The conflict with Iran has become the first major confrontation where propaganda could be defined by memes. Pro-Iranian accounts have launched viral videos mocking Donald Trump, portraying him as a puppet of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. These videos, using AI technology and sophisticated animation, suggest that US forces could suffer major losses if the conflict continues.

These audiovisual materials aim not only to demonstrate Iranian resistance, but also to foment disagreement against Trump's war among Americans. They function primarily on a visual level, removing language barriers, and the spare text is usually in English instead of Farsi. Some videos also allude to relevant topics in American political culture, such as the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

The US videos, which have included loud music and clips from franchises like “Call of Duty” and “Top Gun,” have been criticized for trivializing or gamifying the war. In response, the administration has defended its approach. A White House official, in a quote that went semi-viral, proudly told Politico: “We’re over here just grinding away on banger memes, dude.”

Experts in propaganda and the use of social media argue that these new developments are significant, although they warn against equating the “meme war” with the actual war, which has caused nearly 2,000 deaths in Iran, has affected the global economy, and has cost the lives of at least 13 American military personnel.

Roger Stahl, a professor of communication studies at the University of Georgia, noted that the nature of social media makes it easier for a militarily outgunned side to spread its message almost on par with its larger opponents. “The platform itself and the viral nature of things favor asymmetric, low-power actors, because they can produce something that will go viral if it’s clever enough,” he said.

Stahl added that, unlike the old model of US media dominated by a few newspapers and three television networks, now “it’s not about having monopoly power over a few channels, but about an open season in an open field. Just as Iran has thousands of tiny drones, it can play the social game in a similar way”.

Two of the main AI animations appear to come from the account Explosive Media on X and Akhbarenfejari on Instagram, who describe themselves as an “independent Iranian AI production team.” The Iranian leadership itself has also used social media, with Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf mocking US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and the Iranian Embassy in South Africa sharing an AI-generated video celebrating missile attacks against Tel Aviv.

A spokesperson for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard made a video in which he addressed Trump in English with the phrases “You’re fired” and “Thank you for your attention to this matter”.

Renee Hobbs, a professor of communication studies at the University of Rhode Island, noted that the Iranian efforts to make Trump a figure of ridicule are particularly effective, given the president's fixation on being seen as a strong leader. Hobbs stated that Trump's adversaries, including the Iranians, “make the decision to fight fire with fire. ‘If Trump is going to use internet memes to show how strong he is, we are going to use the same strategies to show how weak he is’”.

Stahl also highlighted that the pro-Iranian animated videos have traction because they have a real narrative structure, unlike the “highlight reel” of the Trump administration's videos on missile strikes.