Iran's misinformation and global propaganda efforts represent a sophisticated and multifaceted campaign aimed at influencing international perceptions and narratives to serve its geopolitical interests. Utilizing a blend of state-controlled media outlets, social media platforms, and cyber operations, Iran systematically disseminates tailored content to sow discord, shape political discourse, and undermine the credibility of its adversaries. These efforts span across various themes, including regional conflicts, nuclear capabilities, and human rights issues, to project power and foster a positive image of Iran while discrediting opposition voices. The global reach of these campaigns poses significant challenges to information integrity, necessitating a coordinated and proactive response from the international community to counteract and promote factual, unbiased information.

1. For over four decades, the Iranian regime has
engaged in extensive propaganda and deception
efforts targeting global audiences to refine and
export its revolutionary ideology. Iran exploits
modern digital tools and social media platforms to
manipulate narratives, sow discord among
adversaries, and covertly influence policymakers in
pursuit of its strategic interests across the Middle
East and beyond.
Countering and exposing such foreign meddling will
require a coordinated international response by
governments and tech companies emphasizing
media literacy, cybersecurity cooperation, diplomatic
information sharing, as well as transparency reforms
from prominent internet firms. Despite the evolving
technological challenge posed by Iran's persistent
and adaptive influence networks, global civil society
is not powerless against their covert media
manipulation.
Exploiting Media and Cyber Capabilities for
Deception

2. A core tenet of Iran's state doctrine enshrined since
the 1979 revolution involves using propaganda to
propagate its radical ideology beyond its borders.
The regime utilizes over a dozen state-run media
outlets such as PressTV to push pro-Iran narratives
in multiple languages while attacking critics.
Independent journalistic freedoms are severely
curtailed within the country through draconian media
laws, internet censorship, and imprisonment of
reporters.
Beyond propaganda, Iran's cyber capabilities provide
additional tools for deception. The regime directs
intelligence-backed teams of hackers, online covert
operatives and "cybertrolls" to infiltrate civil society
groups, influence foreign policymakers, and
manipulate narratives around Iran's military and
geopolitical priorities. For example, an Iran-linked
hacking network known as "Endless Mayfly" has
repeatedly spread falsehoods and hacked materials
while posing as normal social media users across
the Middle East.

3. Exposing Deception and Limiting Propaganda's
Global Reach
To counter Iran's sophisticated influence technology,
global citizens need improved media literacy to
verify sources, critically evaluate credibility of
reports, recognize manipulation tactics and exercise
caution before spreading uncorroborated claims
through social networks. Governments should
prioritize such digital citizenship education within
schools and public media campaigns. States should
also build bilateral and multilateral initiatives to
share intelligence on Iranian covert operations while
coordinating policy responses.
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4. Reforms emphasizing transparency and
accountability of major tech companies are crucial
to limiting manipulation of their platforms by Iranian
influence networks. Independent civil society groups
play vital "watchdog" roles in identifying and
notifying firms about covert state-backed

5. propaganda. To fulfill this responsibility as online
"fire alarms," non-profits need resources and training
to understand known tactics within Iran's deception
playbook such as false personas.
With transparency, education and global
coordination, Iran's technological capabilities for
covert narrative manipulation can be mitigated. But
given the regime's motivation and adaptive
networks, sanctions alone will not eliminate Iran's
global internet-enabled influence machines - only
continuous vigilance and critical evaluation of media
sources by engaged citizens worldwide can counter
their agenda.
Anatomy of Iran's Covert Global Propaganda
Apparatus
What enables Iran's global reach of covert
propaganda and media manipulation? Firstly, over a
dozen state-run media outlets with multi-language
broadcasts provide overt propaganda platforms
masked as authoritative news. Secondly, the regime
wields a vast cyber apparatus encompassing

6. intelligence-backed teams of hackers, "cybertrolls"
and online covert influence operators. These
clandestine agents exploit major U.S. social media
platforms to spread falsehoods, fuel controversies
around adversaries, and shape narratives using
inauthentic accounts mimicking locals across
numerous target countries.
This cyber apparatus allows the Iranian regime's
intelligence services to cultivate extensive online
covert influence networks extremely difficult for
global tech companies and monitors to fully track.
The regime often conceals its orchestrating role in
such deception campaigns by using layers of
cutouts and front companies to hire influence
operatives. These cyber proxies receive directives,
funding, hacked materials or talking points from
Iranian intelligence elements but pose as normal
journalists, pundits, or media figures across
authentic-looking social media accounts to
manipulate discourse aligned with Iran's agenda.
Prioritizing Civic Education and Global Policy
Coordination

7. While certainly a formidable and crafty geopolitical
adversary in cyberspace, the Iranian regime's
extensive media and technological deception
capabilities are not omnipotent. With sufficient
global vigilance, understanding and policy
coordination, civil society groups and democratic
governments worldwide can detect, counter and
mitigate the impacts of Iranian covert influence
efforts. This critical mission necessitates both
individual responsibility in exercising caution and
skepticism towards online information sources, as
well as collective action by stakeholders.
Firstly, comprehensive digital citizenship education
stressing objective sourcing, verification
fundamentals and critical thinking when consuming
media is essential to strengthen resilience against
foreign propaganda within free societies.
Governments should invest in such media literacy
for students and journalists while providing
cybersecurity threat awareness to officials and
candidates facing sophisticated disinformation
attacks.

8. Simultaneously, multilateral initiatives can facilitate
intelligence sharing and coordination between
democratic states to quickly identify and disable
covert Iranian online meddling in sovereign countries
before narratives become irreversibly poisoned.
Updated international accords and norms around
state sponsored disinformation could also be
pursued. Internet freedom advocates have
spotlighted ongoing transparency and accountability
issues enabling manipulation by regimes through
major tech platforms - global internet governance
reforms should obligate firms to dedicate greater
resources to protecting democratic discourse
aligned with their terms of service.
While evolving technological capabilities provide
authoritarian states more diverse avenues to pursue
geopolitical interests through information deception,
the defense of free societies rests in an informed
and engaged polity willing to identify, counter and
oppose such foreign interference upon our
cherished democratic institutions. Against Iran's
global covert propaganda apparatus, this bulwark

9. requires both empowered citizens and ethical
internet companies devoted to truth over power.
The extensive media and cyber capabilities of the
Iranian regime indeed pose profound and evolving
challenges to open democratic societies. However,
the crucial defense against authoritarian intrusion
rests in the hands of informed global citizens and
ethical technology stewards devoted to democratic
principles over geopolitical machinations.
With targeted disinformation, the Iranian regime
seeks not merely to persuade but to pollute the
information ecosystem of adversaries. Their covert
cyber proxies exploit algorithms and financial
incentives of largely U.S.-based social media
platforms to artificially amplify polarizing falsehoods
through inauthentic engagement and sharing.
Although such deception may not completely
convince skeptical populations on its own merits,
sheer repetition and diffusion of foreign propaganda
can gradually distort political discourse and deepen
cynicism.

10. But the ultimate target of such assaults remains
accountable human responsibility and judgement
amidst the inherent uncertainties of an open media
ecosystem. Against weaponized narratives
optimized for dissemination, emotional manipulation
and partisan controversy, citizens bear responsibility
for cautious skepticism and insistence upon factual
verification through credible independent journalistic
institutions.
Simultaneously, internet platforms facilitating global
democratic expression face escalating ethical
obligations to address such intrusions through
reforms that elevate accuracy and quality discourse
while mitigating covert manipulation. Prioritizing
social responsibility and users’ interests over profits
or scale alone can restore these firms' credibility as
reliable conduits of journalism over propaganda.
In unity between wary citizens, vigilance from civil
society groups, legal accountability for platforms
and international cyber cooperation, the global
democratic bulwark grow stronger against Iranian
covert media manipulation. With advanced
understanding of techniques and technologies

11. wielded in cognitive warfare against open thought,
free societies wield formidable resilience against
tyrannies both foreign and domestic devoted not to
any creed or prophecy, but to power itself.
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