{"id":252179,"date":"2026-08-17T06:06:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T06:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/252179\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T06:06:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T06:06:23","slug":"from-india-to-israel-to-us-how-a-fake-iran-nuclear-quote-went-viral-and-misled-global-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/252179\/","title":{"rendered":"From India to Israel to US: How a Fake Iran Nuclear Quote Went Viral and Misled Global Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel\u2019s Channel 14 then published the claim, portraying it as the first public acknowledgement that Iran was working towards a nuclear bomb.<\/p>\n

INDIA: The first known appearance<\/p>\n

On August 5, an India-based X account posts a quotation attributed to IRGC commander Ahmad Vahidi claiming Iran would continue working towards nuclear weapons while the US and Israel possessed them.<\/p>\n

There is no evidence Vahidi made the statement.<\/p>\n

INDIA AGAIN: The claim gets repeated<\/p>\n

Around two hours later, another Indian account posts the same purported quotation, helping the claim begin its journey beyond the original source.<\/p>\n

ISRAELI SOCIAL MEDIA: A major amplification<\/p>\n

Mossad Commentary, a prominent Israeli account with no known connection to the Mossad intelligence agency, circulates the claim and argues that it shows Iran has no intention of abandoning its nuclear ambitions.<\/p>\n

ISRAELI TELEVISION: The claim looks more authoritative<\/p>\n

Channel 14 publishes the quotation and portrays it as the first time Iran has publicly acknowledged pursuing a nuclear bomb.<\/p>\n

Its English-language post attracts hundreds of thousands of views.<\/p>\n

NETANYAHU: From social media to a PM\u2019s speech<\/p>\n

Within hours, Benjamin Netanyahu cites the purported remarks in a speech at Mount Herzl.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe heard today the commander of the I.R.G.C., Vahidi, explicitly declaring Iran\u2019s intention to keep developing nuclear weapons,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

UNITED STATES: Politicians amplify it<\/p>\n

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz reposts the claim. Republican Senator Rick Scott also shares it.<\/p>\n

FOX NEWS: The claim reaches US television<\/p>\n

Fox News discusses the quotation on air as potentially significant evidence of Iran\u2019s nuclear intentions.<\/p>\n

THEN THE UNRAVELLING: Questions emerge<\/p>\n

Researchers and journalists find no credible Iranian source for the supposed statement.<\/p>\n

Waltz\u2019s post disappears.<\/p>\n

Fox News later tells viewers the quotation was \u201cunverified and inaccurate\u201d and says it regrets the error.<\/p>\n

THE LESSON: \u2018Narrative laundering\u2019<\/p>\n

A fabricated claim moved from social media in India through increasingly prominent sources until politicians and major media organisations treated it as credible \u2014 illustrating how repetition can give a falsehood the appearance of verification.<\/p>\n

Then it reached Washington<\/p>\n

How a falsehood gains credibility<\/p>\n

\"Stephen<\/a><\/p>\n

A Senior Associate Editor with more than 30 years in the media, Stephen N.R. curates, edits and publishes impactful stories for Gulf News \u2014 both in print and online \u2014 focusing on Middle East politics, student issues and explainers on global topics. <\/p>\n

Stephen has spent most of his career in journalism, working behind the scenes \u2014 shaping headlines, editing copy and putting together newspaper pages with precision. <\/p>\n

For the past many years, he has brought that same dedication to the Gulf News digital team, where he curates stories, crafts explainers and helps keep both the web and print editions sharp and engaging. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel\u2019s Channel 14 then published the claim, portraying it as the first public acknowledgement that Iran was working…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[3074,34,2107,37,80],"class_list":["post-252179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-iran","tag-americas","tag-iran","tag-iran-nuclear-programme","tag-israel","tag-us-israel-iran-war"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117109351225325516","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}