ALERT: Iran wins the propaganda battle against Trump | International
New information reveals that the following story has emerged from the international scene.
The large posters that cover many buildings in the center of Iranian cities have been for decades another internal tool in an arsenal of highly ideologized, dark political communication, of dark images that refer to religion and death: the faces of the martyrs – the fallen soldiers of the Iraq war against Iran (1980-1988) -; the portraits of the two elderly supreme leaders, Ayatollahs Khomeini and Khamenei, that the Islamic Republic had held until the start of the war on February 28; women covered in black chador from head to toe. These images reinforced the idea of the Islamic Republic that many Westerners had and still have. That of an autocracy, a fundamentalist State anchored in the past and that worships martyrdom. In January, the poor image of the Iranian political system sank even further. The repression unleashed by the demonstrations against the regime covered the country in what many Iranians defined as “rivers of blood”: that of thousands of people – 7,000, according to the exile NGO Hrana; just over 3,100 in official figures – who died in those protests, according to the UN and several human rights organizations. Three months later, after 40 days of war and 11 days of fragile truce, the memory of that repression has not disappeared, but it has faded. In part, because Iran seems to have made a priority of what Ali Khamenei himself – who died in one of the first Israeli bombings – defined in 2024 as the “media war”. internet. “Iran is fighting for all of us,” say many of them on platforms such as Instagram, The authors of these popular audiovisual products are young Iranian creators, millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) or generation Z (1997-2012). The latter, digital natives “who learned everything they know” from the Internet that they now use to disseminate their products, explains Bajoghli, and who, in many cases, have a personal connection with the Islamic Republic. These are – the anthropologist cites cases anonymously – children of soldiers or veterans of the Revolutionary Guard, the powerful parallel Iranian army that makes the decisions of the war and that, for 40 years, has controlled a large apparatus of media and cultural production. What Bajoghli calls the “media arm” of the Revolutionary Guard includes production and film studios, cultural centers, university programs and “a vast infrastructure for the training of successive generations of media professionals, which was created in the late 1980s.” These young people have often grown up in privilege: their families are middle and upper class, they have traveled and attended good universities, sometimes in the United States. “They have the cultural fluidity of those who have always had options,” describes Bajoghli. For example, those who manage the production company Ajbar Enfejari (Explosive News), which began as a YouTube channel that published videos with only a few hundred views, but which in February began to disseminate content about the war, which achieved overwhelming success. These videos, also disseminated on Telegram, Especially among young people. Although Noticias Explosivas claims to be independent, one of its representatives admitted under a pseudonym to the BBC that one of its videos was commissioned by the Iranian Government. These short films reach a wide audience because they use universal codes and themes such as humor and satire, but they also use Western references, such as rap. The most successful, now banned on platforms such as YouTube, are made with Lego-type doll animations and are inspired by a. Also a generational reference for the youngest: The Lego Movie (2014), which tells the story of a resistance movement that seeks to stop a tyrant. That tyrant – Donald Trump – is, in a video, an orange pig that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads on a leash like a dog. All the videos actually tell the same story: the fight of whoever presents himself as good – Iran – against the supposed evil. ―Trump, the United States and Israel―. In them, the caricature of the American president appears as a foolish character who sweats profusely and who has been deceived by Netanyahu, has betrayed the Americans and is losing against the Iranians who defend the entire world against the “Epstein class”, in reference to the pedophile millionaire Jeffrey Epstein, whose relationship with Trump is constantly remembered and who is presented as the epitome of the depravity of States. United. Iran just dropped another LEGO diss track and they absolutely BODIED Trump calling him the “orange pig” Epstein bars, Israel-first accusation, and calling him out for straight betrayal. This rap is ruthless and the Lego animation is next-level crazy! These AI… pic.twitter.com/G1FNLgG8oF— Mr. H (@its_MrH3) April 9, 2026 Other clips appeal to emotions, such as the one made with artificial intelligence in which Trump and Netanyahu appear standing on a ledge of a mountain that overlooks an abyss in front of some of the 168 girls killed in the American bombing of a school in Minab Next to them, there are other minors, blondes, of Western appearance, who carry a folder that reads “Epstein Files.” river of blood.The message of these products is universalist: in another video, also generated by artificial intelligence, an Iranian missile passes over a Native American, a Vietnamese boy, another Japanese, a girl in Gaza and a minor victim of Epstein, and ends with a phrase in English: “A REVENGE FOR ALL”.Iran Released A Powerful Video Depicting Their Missiles As Revenge For The OppressedIt depicts the Native Americans, Epstein Island Victims, Palestinians in Gaza & others all looking to the skies.Before an Iranian missile hits a status of the false idol Baal. pic.twitter.com/6uiZ3gtRAH— In Context (@incontextmedia) March 25, 2026 Luciano Zaccara, a professor at Georgetown University in Qatar, believes that part of the success of these audiovisual products lies in the fact that “they appeal to common sense, to criticism of the character Trump embodies, who is already unpopular in the rest of the world, without entering into religious or religious issues. ideological. They simply attack his logic, his speech, his behavior, his actions and his tweets,” he points out. In this way, “with Lego and rap,” Zaccara analyzes, they reach “a different audience, whether Western or from developing countries.” Above all, he emphasizes, a “young and non-ideological” audience. Iranian propaganda, analyzes the anthropologist Bajoghli, has finally “learned to speak the language of this century.” That language and the content of these videos is “the one that was forged in the ruins of Iraq, in the genocide of Gaza, and in every moment in which Western institutions promised accountability and, instead, offered impunity. Tajikistan. It started from the initial image of Trump, before showing the real Jesus Christ, who sent the president to hell with a slap. The messages of that and many other Iranian diplomatic legations are not only helping to spread the products of official propaganda, but their own messages are also being widely disseminated thanks to their satirical tone and successful use of humor. In early April, after the president of the United States spread a message on his social network Truth. open the “fucking” Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian diplomatic legation in Zimbabwe responded in[la llave] It’s under the flowerpot. Only open to friends.” While this propaganda triumphs, critical Iranian voices that can counteract the propaganda of the Islamic Republic have taken a backseat. On the one hand, because the war is the focus of media interest. On the other, because the Iranian regime has blocked the Internet in the country for 50 days – connectivity was 2% of usual this Friday, according to the organization NetBlocks -, so those critical voices from within the Asian country have been largely muzzled. Abroad, the practically only visible head of the Iranian opposition, Reza Pahlavi, the shah’s son, has fallen into increasing discredit for his support for the war and his close relationship with Israel. The Iranian regime’s propaganda practically monopolizes the story. Iran also has numerous allies to disseminate its audiovisual products. When one of its videos – or one of the messages from its embassies – is finished, official Iranian accounts, like those of other diplomatic legations, or close to the Islamic Republic spread it. Later, the Iranian anthropologist explains in her article in New York Magazine, it is picked up by accounts related to the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, the Houthis of Yemen and the pro-Iran militias of Iraq, from where they usually jump to Russian state or semi-state channels and, from there, to user profiles with a left-wing anti-imperialist profile. By then, other accounts from countries in the Global South – represented by the opposition to the US – USA – they are already spreading it. Even protesters from the American “No Kings” movement move these videos because of their anti-Trump content. In one of the videos from the production company Noticias Explosivas, in a demonstration against the American president, the Lego aesthetic dolls reflect those Americans and hold a sign with that same slogan: “No Kings”.
Analysis and Perspective:
This report highlights significant developments in the international landscape that could reshape diplomatic relations in the coming weeks.
As the situation continues to evolve, analysts are closely watching for further developments.
Stay tuned for more updates as this story continues to unfold.
Source: This article was originally published in another language by Internacional en EL PAÍS and has been translated and adapted for our global English-speaking audience. Read the original article here.