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How Iran-linked accounts faked Irish, Scottish profiles to sway public

EuroNews · 🇫🇷 public France · · 699 words · By Estelle Nilsson-Julien; Tamsin Paternoster
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What to know about How Iran-linked accounts faked Irish, Scottish profiles to sway public

Researchers say that social media accounts affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps posed as Scottish and Irish nationals in order to cultivate their following, before switching their narrative to spread pro-Iranian discourse online.

Claims checked 11
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center83%
Right17%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Researchers say that social media accounts affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps posed as Scottish and Irish nationals in order to cultivate their following, before switching their narrative to spread pro-Iranian discourse online.

Why it matters

Social media accounts sharing photos of picturesque Scottish landscapes, supporting independence from the United Kingdom, as well as criticising the British government, have, in fact, been deceiving the public.

Common ground

Researchers from Clemson University's Media Forensics Hub in South Carolina found that a network of accounts sharing this kind of content was, in reality, affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — an elite paramilitary unit long accused of…

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/06/04/social-media-operation-linked-to-i…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 6
schedule Pending 1
verified Verified 1
info Single Source 1
verified Verified By Reference 1
help Insufficient Evidence 1
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Claim 1: “According to Europol, the posts blended religious martyrdom with pro-Iranian political messages, used AI-generated videos to glorify the IRGC and called on online users to avenge the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
verified
Claim 2: “The accounts spent months across X, Instagram and Bluesky cultivating followers and building up online credibility, before they started to spread pro-Iranian propaganda following the onset of the US and Israel's war on Iran in late February”
VERIFIED
The claim mentions a war in late February. Wikipedia entries for 'Assassination of Ali Khamenei' and 'Ali Khamenei' confirm he was assassinated on 28 February 2026 as part of Israeli airstrikes, corroborating the timeline of the conflict mentioned in the claim.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2020s (pronounced "twenty-twenties" or "two thousand (and) twenties") is the current decade of the Gregorian and Julian calendars that began on 1 January 2020 and will end on 31 December 2029. The…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020s
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web search NEUTRAL — The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), [a] also known domestically as Sepah[b] or Pasdaran[c] and internationally as Iranian Revolutionary Guards, [15] is a multi-service primary force of the I…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Revolutionary_Guard_…
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web search NEUTRAL — 3 days ago · The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also called Pasdaran or Sepah, is a branch of the Iranian armed forces that is independent of Iran’s regular army. It was established by Ruho…
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islamic-Revolutionary-Guard…
+ 1 more evidence source
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Claim 3: “Europol — the EU's law enforcement agency — announced in May shut down thousands of IRGC-affiliated accounts across 19 countries between February and April”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources (Europol's own Instagram and news reports) confirm the May 2026 crackdown involving 19 countries and the removal of thousands of IRGC-linked accounts/links.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — 2017 (MMXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2017th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 17th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21s…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Several national governments and two international bodies have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups is composed of groups …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_designated_terrorist_g…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of wars that began between 1945 and 1989. Other wars can be found in the historical lists of wars and the list of wars extended by diplomatic irregularity. Major conflicts of this peri…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars:_1945–1989
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 4: “Although many of the profiles presented themselves as women, in reality, they used stolen or AI-generated images”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the general operation is corroborated, the specific detail about profiles posing as women using stolen/AI images is mentioned in the context of the general report but not independently verified by multiple distinct reporting organizations in the provided evidence.
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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 4, 2026 ... Researchers say that social media accounts affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps posed as Scottish and Irish nationals in ...
https://www.facebook.com/euronews/videos/how-iran-staged-fak…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Mar 5, 2026 ... Link in bio. [Iran Israel War, Misinformation, US, Netanyahu, Donald Trump, Apache Helicopter]. June ...
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVgxn-MCrS4/?hl=en
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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 4, 2026 ... Researchers say that social media accounts affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps posed as Scottish and Irish nationals in ...
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/06/04/social-media-o…
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Claim 5: “Researchers from Clemson University's Media Forensics Hub in South Carolina found that a network of accounts sharing this kind of content was, in reality, affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources explicitly attribute the identification of this network to Clemson University's Media Forensics Hub.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Below is a list of foreign electoral interventions by country.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_foreign_electoral_inte…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following notable deaths in the United States occurred in 2026. Names are reported under the date of death, in alphabetical order. A typical entry reports information in the following sequence: Na…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_deaths_in_the_United_Stat…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Starting in September 2024, false claims spread online saying Haitian immigrants were stealing and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, United States. The claims began with a local Facebook group post cl…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springfield_pet-eating_hoax
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 6: “Two subsets of accounts posting in English were uncovered: one group claiming to be from Scotland and England, and another from Ireland and Northern Ireland”
CORROBORATED
Web search results from the Clemson University report specifically mention the two subsets: one claiming to be from Scotland and England, and another from Ireland and Northern Ireland.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Researchers say that social media accounts affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps posed as Scottish and Irish nationals in order to cultivate their following, before switching their …
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xad5crs
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web search NEUTRAL — All these accounts systematically amplify politically divisive content and disinformation aligned with IRGC nar- ratives, and they are designed to exploit regional fault lines to advance Iranian regim…
https://f5.pm/go-404242.html
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — http://blogosferica.com/ Burnistoun is a sketch show for BBC Scotland by the Scottish comedians Iain Connell and Robert Florence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAz_UvnUeuU
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Claim 7: “Profiles posting in Spanish claiming to be from Texas, California, Venezuela and Chile also carried out a similar operation, presenting themselves as progressive activists, immigrants or supporters of Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro”
CORROBORATED
Web search results confirm the existence of Spanish-language accounts posing as progressive activists or Maduro supporters from Texas, California, Venezuela, and Chile.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 4, 2026 ... ... progressive activists, immigrants or supporters of Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro. ... IRGC-affiliated accounts across 19 countries between ...
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/06/04/social-media-o…
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web search NEUTRAL — In my view, such interpretations overlook a growing body of evidence that this narco- terrorist alliance in our neighborhood is aided and abetted by Venezuela ...
https://www.congress.gov/event/112th-congress/house-event/LC…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — State support to proxy forces can take many forms, including entities pro- viding advisors, weapons, money, and political succor. Sometimes, the assistance is ...
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-D214-PURL-gpo2127…
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Claim 8: “social media accounts affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps posed as Scottish and Irish nationals in order to cultivate their following, before switching their narrative to spread pro-Iranian discourse online”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results, including a specific report on IRGC-linked accounts faking Irish and Scottish identities to build followings before pivoting to pro-Iranian discourse, confirm this claim.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Corruption in Iran is widespread, especially in the government. According to a report in 2024, the Islamic Republic of Iran ranks close to the bottom (151st out of 180 countries) on the Corruption Per…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_Iran
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Iran national football team have represented Iran in men's international football since their first international match in 1941. It is administered by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of I…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_national_football_team
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Scottish independence (Scottish Gaelic: Neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba; Scots: Scots unthirldom) is a political movement which advocates for the restoration of Scotland's status as a sovereign state inde…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_independence
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 9: “The IRGC was formally designated as a terrorist organisation on 19 February”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The cross-reference from EuroNews explicitly states the EU formally designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization on 19 February.
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cross reference SUPPORTS — The EU formally designated the IRGC as a terrorist organisation on 19 February
https://www.euronews.com/2026/05/19/europol-disrupts-thousan…
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Claim 10: “The content shared by these accounts included posts glorifying the deceased Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as AI-generated images claiming to show the destruction of US military bases”
CORROBORATED
Web search results from Euro News Source explicitly mention the use of footage of Iranian strikes, glorification of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and AI-generated images of destroyed US military bases.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Ali Hosseini Khamenei (19 April 1939 – 28 February 2026) was an Iranian politician and Shia cleric who served as the second supreme leader of Iran from 1989 until his assassination. A member of the Kh…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Khamenei
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On 28 February 2026, Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, was assassinated in Tehran as part of a series of Israeli airstrikes aimed at high-ranking Iranian officials. Khamenei's death was confir…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Ali_Khamenei
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei (born 8 September 1969) is an Iranian cleric and politician who has served as the third supreme leader of Iran since 2026. A member of the Khamenei family and the second son …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojtaba_Khamenei
+ 3 more evidence sources
help
Claim 11: “Europol's digital crackdown also targeted the IRGC's main X account, which had accumulated more than 150,000 followers”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding the targeting of the IRGC's main X account or its specific follower count.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.