🧵THREAD: All about the foreign-influenced Western media called Grayzone and Iranian protests
Last month, 𝕏 celebrated the Iranian protests.
Then they ... just disappeared from the headlines, and it came out quietly that hundreds and even thousands of protesters were brutally massacred.
So why did the story mostly die?
Because an influence operation ran by a foreign-backed media group called Grayzone turned a massacre into a debate about who was really behind the protests. A new report from @ncri_io , published February 19, documents exactly how it worked: the seeding, the laundering, and who did the amplifying.
As always, patience as I pull the thread together. 👇
Last month, 𝕏 celebrated the Iranian protests.
Then they ... just disappeared from the headlines, and it came out quietly that hundreds and even thousands of protesters were brutally massacred.
So why did the story mostly die?
Because an influence operation ran by a foreign-backed media group called Grayzone turned a massacre into a debate about who was really behind the protests. A new report from @ncri_io , published February 19, documents exactly how it worked: the seeding, the laundering, and who did the amplifying.
As always, patience as I pull the thread together. 👇
Before the first protester was shot, IRGC-affiliated Fars News was already calling the December 28 uprising "an enemy psychological operation."
The regime needed "evidence." They got two gifts:
1/ Mossad's official Farsi X account posted solidarity Dec 29: "We are with you in the field as well."
2/ Former Sec. of State Pompeo tweeted Jan 2: "Happy New Year to every Mossad agent walking beside them."
Both were immediately seized as proof of a foreign-orchestrated coup.
1/ Mossad's official Farsi X account posted solidarity Dec 29: "We are with you in the field as well."
2/ Former Sec. of State Pompeo tweeted Jan 2: "Happy New Year to every Mossad agent walking beside them."
Both were immediately seized as proof of a foreign-orchestrated coup.
Do I think Mossad was involved?
Perhaps in the way of providing indirect support.
Do I think Mossad orchestrated this?
No.
Because this isn't how foreign coups are coordinated. The very first vector to attack is the security personnel - you seed defectors.
Perhaps in the way of providing indirect support.
Do I think Mossad orchestrated this?
No.
Because this isn't how foreign coups are coordinated. The very first vector to attack is the security personnel - you seed defectors.
That's the whole reason why the Seditious Six was trying to egg the military to defect.
The top priority of any foreign coup is to have defections among the military and security forces.
None defected from the Iran regime. That, unfortunately, is the strongest counterfactual to me.
The top priority of any foreign coup is to have defections among the military and security forces.
None defected from the Iran regime. That, unfortunately, is the strongest counterfactual to me.
The man who processed the posts into regime-usable narrative: Seyed Mohammad Marandi.
US-born. Tehran University professor. Former IRGC member. Former advisor to Iran's nuclear negotiations team in Vienna. Described by Iran International as a "government mouthpiece."
He told his followers protesters were "funded and trained" by Mossad operatives.
US-born. Tehran University professor. Former IRGC member. Former advisor to Iran's nuclear negotiations team in Vienna. Described by Iran International as a "government mouthpiece."
He told his followers protesters were "funded and trained" by Mossad operatives.
Here's where it gets interesting.
IRGC mouthpieces calling protesters Mossad agents is expected. What gets that narrative into Western discourse is a different layer: outlets that look like independent journalism but have documented financial ties to Iranian and Russian state media.
Enter The Grayzone.
IRGC mouthpieces calling protesters Mossad agents is expected. What gets that narrative into Western discourse is a different layer: outlets that look like independent journalism but have documented financial ties to Iranian and Russian state media.
Enter The Grayzone.
Is the Grayzone anti-NED, anti-globalist, anti-interventionist?
Yes. And I don't care.
In my book Unelected, I document the rise of competing telos: one that ends in a global, borderless Marxist workers' paradise, and another that ends in a global, borderless liberal democracy. They fight each other for the rule of the world.
Both are anti-American, anti-nation-state sovereignty, anti-individualism.
Yes. And I don't care.
In my book Unelected, I document the rise of competing telos: one that ends in a global, borderless Marxist workers' paradise, and another that ends in a global, borderless liberal democracy. They fight each other for the rule of the world.
Both are anti-American, anti-nation-state sovereignty, anti-individualism.
On January 12, the single highest-engagement day, Max Blumenthal of Grazyone published an article characterizing the protests as "a violent insurrection encouraged by governments from Israel to the US" and dismissed HRW and Amnesty as "U.S. government-funded."
Same day: Khamenei praised pro-government rallies and told U.S. politicians to stop "relying on their traitorous hirelings."
Blumenthal and the Supreme Leader were making the same argument on the same day.
Same day: Khamenei praised pro-government rallies and told U.S. politicians to stop "relying on their traitorous hirelings."
Blumenthal and the Supreme Leader were making the same argument on the same day.
Beyond Grayzone, the narrative spread through progressive anti-imperialist networks:
Omar Baddar (Deputy Director, Arab American Institute) amplified Pompeo-as-evidence frame Jan 2.
Caitlin Johnstone: resurfaced Pompeo quote "in case you missed it" on Jan 8, the day protests dramatically escalated.
Omar Baddar (Deputy Director, Arab American Institute) amplified Pompeo-as-evidence frame Jan 2.
Caitlin Johnstone: resurfaced Pompeo quote "in case you missed it" on Jan 8, the day protests dramatically escalated.
During the critical January 8–23 window, engagement from the top 10 non-state influencers "frequently exceeded or matched" official Iranian state media and government accounts combined.
The most disturbing finding:
Under Iranian law, labeling a protester a "foreign agent" or "Mossad operative" converts them to Moharebeh... "enemy of God." Penalty: death.
The foreign-attribution narrative was the legal mechanism enabling executions.
Under Iranian law, labeling a protester a "foreign agent" or "Mossad operative" converts them to Moharebeh... "enemy of God." Penalty: death.
The foreign-attribution narrative was the legal mechanism enabling executions.
The steps:
1. Seed the frame via state media (IRGC → Fars News → PressTV)
2. Let organic voices adopt it for their own ideological reasons
3. Place documented assets (Grayzone) at the credibility layer
4. Watch influencer engagement exceed state media reach
5. Collect: international solidarity muted, protesters recast as foreign agents
6. Now you have legal justification to execute protesters en masse.
1. Seed the frame via state media (IRGC → Fars News → PressTV)
2. Let organic voices adopt it for their own ideological reasons
3. Place documented assets (Grayzone) at the credibility layer
4. Watch influencer engagement exceed state media reach
5. Collect: international solidarity muted, protesters recast as foreign agents
6. Now you have legal justification to execute protesters en masse.
Now, I am NOT nearly as bullish on Iran intervention as I am on Venezuela.
I trust the Trump administration will make the correct, difficult calls here.
But the extent of how foreign amplification was involved, and used to justify the massacres, should be disturbing on a national security level.
I trust the Trump administration will make the correct, difficult calls here.
But the extent of how foreign amplification was involved, and used to justify the massacres, should be disturbing on a national security level.
Full report available here: networkcontagion.us/reports/attrib…
And before you criticize them for being pro-ADL, you might want to read Joel Finkelstein in his own words:
tabletmag.com/sections/news/…
tabletmag.com/sections/news/…
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