How a fake Iran nuclear quote travelled from an Indian X account to Netanyahu’s speech

On August 5, an anonymous X account based in India posted a claim about a supposed statement from Iran's Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi. The post alleged that Vahidi said Iran would never abandon its nuclear weapons program while Israel and the United States maintained their own. However, the report found no evidence that Vahidi ever made this statement.

Additionally, there was no public proof that Iran had developed a nuclear weapon. The claim quickly spread across social media platforms, starting with an Indian account with approximately 175,000 followers who posted the unverified quote. Within two hours, another Indian account with around 82,000 followers translated the claim into Hindi.

An Israeli account named Mossad Commentary, which claimed to be associated with Israel's intelligence agency but had no confirmed connection, further propagated the false assertion, arguing that Iran was delaying negotiations rather than engaging in honest dialogue. Shortly after, Israel's Channel 14 broadcast the quote in English, labeling it as Iran's first public admission of building a nuclear bomb.

Yair Netanyahu, Benjamin Netanyahu's son, retweeted the claim within minutes. Less than three hours later, Benjamin Netanyahu himself cited the quote during a speech at Mount Herzl, Israel's national cemetery in Jerusalem, framing it as evidence of Iran's intentions. In Washington, Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, shared the claim online, asserting that Iran had finally admitted what was evident for years.

Senator Rick Scott of Florida also reposted the claim. Fox News covered the story as well. However, Waltz's post was later removed from X without explanation. Esmail Baghaei, the spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry, dismissed the post as an example of the "flood of lies against the Islamic Republic." He accused Israel of being behind such false claims, without providing any evidence, and stated that similar allegations had been used for two decades to justify military action against Iran.