Iran has launched a new psychological warfare campaign on social media, deploying covert influence operations to manipulate American public opinion and undermine President Donald Trump's push for a nuclear deal, experts warn.
The campaign intensified after U.S. strikes in February killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and decapitated much of Iran's senior leadership. The new leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is in hiding.
"Iran's leadership now lives on X because it is a decapitated leadership," said counterterrorism expert Dr. Omar Mohammed. "The regime has moved its legitimacy contest onto a platform."
Mohammed noted the messaging is highly coordinated, with identical lines posted by judiciary, vice president, and security council accounts within minutes. This indicates a central media shop pushing talking points.
The strategy targets American political divisions. "Tehran is not aiming at the United States as a single entity," Mohammed explained. "It reads Washington as two power centers and pitches to both."
Following Trump's announcement that unfrozen Iranian assets would buy American agricultural products, Iran's lead negotiator mocked the claims as "trash talks" about "GMO soybeans and broken promises." The jab was aimed directly at the president.
Iran's citizens face strict internet restrictions at home, while the regime's elite enjoy open access to foreign platforms. Alp Toker of NetBlocks said these regimes are learning to combine social media, AI, and censorship for asymmetric information warfare.
"It's a double-edged sword," Toker said. "You get more open politics at the cost of regime propagandization."
The parallel systems-heavily censored domestic internet and an open megaphone targeting Western audiences-provide evidence this is a deliberate external influence operation.