An Iranian AI-generated propaganda video.
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TEL AVIV, Israel — A brand new entrance has opened in the war with Iran — the digital one. Alongside drones and missiles, Iran is now firing off one thing else: memes. President Trump is the regime’s favourite goal.
War propaganda is as outdated as battle itself, however in 2026, it is shifting sooner, reaching additional and hitting tougher than ever. Since the war started, Iran’s messaging equipment has quickly zeroed in on Trump, turning him right into a central goal in a sprawling, trendy data marketing campaign.
In one video, Iran depicts an animated Lego-style multiverse with Iranian troopers avenging assaults by miniature Lego variations of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
AI-generated missiles rain down throughout the Middle East, sending blocky Lego figures scrambling — from Orthodox Jewish males in Israel to Saudi sheikhs in the Gulf.
Other videos lean into absurdity. A Trump-like character seems as a Teletubby in an American flag-themed outfit, sitting in the Oval Office and enjoying with toy fighter jets over a map of the Middle East.
Trolling Trump has turn out to be a brand new Iranian regime pastime. And it is not simply confined to social media. Iran’s huge state media equipment has adopted the identical tone in official communications — typically in English.
In one instance, Iranian Revolutionary Guard spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari delivers a dry recitation of Trump’s own trademark phrase: “Hey, Trump, you are fired. You are familiar with this sentence. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
The messaging typically goes additional. Zolfaghari and others have repeatedly invoked the president’s ties to convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein — in addition to his infamous island — in pointed, backhanded references. “A reminder to the corrupted Island Man: The ground and map of the world is in our hands.”
The head of Iran’s National Security Council, Ali Larijani, used related Epstein-related taunts earlier than he was assassinated final week in a focused Israeli airstrike.
This wave of content material did not emerge in a vacuum. It accelerated quickly after the White House launched a controversial media mashup towards the beginning of the war a month in the past — mixing NFL deal with highlights with footage of missile strikes in Iran.
When NPR requested the White House for remark about accusations that Trump has set the tone of world discourse, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly responded, “Why is NPR writing puff pieces about Iran’s social media strategy? NPR should look inward as to why they are referring to terrorist regime propaganda as ‘trolling.'”
Experts say what could seem like chaotic web tradition is a part of a deeper shift.
Trolling has existed in grassroots on-line areas for greater than 15 years, says Whitney Phillips, a media ethics professor on the University of Oregon. But with the rise of Trump, she says, it has moved to the middle of world politics.
“This is the language in which Trump speaks — and this is the language in which world leaders are now speaking to him.”
The danger, analysts say, is that the spectacle begins to overshadow actuality. The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has sparked a widening regional battle, with Iran retaliating towards Israel and Gulf neighbors.
Iranian state media has been releasing propaganda movies and memes trolling and mocking President Trump, together with this newest Lego-inspired model.
Tasmin News Agency
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Tasmin News Agency
The Pentagon has ordered hundreds of further U.S. troops to the Middle East, elevating the prospect of a floor part and additional escalation. The preventing is rattling international markets, driving up power costs and disrupting provide chains worldwide.
Emerson Brooking of the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab says war itself is more and more being absorbed into the eye economic system. “It’s like this commodification of war — becoming part of the attention economy — which is a very strange and discomfiting experience so many of us are going through right now.”
Brooking says Iranian propaganda will not be new, however its concentrate on trolling Trump is permitting it to succeed in American audiences in methods it hasn’t earlier than. “Americans are not used to seeing messages from a country the U.S. is bombing that are directed at them. This is quite new,” he mentioned.
Iran has lengthy been a pioneer in international propaganda, with early adoption of social media courting again many years. But its current AI-generated output seems to prioritize quantity over precision, with waves of content material that really feel quickly produced and designed for optimum unfold — like its newest Lego video set to AI-generated rap music. The video ends on a stark black display with white textual content: “Your grave mistake of attacking us will be judged by history — and it won’t be in your favor.”
And then, a remaining line: “No Thanks You For Your Attention to This Matter. The People of Iran.”
