Pro-Iran groups are using artificial intelligence to create sophisticated internet memes in English to shape the narrative during the US-Israel war and encourage opposition to the war.
Analysts say the memes appear to be coming from groups linked to the Tehran government and are part of a strategy to leverage limited resources to harm the United States, even indirectly. That includes how Iran has used attacks and threats to control the flow of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and keep a stranglehold on the global economy. Wednesday’s ceasefire raised hopes that hostilities would cease, but left many issues unresolved.
“This is a propaganda war for them,” said Neil Lavie Driver, an AI researcher at the University of Cambridge, referring to Iran. “This is very important to them because their goal is to instill enough dissatisfaction with the conflict to eventually bring the West to its knees.”
This is not the first time memes have been used in conflict, and they have evolved in recent years to include AI imagery. After the Russian invasion in 2022, AI images were showered on Ukrainians. Last year, the term “AI slop” became widely used to describe the mass supply of incomplete images posted online in an attempt to destroy the country’s nuclear program during the Israel-Iran war.
Memes have used sophisticated cartoons to criticize U.S. officials in the conflict, which began on February 28 with a joint attack between the United States and Israel.
Memes are steeped in American culture
Memes are fluent not only in English but also in American culture and trolling. It has been published on various social platforms and has received millions of views, but it is not clear how much influence it has.
They have portrayed US President Donald Trump as old, outdated and internationally isolated. They mention a bruise on the back of President Trump’s right hand that has sparked speculation about his health. Infighting within Trump’s MAGA base. and, among other things, the intense confirmation hearings for U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
“They’re using popular culture against the United States, which is the number one pop culture country,” said Nancy Snow, an academic who has written more than a dozen books on propaganda.
Among the pro-Iranian images circulating online is a series that uses the style of the “Lego” animated films. In one, an Iranian military commander raps, “You thought we were sitting on a throne and running the planet. Now we’re turning every base into a bed of stone,” and Trump falls into a bull’s-eye built on the “Epstein Files,” records of the U.S. government’s investigation into disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Analysts believe groups making the meme are collaborating with the government
Martha Alimardani, director of human rights group WITNESS, which works on AI video evidence, said the animation shows advanced technology and internet access, indicating links to government agencies.
“If you can secure the bandwidth necessary to generate and upload such content, you are officially or unofficially cooperating with the regime,” she said, noting that Iran imposed severe restrictions on the internet earlier this year as part of a nationwide crackdown on protests.
State media reposted some of the memes, including one from the account Akbar Enfejari (meaning Explosive News), which created the Lego-style video.
Akbar Enfejali said he is Iranian and produces and uploads programs from within Iran with the aim of disrupting decades of Western domination of the airwaves.
“They have long dominated the media world and through that power have imposed their narrative on many countries,” the group told The Associated Press on the messaging app Telegram. “But something felt different this time. This time we disrupted the game. This time we did better.”
After the ceasefire was announced, Akbar Enfejari posted, “Iran has won! The world has been shown how to crush imperialism. Trump has surrendered.”
In addition to memes from pro-Iranian groups, Iranian government accounts have also trolled the United States, including a Wednesday post from the Iranian embassy in South Africa that read “Greetings to the new world superpower” with a photo of the Iranian flag. The United States and Iran agreed to a ceasefire and declared victory.
Analysts say the deep understanding of U.S. politics and culture is the result of more old-fashioned propaganda techniques, a decades-long program by the Iranian government to promote a narrative hostile to the United States and Israel.
“This meme war is coming from an institution that knows what the American public perceives and what pop culture references are of interest to the American public,” Alimardani said.
Message from the US and Israel
Analysts say it would be difficult to get such a message across to ordinary Iranians, given that the United States and Israel do not appear to be running similar campaigns, and given Iran’s restrictions on internet access within the country.
Early in the war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video using AI to appear to be speaking in Farsi, in which he appealed to Iranians to overthrow their government. The White House has released a steady stream of memes, but they are targeted at a U.S. audience and feature clips from U.S. TV shows and sports.
The U.S. government-run Voice of America, which for decades has distributed news coverage to many countries with no tradition of press freedom, still broadcasts in Farsi, albeit with reduced staffing since President Trump ordered its closure.
“This world order is really changing overnight, and the United States is not necessarily going to be the nation that everyone listens to,” Snow said.
