As fears of regional escalation grew after US strikes on Iran, US President Donald Trump claimed the US-Israel war with Iran was “effectively over” on November 9 at a White House briefing. “We’re just keeping it the status quo.”
Periods of heightened public interest, such as the conflict involving Iran, create fertile ground for so-called content farms. Following Trump’s statement, posts on the Iran war surged online again. And a growing network of accounts claiming links to Iran’s military has accumulated millions of views.
DW Fact Check examined a number of these accounts and found recurring signs of content farm behavior. Experts who reviewed the accounts DW provided describe them as part of a broader ecosystem of pro-Iran content aggregators that connect across multiple social media platforms.
Content farms are websites or social media accounts, or a network of either, producing large amounts of cheap content in a short time span. They may be driven by economic incentives, but they can also serve as vehicles for political influence campaigns.
Content farming and the Iran war
The internet watchdog NewsGuard has found 165 false claims about the Iran warthat collectively have been watched hundreds of millions of times. Only a few of them originated from Iranian state media.
NewsGuard identified the majority as pushing a pro-Iran agenda, shifting toward AI-generated images, and increasingly claiming that accurate stories from authentic media are AI-generated and false.
An analysis by the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) identified pro-Iran networks of X accounts which revealed signs of coordination, cross-promotion and engagement tactics while spreading misleading and AI-generated war content. It found no links to state-affiliated actors.
Several accounts identified by DW Fact Check use the Iranian flag as their profile picture and a variation of “Iran Military” in their username. While ownership cannot always be verified, they share recurring characteristics commonly associated with content farms.
A network reaching millions
Content farms use repetitive and formulaic posting formats, as they are cheaper and easier to produce. Their posts frequently start with the word “BREAKING” and imitate the appearance of news updates on the conflict.
One accountcalled “Iran Military Media,” is linked to a Facebook account that Iranian state media have verified as authentic. It has built a substantial audience across multiple social media platforms, with over 290,000 followers on X, 597,000 on Facebook and 17,200 followers on Instagram.
It posts a handful of times a day, often sharing AI-generated or AI-enhanced videos and frequently adopting the “BREAKING” format. Since late 2025, it has published more than 1,600 posts on X, generating over 150 million views and 3.6 million likes.
“The accounts discussed are a central part of this ecosystem as they distribute the pro-Iranian content, state and non-state allied media at relatively low cost and generate millions of views,” said Moustafa Ayad, an expert in online influence operations at the ISD.
Iran’s ‘soft war’
Ayad examined 10 similar “Iran Military”-themed accounts during the same period, and their combined reach is even greater. Together, they accounted for 12,588 posts, 353 million views and 6.6 million likes.
This network is replicated on Facebook in numerous languages. According to Ayad, this strategy is part of what the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei outlined as “soft war.”
Ayad said the accounts’ reach is amplified when they are paired with other accounts. Only a small share of “Iran Military Media’s” 150 million views came from reposted content.
False narratives
A second account“Iranian Force,” has amassed more than 248,000 followers. It typically posts around 10 times a day, though on some days the volume exceeds 30 posts.
Like “Iran Military Media,” it frequently relies on “BREAKING” alerts and AI-generated content. It also includes genuine footage, often framed through a pro-Iran lens.
X lists the account as being based in Pakistan and its profile history shows six username changes. In a break from the Iran-related content, one post suddenly defends a Pakistani TikToker and includes an appeal in Urdu to the government in Pakistan.
Charlene Lin, an analyst for the internet watchdog NewsGuard, told DW it had flagged this account for multiple false narratives. According to Lin, it is also linked to another account that spreads the same false narratives in coordination.
Unverified claims
A third accountcalled the “Iran Army,” posts a handful of times a day, including AI-generated videos. Its posts regularly reach tens and at times hundreds of thousands of views.
Like “Iranian Force,” it distributes videos from official briefings by the Iranian Armed Forces while also using the “BREAKING” format to drive engagement. One post claiming “the war has officially started” received over 41 million views.
While these accounts differ in reach and post slightly different content, they share many characteristics. The accounts repeatedly share cheaply produced images, at times coordinated between accounts, and make sensational and unverified claims portraying Iran as militarily powerful or politically influential.
Several accounts in this wider ecosystem have faced restrictions. Since Marcha number of prominent “Iran Military”-themed accounts have been suspended on X, including “Iran Military Monitor,” which had close to 2 million followers before its removal.
A consistent pro-Iran framing
Earlier this year, Iranian state media issued a statement distancing itself from a range of “Iran Military” accounts circulating on social media, stating that only one account was authentic.
Yet for social media users, distinguishing that account from the others may not be straightforward. The verified account uses the same “Iran Military” branding and a similar profile picture, while also sharing AI-generated content and frequent “BREAKING” updates.
Despite differences in authenticity and affiliation, many of these accounts consistently adopt a pro-Iran framing. They portray Iran as militarily capable, able to retaliate against adversaries and enjoying international support, while rarely highlighting information that contradicts that image.
DW Fact Check found repeated postings of the same content close in time across the accounts and different platforms. The “Iranian Force” and “Iran Military Media” accounts have, for example, posted the same image (here and here), with the same caption on the same day, as have accounts in the wider “Iran Military Media” network.
“The pro-Iranian ecosystem online is large, multi-layered and cuts across almost all of the various popular social media platforms and messaging services,” said the ISD’s Ayad. “[It’s] a key component to the Iranian government’s ability to withstand challenges to its rule both from within and outside, while generating sympathy and connections with other online communities.”
Source: www.dw.com
