European Parliament condemns Iran crackdown, urges sanctions

An independent research group said on Saturday it had identified a large, coordinated social media influence operation it linked to the Islamic Republic, aimed at shaping global narratives and suppressing dissent during the country’s uprising.

Golden Owl, an open-source intelligence research initiative, said its investigation found thousands of coordinated accounts on X and Instagram working in support of the Iranian state, amplifying regime narratives while targeting opposition voices.

The group said it analyzed nearly 8,000 account records on X, identifying more than 7,500 unique accounts operating in what it described as a state-aligned network.

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Iran’s foreign ministry on Monday denied reports that it had sent a message to US envoy Steve Witkoff seeking to delay possible US military action.

“Reports about a message from Araghchi to Witkoff are not true and are part of falsehoods spread by the Zionist regime,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said. He said some media outlets had republished reports attributed to Israeli sources without sufficient scrutiny.

Baghaei added that “the American side also acknowledges that information produced by the Israeli regime should be treated with caution.”

Israel Hayom reported earlier that Witkoff had delivered a WhatsApp message from Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and a written assurance from President Masoud Pezeshkian to President Donald Trump in an effort to persuade him to postpone a military strike, citing a senior Israeli official.

Israel’s foreign minister said a “massacre of unimaginable proportions” was taking place in Iran, speaking on Monday during talks with Azerbaijani officials in the capital Baku.

“Now, the ayatollah regime is brutally murdering and oppressing its own people as they struggle for their freedom,” Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said at a joint press appearance with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, according to i24 news.

“We hear the chilling stories,” Sa’ar said, adding that reports were emerging despite an internet shutdown in Iran. He said a government that acts violently toward its own people could not be expected to behave differently toward others.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group threatened new attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, as a US aircraft carrier moved toward the region amid rising tensions over Iran, AP reported on Monday.

The Houthis released a short video showing images of a burning ship with the caption “Soon,” without giving details. The group has attacked more than 100 vessels in the Red Sea in the past, saying the campaign was meant to pressure Israel over the war in Gaza. The attacks paused after a ceasefire, though the group has repeatedly warned it could resume them.

The threat comes as the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and accompanying destroyers head toward the Middle East.

Golden Owl, an open-source intelligence research initiative, said its investigation found thousands of coordinated accounts on X and Instagram working in support of the Iranian state, amplifying regime narratives while targeting opposition voices.

The group said it analyzed nearly 8,000 account records on X, identifying more than 7,500 unique accounts operating in what it described as a state-aligned network.

According to the findings, about 500 accounts acted as high-impact “originators” producing narratives, while more than 2,500 others functioned as amplifiers, reposting content at volumes consistent with centralized or automated control.

Golden Owl said the network showed clear signs of coordination, including synchronized messaging, mass account creation around major geopolitical events and sustained activity during periods when Iranian authorities imposed internet blackouts at home.

The researchers said more than a quarter of the accounts were created after October 7, 2023, and that the network expanded further during periods of regional escalation and protest crackdowns.

Activity remained high during Iran’s internet shutdown, which Golden Owl said suggested privileged access or operations conducted from outside Iran.

Content promoted by the accounts included praise for Iran’s leadership and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, attacks on opposition movements – particularly supporters of the exiled Pahlavi family – and anti-Semitic rhetoric, the report said.

Some accounts also pushed narratives aligned with separatist or fringe opposition groups, which the researchers said appeared aimed at fragmenting dissent.

Declared locations for many accounts were outside Iran, including in the United States, Britain and Germany, which Golden Owl said pointed to a focus on influencing Western public opinion rather than domestic audiences.

Golden Owl said the findings were based on reproducible data and that some datasets had been published for independent verification.

It called on social media platforms to investigate the accounts and on policymakers to recognize what it described as the scale of Iranian state-linked influence operations.