AI and the Islamic Republic’s New Propaganda Playbook

Iranwire – The Republic’s propaganda machine has pushed its narrative-building to a new level, turning to artificial intelligence to produce videos that are far removed from reality but designed to reinforce and repeat the regime’s own discourse.

AI has expanded the Islamic Republic’s visual propaganda beyond the familiar Photoshopped images of sinking American warships in the Persian Gulf – scenes long associated with the murals of the Owj Organization.

The Owj Arts and Media Organization is a vast media conglomerate that functions as the cultural arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). It is best known for its high-budget films and the giant propaganda murals that dominate major squares in Tehran.

For days, as the probability of “war” with America has escalated, videos portraying the Islamic Republic’s victories in various fields have been produced. These are offered on domestic messengers to an audience that “still” trusts their desired system enough not to look for the “obvious lie,” and they gradually find their way into non-Iranian messengers and social networks.

It Wasn’t a Protest; It Was an Aristocratic Coup

It was first Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, who claimed in a public speech that the nationwide protests of January were a “coup”: “The recent sedition was similar to a coup that was suppressed…”

Following that, various officials of the Islamic Republic made similar claims. This narrative was strengthened after the arrest of prominent figures of the Reformist movement. The Kayhan newspaper, in a specific article, accused Reformist figures of being arrested “on security charges, including playing a role in the failed and criminal coup of America and the Zionist regime.”

Kayhan is a hardline newspaper whose editor-in-chief is directly appointed by Khamenei. It is often seen as the mouthpiece for the regime’s most extremist policies and security agendas.

However, the puzzle of “suppressing” protesters to “neutralize” an internal coup still had a missing piece: Hassan Rouhani and his team, especially Mohammad Javad Zarif.

During the 12-day war, reports emerged that former president Hassan Rouhani had visited the offices of several Grand Ayatollahs (Marja’ taqlid), urging them to pressure the Leader of the Islamic Republic to step back from his positions.

According to information obtained by IranWire, at that time the former president was in contact with at least Mousa Shobairi Zanjani, Hossein Vahid Khorasani, and Naser Makarem Shirazi regarding this matter.

Hassan Rouhani warned in these meetings that by persisting in the security and regional policies of the Islamic Republic, the survival of the Shia government and the institution of the clergy should not be jeopardized. He also requested that the Shia authorities ask the “elders” of the regime to guarantee the security and continuity of the “Islamic system” by accepting a halt to uranium enrichment and compromising with the West.

After the nationwide January protests, Rouhani also called for a “Great Reform” and a “surrender to the nation” in several speeches. Around the same time, an Israeli media outlet claimed that Mohammad Javad Zarif, the foreign minister in Rouhani’s government, had spoken by phone with the office of Prince Reza Pahlavi – a claim that was later denied.

As a result of all these movements, an AI-generated video was released in which Hassan Rouhani and Mohammad Javad Zarif are arrested at night while in bed. The video also depicts the arrest of Mohammad Khatami, the former president of Iran and the founder of “State Reformism” in Iran. This is despite the fact that Mohammad Khatami had called the nationwide protests a “planned great conspiracy.” At the end of the video, the phrase “Ashuraic Reform” appears. This video – whose organizers remain unknown – was initially published on Eitaa and Rubika (domestic messengers) and quickly found its way to pro – Islamic Republic Telegram channels.

Eitaa and Rubika are state-backed Iranian messaging apps developed as alternatives to Telegram and WhatsApp. Both platforms are heavily monitored and are commonly used by the regime’s “Cyber Army” to circulate propaganda. The term “Ashuraic Reform” carries strong religious connotations, invoking the martyrdom of Imam Hussein and implying a violent “cleansing” of the political system.

Such videos may also be released to gauge public reaction. A regime that claims “republicanism,” yet has seen almost all of its former presidents (except for the current one and Khamenei himself) either eliminated, placed under house arrest, or disgraced, must build an acceptable narrative for the elimination of the remaining two former presidents.

AI in the Service of Propaganda

In authoritarian systems like the Islamic Republic, media and pro-government accounts often serve as tools of official or semi-official propaganda. These tools are used not only to reproduce government news but also to boost the morale and confidence of supporters, even through lies. Facing a crisis of legitimacy  – especially after the bloody suppression of protests on one hand, and military and diplomatic pressure from abroad on the other – the propaganda apparatus uses fake imagery of “power” to make “still” loyal audiences believe that “we have the upper hand,” “the enemy is collapsing,” and “the military power of the Islamic Republic is real and superior to what independent media says.”

In this regard, videos are published daily showing Trump’s anger at military defeat against the Islamic Republic following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the sinking of American carrier groups at the command of Ali Khamenei; or videos depicting the “construction of B2 drones capable of carrying forty-ton missiles.”

Although AI-generated videos are mostly confined to social media and aimed at the Republic’s most loyal supporters, the regime’s immersion in propaganda has gone so far that Fars News Agency – the IRGC-affiliated outlet – published an AI-generated video of a pro-regime march on February 11. As of the publication of this report, the video remains on Fars’ account on X (formerly Twitter).

A regime that once relied on slogans to push its agenda now appears to have taken refuge in artificial intelligence, using it as a tool to persuade the real intelligence of its supporters.