A new analysis reveals that a significant portion of anti-Israel social media content during the opening days of Operation Epic Fury originated from foreign, Iran-linked accounts disguised as American voices. Researchers at Argyle Consulting Group found 60% of the most viral posts mentioning "Iran" on X came from outside the U.S., despite using U.S. political rhetoric.
The study examined 100 highly viral posts between Feb. 28 and March 7, which generated 98 million posts and an estimated 1.5 trillion potential views. Foreign accounts produced 155.6 million views-over 60 million more than U.S. accounts-and every single foreign post in the dataset was negative toward the operation.
Eran Vasker, CEO of Argyle, said the discourse was engineered to appear domestic, using American language and political framing to evade detection. JP Castellanos, former U.S. Central Command cyber officer, noted 42% of online attacks were Israel-focused, with AI-generated videos and doxxing campaigns used to shape public perception.
Handala, an Iran-linked hacking group tied to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, has emerged as a key actor, claiming cyberattacks on U.S. and Israeli targets. Analysts say the campaign is part of a coordinated information operation, not organic dissent.