Iran COVID-19 Disinformation

From ADTAC Disinformation Inventory

Iranian linked assets have promoted a number of different COVID-19 conspiracies.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the US of having created a "special version" of COVID which was “based on Iranian genetic information they have gathered”.[1]

The International Union of Virtual Media or IUVM has been active for years and has had its assets repeatedly taken down by Facebook, Google and Twitter as it spreads pro-Iranian deceptive messages. They accused the US of having created the COVID-19 virus and hindering Iran's response through sanctions.[2]

Other state media outlets and government officials have also promoted misinformation surrounding the virus, and the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. 92% of Iranian government tweets or those from state media about the Pfizer vaccine were negative.[3] The Iranian state media argues that western vaccine producers ignored safety concerns.[4]