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A false quote attributed to Iranian commander Ahmad Vahidi spread from an anonymous India-based X account to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu within hours, reportedly. The post claimed Iran would pursue nuclear weapons while Israel and the US possessed them. Israeli accounts and television amplified it, while US envoy Mike Waltz shared the claim before later deleting his post

The US-Iran war is being fought not just in the skies or around the Strait of Hormuz, but also across social media. As missiles and drone attacks dominate the headlines, misinformation, memes and competing claims are emerging as another battleground, influencing the course of the war and stalled ceasefire efforts in real time.

A recent incident shows how fast false information can travel from an obscure social media account to the highest levels of government. A report by The New York Times traced the origins of a claim concerning Iran’s nuclear programme.

Within hours, the claim had made its way to front pages in Israel and the US, was cited by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a speech, and was shared by Mike Waltz, the Trump administration’s ambassador to the United Nations, The New York Times reported.

An anonymous India-based X account posted what appeared to be a major claim on the morning of August, alleging that Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, had said Iran would not give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons as long as Israel and the United States possessed them. The post featured a photograph of the general alongside an AI-generated image of a mushroom cloud.