Factnameh English

Countering misinformation in Iran.
فارسی @factnameh
A project of @aslnoozdah

[FactNameh | فکت‌نامه @factnameh]

✍️ The Digital Funeral: How Iran Used Western Influencers to Rewrite History

Following the death of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the Iranian government sponsored media tours for foreign influencers to attend his funeral.
The goal? To project an exaggerated image of national unity and regime stability to the rest of the world.
Influencers like @jacksonhinkle , @MaxBlumenthal , and @ChrisHelali helped push this official narrative, claiming crowd sizes of 20 to 40 million people to their millions of followers, even though actual documented gatherings were only a fraction of that size.
Because these influencers shared the content on their personal accounts, it gave the state-sponsored messaging a false appearance of independent, authentic observation.
Swipe through the three charts below to see how these influencers' accounts drove engagement around this event.
By selecting guests with diverse political backgrounds, Iran was able to feed its narrative to international audiences ranging from the anti-imperialist left to MAGA-aligned populists.

Read the full analysis by Factnameh:👇
https://t.co/mqc0OHsjBG

[FactNameh | فکت‌نامه @factnameh]

🔹 Debunking the 40-Million Turnout Claim at Khamenei’s Funeral

Recently, claims have circulated that an estimated 41 to 43 million people attended the funeral ceremonies for Iran's former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei across Iran and Iraq.
These astronomical numbers are mathematically and logistically impossible.

The Iran Claims (31-33 Million):
This number implies that roughly 35% of Iran's entire population of 87 million attended the ceremonies.
The combined population of the host provinces (Tehran, Qom, and Razavi Khorasan) is only 23.4 million. Even if every single resident attended, they would still be 8 to 10 million people short.
Iran's intercity road network can only handle about 2.18 million vehicles per day, making it impossible for those extra millions to travel without catastrophic gridlock.

The Iraq Claims (10 Million):
Claiming 10 million people attended in Najaf and Karbala means that one out of every three adults in Iraq was present.
Given that an estimated 35% of Iraq is not Shia, this claim requires believing that nearly two-thirds of the country's entire adult Shia population traveled to just two cities on a single day.

When measured against actual population data, geographic limits, and transport capacity, these massive attendance figures instantly collapse into impossible exaggerations.
Factnameh’s Substack:👇
https://t.co/IJmdlvXZ70

[FactNameh | فکت‌نامه @factnameh]

🔹 How Many Attended Iran’s Former Supreme Leader’s Funeral?

Iranian media and several international outlets recently claimed massive, record-breaking crowds during the funeral events in Tehran. But an in-depth analysis by Factnameh reveals that these numbers are highly inflated and based on flawed assumptions.
Here is what the data actually shows, based on three items:
1- Tehran Mosalla Ceremony: While some online claims soared up to 24 million, aerial mapping and crowd density calculations show the peak crowd during the funeral prayer was only around 300,000 people. Even factoring in crowd turnover during the 40-hour event, total attendance realistically falls between 600,000 and 3 million.

2- Azadi Street Procession: Despite claims of millions, high-resolution satellite imagery reveals scattered, low-density crowds along the route. Factnameh estimates the procession drew at most several hundred thousand participants.

3- Transport data analysis: Officials claimed 17 million public transit trips were taken in 48 hours to support the massive attendance figures. The reality? Tehran Metro's average daily use is only about 1.5 million, with a maximum projected capacity of just 3.5 million.
The multi-million figures circulated online are physically impossible based on venue sizes, crowd density metrics, and municipal transit capacity.
Factnameh’s Substack:👇
https://t.co/VEj4GndfOa

[FactNameh | فکت‌نامه @factnameh]

Our latest investigation into Iran's state-sponsored media tours has been featured in The Guardian!

We revealed how the Islamic Republic uses foreign influencers, like UK TV personality @Bushra1Shaikh, to reproduce government narratives and bypass traditional journalism.
During severe domestic internet blackouts, Shaikh was granted high-level access to senior officials and sensitive military sites to broadcast unedited state propaganda to her hundreds of thousands of followers.

Read more about our findings and insights into Iran's shifting digital strategies in @guardian:

https://t.co/6gCirdPHgw

[FactNameh | فکت‌نامه @factnameh]

1/
✍️ Inside the Influence Network of Iran’s Diplomatic Missions on X

Examining the coordinated online network of Iranian embassies that generated nearly 600 million views to shape global perceptions of the conflict.
While millions of Iranians were silenced by government-imposed internet blackouts in early 2026, Iran’s embassies were busy building a massive, coordinated online influence network.🧵⬇️

[FactNameh | فکت‌نامه @factnameh]

✍️The 30-Million Myth: Iran's Fabricated Loyalty Campaign

The Iranian government boasted that 30 million citizens joined a state-sponsored loyalty campaign. Exposed database IDs and unnatural growth graphs tell a very different story.

Read more about iran's fabricated loyalty campaign, the 30 million myth, on Factnameh's Substack:
https://t.co/Cb9xne5Bz9

[FactNameh | فکت‌نامه @factnameh]

✍️ Claim check: Has the same "actor" appeared in multiple war photos from Tehran?

Amid ongoing U.S. and Israeli strikes, some social media users claim that a single "actor" appears in several widely shared images from Tehran./1 ⬇️

[FactNameh | فکت‌نامه @factnameh]

>@Khanalizadeh_IR, Professor of International Relations and media personality, appeared in a television program on Iran’s State Media on March 23rd, falsely claiming that “The American media outlet, the New York Times, has confessed that the events of January 8th and 9th [Nation-wide protests] were a Mossad project to encourage the United States to go to war with Iran.”
👇
https://t.co/CAmFqzUJPq

[FactNameh | فکت‌نامه @factnameh]

❌ ترامپ چیزی درباره حمله ایران به ناو جرالد فورد نگفته است

❌ False: Trump has NOT admitted that “Iran attacked USS Gerald Ford from 17 angles.”

برخی رسانه‌های جمهوری اسلامی با انتشار ویدیویی مدعی شده‌اند که دونالد ترامپ اعتراف کرده «ایران از ۱۷ جهت به ناو جرالد فورد حمله کرده و ما برای نجات جانمان فرار کردیم.»
این ادعا شاخ‌دار است و رئیس‌جمهور آمریکا چنین چیزی نگفته است.
ترامپ در این بخش از سخنرانی خود در کنفرانس «ابتکار سرمایه‌گذاری آینده» به عملیات اخیر آمریکا در ونزوئلا اشاره کرده بود.
او گفته بود که در آن عملیات، هر چند ثانیه یک‌بار یک جنگنده از روی بزرگترین ناو هواپیمابر جهان به سمت ونزوئلا پرواز می‌کرد و ونزوئلایی‌ها دیدند که از ۱۷ جهت به آنها حمله شده و برای نجات جانشان مجبور شدند فرار کنند.
بسیاری از رسانه‌های داخل ایران قسمت اول جملات ترامپ را که مشخص می‌کند او در حال صحبت درباره حمله آمریکا به ونزوئلاست، از ویدیوی منتشر شده حذف کرده‌اند.

Some Iranian media outlets shared a video claiming that Donald Trump said, "Iran attacked the USS Gerald Ford from 17 angles and we ran for our lives, it was over."
This claim is false.
In his speech at the Future Investment Initiative conference, Trump was referring to a U.S. operation in Venezuela.
He said that during the operation, fighter jets were taking off every few seconds from the world’s largest aircraft carrier toward Venezuela, and they [the Venezuelans] saw attacks coming from 17 angles, and they said "we ran for our lives."
Some Iranian media outlets removed the opening part of Trump’s remarks from the video they shared, which makes clear he was talking about a U.S. operation against Venezuela and not Iran.
لینک مقاله:👇
https://t.co/SUTLQGglPL

[FactNameh | فکت‌نامه @factnameh]

🔹 Grok Amplifies Misinformation as Users Turn to it for Iran War Content Verification

As users turned to Grok for verification, it struggled to identify AI-generated content & provided inconsistent responses in Persian and English, amplifying misinformation and shaping false narratives.
Read the article on Factnameh’s Substack:
https://t.co/ND0csOpThU

[FactNameh | فکت‌نامه @factnameh]

In our essay for @factchecknet and @Poynter, we revisit nearly ten years of fact-checking Ali Khamenei, examining how he relied on statistics, narrative framing, and conspiracy theories to shape how reality was presented in Iran.
https://t.co/crYo3mXLUJ

[FactNameh | فکت‌نامه @factnameh]

🔹 Ali Larijani, The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council @alilarijani_ir claimed on X that 500 American troops have been killed in the past few days in the war with Iran.

This claim is false.

He did not provide any evidence or details about where these casualties supposedly occurred or who the victims were.
The U.S. military, as of the time this claim was published, has confirmed the deaths of six service members. Iranian officials in other cases have reported figures for “killed and wounded” combined, rather than deaths alone.
There are no reports, indications, or evidence in credible international media confirming casualties of this magnitude in the U.S. military.

[FactNameh | فکت‌نامه @factnameh]

The profile of Ali Khamenei, former leader of the Islamic Republic on Factnameh

👇
https://t.co/tk42Feag2I

[Louis Jacobson @loujacobson]

My dispatch from Canada for @poynter: A look at fact-checking and misinformation efforts in Canada, and how they compare to the U.S. https://t.co/EPy1GpTro3

[FactNameh | فکت‌نامه @factnameh]

🔎A joint investigation by Factnameh and The Guardian.

The radiological record documents not random dispersal of force but patterned, repeated firearm use resulting in severe and often permanently disabling injuries.

In an environment where official narratives conflict and independent access is restricted, these 78 images offer a rare, forensic window into what happened over two days in January 2026. They show not just that live ammunition was used but how, where, and with what medical consequences.

A summary of Factnameh' report: https://t.co/J2ZWkYEIC6

[FactNameh | فکت‌نامه @factnameh]

✍️ Which channels remained online during the internet shutdown?

On the evening of January 8, 2026 (Tehran time), simultaneous with the unprecedented crackdown on popular protests against the Islamic Republic, the internet in Iran was shut down. The scale of the communications blackout was such that even the activity of the Islamic Republic’s second official media outlet (IRNA) was halted. At the same time, however, 14 news–political channels operating from inside Iran remained active:
🧵⬇️

[Factnameh English @Factnameh_En]

📽️State media claimed 3 million attended the Jan 22 pro-government rally in Tehran. But even by Fars News’ own map, the area holds at most ~138,000 people at full density.
Factoring in empty spaces, buses, trees, and canals, the real number is far lower.

[FactNameh | فکت‌نامه @factnameh]

Factnameh Confirms 950 Bodies in Just Two Days at Tehran Morgue
How body-bag serial numbers expose the true human cost of state violence

Factnameh’s investigation shows that by the evening of January 9, 2026, the bodies of at least 950 protesters had entered the Kahrizak forensic system.

See below🧵⬇️

[FactNameh | فکت‌نامه @factnameh]

🔹 Why Claims About “Protesters Attacking Mosques” in Iran Are Misleading

Iranian state media are showing selected images of protesters “attacking mosques,” but this ignores key context.
Many mosques in Iran host active Basij bases, a paramilitary force under the IRGC used to suppress protests.
Factnameh estimates nearly 50,000 Basij bases operate inside mosques nationwide.
Past reporting shows some mosques were even used as temporary detention sites.
Ignoring this context turns a complex situation into a misleading story that is meant to stir religious feelings and discredit protesters in Iran and around the world.👇
https://t.co/Y0cNHTD08O

[FactNameh | فکت‌نامه @factnameh]

What @s_m_marandi is claiming on @piersmorgan extends roughly 10 km beyond the route that the state media (including Fars News and IRIB) had previously claimed, which itself was already heavily exaggerated. Earlier reports said pro-government supporters marched along routes leading to Enghelab Square, from Ferdowsi Square to the Navab area on Azadi Street, and on the other side from Keshavarz Boulevard to the Jomhouri–Kargar intersection.
Factnameh showed through basic calculations that the crowd figures claimed by these outlets were dozens of times higher than the actual crowd capacity of these areas.

On the other hand, what @gghamari claims is also incorrect. The images shown are not from Qassem Soleimani’s funeral. The video is from a pro-government rally held on Jan 12.