
