NEW DELHI: A false claim originating from an Indian X account found its way into Israel’s media and political ecosystem before being cited publicly by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and amplified by senior US figures, giving fresh momentum to the hawkish narrative surrounding Iran’s nuclear programme.
The claim emerged on August 5, when the Indian X account @RealBababanaras posted an alleged statement by Brig Gen Ahmad Vahidi, a senior Iranian military figure and head of the Revolutionary Guard. The post claimed Vahidi had said Iran would continue working on nuclear weapons as long as the US and Israel possessed them.
The post contained spelling errors and cited no source. Within two hours, another India-based account, @Im_Ritikaa, shared a paraphrased version in Hindi, also without attribution.
There was subsequently no evidence that Vahidi had made the statement. Israeli outlet YNet and The New York Times later reported that the quote could not be substantiated.
By then, however, the claim had begun circulating widely in Israel. Mossad Commentary, a prominent Israeli X account that is not affiliated with Israel’s intelligence agency, reposted the alleged statement and said it showed that Iran was merely “buying time” and had no intention of abandoning its nuclear ambitions. The post had received more than 300,000 views by August 17.
About 30 minutes later, Israeli broadcaster Channel 14 English published the claim as news, describing it as the first admission by an Iranian official that the country was developing a nuclear bomb. Its post had accumulated nearly 450,000 views when the report was filed.
The claim then moved into Israel’s political sphere. Yair Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister’s son, reposted the material. Later that day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the alleged statement during a ceremony in Jerusalem honouring the family of Theodor Herzl.
“Today we heard Revolutionary Guards commander Vahidi explicitly declaring Iran’s intention to continue to develop nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israel would remain determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
The claim was soon amplified in the US. Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the United Nations, reposted it, followed by conservative commentator Mark Levin and Republican Senator Rick Scott. Fox News also reported the claim, although it later clarified that the statement had been taken out of context and amplified.
What Vahidi Actually Said
The statement attributed to Vahidi appears to have been based on remarks he made in 2025. In those comments, Vahidi said Iran’s position on nuclear weapons was transparent and that Tehran was prepared to take whatever measures it considered necessary in response to repeated US and Israeli aggression.
The earlier remarks did not constitute the admission attributed to him by the Indian X account.
How the Claim Spread
The episode highlights how information posted by relatively obscure social-media accounts can rapidly enter mainstream political and media narratives when it aligns with existing geopolitical positions.
It was also not the first time content from @RealBababanaras had been picked up by Mossad Commentary. Earlier this year, the Israeli account had cited the Indian handle in posts about explosions in Iran following a US strike and an alleged attack on a uranium-enrichment and nuclear research facility.
In April, @RealBababanaras also claimed that Tehran was preparing for its “first official nuclear test within weeks”. Another India-based account, @FalconUpdatesHQ, later repeated the claim, followed by @Im_Ritikaa in May.
The wider network of Indian accounts commenting on Israel-Iran developments has also attracted attention in Israel. Earlier this year, Yonatan Hassidim, CEO of an Israeli company that monitors online activity, told an Israeli parliamentary hearing that around 70% of the accounts sharing posts by Netanyahu in his sample were not Israeli.
He cited examples of Indian accounts rapidly sharing and engaging with Israeli political content, including one account that he said posted more than 165,000 times a year.
The Cycle Continues
The circulation of the Vahidi quote illustrates how an unverified claim can move rapidly from an anonymous social-media account to influential commentators, broadcasters and political leaders.
The cycle remained active on August 17, when US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that his “number one goal” was to ensure Iran could not possess a nuclear weapon. @RealBababanaras subsequently repackaged Trump’s remarks for its audience as a reaction to Iran allegedly refusing to hand over enriched uranium and halt its nuclear programme.
The episode underscores how social-media claims, even when unsupported by evidence, can acquire credibility through repetition and endorsement—eventually reaching the highest levels of political discourse.
