With viral 鈥楲ego鈥� videos, Iran stakes claim as a propaganda power player
| London and Washington
As part of an overwhelming flow of polished propaganda, Lego-style videos are pouring out of Iran. They鈥檙e saturating social media feeds throughout the United States and worldwide with anti-war, pro-Iran messages that cast President Donald Trump as a war criminal who has dragged America into a conflict that it can鈥檛 win, on Israel鈥檚 behalf.
The stream of near-daily videos has brought the Islamic Republic鈥檚 point of view directly onto American computer and phone screens like never before. The viral success reflects a confluence of capabilities for Iran, analysts say: generative artificial intelligence in the hands of young tech wizards; a social media fluency that spreads their pro-Iran content globally; and investment in political, visual storytelling that dates from the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s.
It was Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, after all, founder of Iran鈥檚 1979 Islamic Revolution, who reassured followers not to worry about their lack of weapons, with the words: 鈥淧ropaganda is explosive as a grenade.鈥�
Why We Wrote This
Iran鈥檚 wartime viral social media campaign has been slick, savvy, and accessible to a Western audience. Despite the White House鈥檚 focus on online messaging, Iran seems to have caught the United States completely off guard.
Now, the Iranians have a new story to tell, due to the joint U.S.-Israeli military attack on Iran that began on Feb. 28. And thanks to AI鈥檚 capacity to produce sophisticated propaganda videos en masse 鈥� 鈥渟lopaganda鈥� 鈥� they can shape popular perceptions of the conflict in a way that appears to far outstrip, in reach and impact, the messaging efforts by the White House and Pentagon, experts say.
鈥淎I is ... an economic leveler, because it is just so cheap to make,鈥� says Cayce Myers, a political communications expert at Virginia Tech. 鈥淚f you鈥檝e got a decent [internet] subscription and a decent system, you can create whatever video content you want.鈥�
An unexpected message
The wave of videos began in late March, when the Iranian Explosive Media production house first added rap music to a short video crammed with messages and symbolism. Called 鈥淟.O.S.E.R.,鈥� it proved to be the vanguard of a series that Explosive Media says in total, on all platforms, has racked up 900 million views.
Key themes and insults of the enemy dominate: The Lego-style animation shows President Trump, stressed and sweating at a casino table as he gambles on war against Iran.
Scenes follow of U.S. warships and planes being destroyed, of Iranian missiles being launched, and of Mr. Trump standing overwhelmed among flag-draped soldiers鈥� caskets. In one sequence, Mr. Trump flips through a mountain of files of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein; in another, he is a puppet manipulated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
鈥淵ou crossed the ocean just to find your grave / Sacrificed your own boys ... for a lie,鈥� plays the rap soundtrack with an American accent. 鈥淪acred defense, we protecting the soil / While you sacrifice soldiers to pay for your spoil!鈥�
The immediate global reaction shocked, as much as anyone, the 10 or so Iranian content creators of Explosive Media, all ages 18 to 25 and committed to Iran鈥檚 revolutionary ideals. They watched in awe as their work 鈥� and their anti-war, pro-regime messages, so carefully attuned to the current tumult in American politics of the war, and of Mr. Trump 鈥� went viral.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 expect this kind of feedback from outside the country,鈥� says a video producer at Explosive Media contacted in Iran, who asked not to be further identified. 鈥淎mericans and Europeans from all over ... are reaching out to us, saying they used to think wrong, [that] their view on everything has changed.鈥�
鈥淭his is the first time I have seen Iran be able to communicate with a global audience, and particularly an American audience,鈥� says Narges Bajoghli, an Iran expert and cultural anthropologist at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University.
鈥淭hese Lego videos are using American pop culture 鈥撀� the animations, the rap lyrics, the trap beats 鈥� it鈥檚 all of today鈥檚 generation,鈥� says Dr. Bajoghli, who has studied the expansion of cultural production linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for two decades. 鈥淎s Americans, it鈥檚 hard for us to relate to anyone else鈥檚 culture, but if we see that someone has mastered our culture, we are impressed.鈥�
Iranian success, U.S. failure
The videos are not official output of the Islamic Republic, but usually from production houses with some IRGC connection. For years, they have made videos for a domestic audience, or to showcase Iran鈥檚 regional 鈥淎xis of Resistance鈥� allies, from Lebanon to Yemen, that have long challenged U.S. and Israeli influence.
But the viral spread of the current crop of Lego-style videos even has official Iranian outlets, such as the Islamic Republic News Agency, praising 鈥渧ictory in the soft war.鈥� Most striking, the IRNA reported, is the 鈥渟peed of production,鈥� which has 鈥渇illed the vacuum across the social media sphere to introduce a new perception of the war.鈥�
鈥淲hat鈥檚 fascinating is that the U.S. has always been really good at communication during war, and in general,鈥� says Dr. Bajoghli. 鈥淯.S. propaganda has consistently been the gold standard. This time around, it鈥檚 failing.鈥�
She cites as one reason the dramatic cuts at the U.S. State Department, by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency, which eliminated offices that managed U.S. messaging.
鈥淭o have Iran鈥檚 media stepping in 鈥� in this moment of technological change, and while the Americans are botching any attempt at giving a [coherent] narrative to this war 鈥� it鈥檚 crazy, because it wasn鈥檛 supposed to be like this,鈥� says Dr. Bajoghli.
鈥淭he people who are producing these [Iranian] videos are very online,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey are picking up on all the conversation that is happening here, and they are pushing it, like any smart influence campaign would try to do.鈥�
The capacity of AI to generate images and video has also been used by the White House. In February 2025, for example, Mr. Trump proposed taking over the Gaza Strip and transforming it into the 鈥淩iviera of the Middle East.鈥�
Weeks later, he reposted an AI-generated video depicting an imaginary future 鈥淭rump Gaza,鈥� with the real scenes of destruction, caused by months of Israeli airstrikes and building demolition, replaced by a resort with luxury buildings and a towering gold statue of Mr. Trump.
Micha艂 Klincewicz, an assistant professor at the department of computational cognitive science at Tilburg University in the Netherlands, calls that video one of the 鈥渇irst examples of political slopaganda鈥� 鈥� a blend of the terms 鈥淎I slop鈥� and 鈥減ropaganda.鈥澛�
The Trump administration鈥檚 AI postings have increased ever since. Besides highlighting the president鈥檚 policy priorities, many posts target Mr. Trump鈥檚 political enemies 鈥� like a video falsely depicting civil rights lawyer Nekima Levy Armstrong crying after being arrested. Another showed the president using a jet fighter to dump excrement on protesters in Chicago.
Near the start of the Iran war, the White House posted a video that mixed footage from real targeted attacks on Iran with clips from well-known movies and other pop culture, labeled 鈥渏ustice the American way.鈥�
The need for a broader strategy
Mr. Trump is often described as a pioneer in effective use of social media. But in the battle of AI propaganda, experts say, Mr. Trump鈥檚 videos lack both quality and strategy.
鈥淭he White House efforts with slopaganda have become pretty much behind the curve, compared to what has been achieved by other governments,鈥� says Dr. Klincewicz.
Emerson Brooking, director of strategy at the Digital Forensic Research Lab of the Atlantic Council, says videos posted by the U.S. government about the war, which focus on U.S. military might, prove little beyond the fact that the country is 鈥済ood at bombing things.鈥�
鈥淧ropaganda still has to be in service of a broader strategy,鈥� he says.
That鈥檚 in contrast with Iranian posts, which Mr. Brooking says tell well-crafted stories that address issues, mock U.S. leaders for fumbling war efforts, and highlight Israel鈥檚 role and dwindling support among Americans for the war.
One recent clip from Explosive Media, for example, is called, 鈥淚ranians when they realize that the ceasefire is about to expire.鈥�
Just 13 seconds long, it shows Lego-style IRGC soldiers celebrating, polishing their missiles, and preparing drones, as rockets dance on their launchers. It ends with an Iranian commander throwing a missile like a dart that hits Mr. Trump 鈥� who wears a headband labeled 鈥淟OSER鈥� 鈥� as a bull鈥檚-eye target.
Another clip shows hats of historical invaders of Iran floating on the surface of the Persian Gulf, then a rubber duck sinking below the waves, revealing a sunken American aircraft carrier and dead Lego-style U.S. sailors.
It ends with a recent declaration of Iran鈥檚 new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei: 鈥淭he only place in the Persian Gulf for invaders is the bottom of its waters.鈥�
Effects of AI slopaganda
AI slopaganda isn鈥檛 meant to change people鈥檚 minds, says Mr. Myers, the political comms expert. But the viral content can still subconsciously shape the way people think about the Iran conflict.聽聽
鈥淚t creates a narrative and a prism by which the individual thinks about the issues,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not necessarily a one-to-one relationship where, 鈥業 see this video, therefore I agree with all of its contents.鈥� It鈥檚 more like, 鈥業 see this video, and therefore I think about these issues through the lens of that video鈥檚 perspective.鈥欌��
Slopaganda also gets attention, whether it resonates with people or offends them. Mr. Myers says cultural resonance makes it a particularly effective way for savvy users to spread their message across a broad audience.
鈥淥ne of the things about propaganda is that, in the past, it has come across as very stilted,鈥� he says. 鈥淧eople are able to easily identify it. ... This is much more subtle.鈥�
The accessibility of AI, and the low cost of creating videos, means even those with limited resources can reach a wide audience. And there has been no shortage of content during the war, for Iran鈥檚 viral videomakers.
鈥淭hey keep harping on: This isn鈥檛 America鈥檚 war, this is Israel鈥檚 war; that Americans don鈥檛 want more wars in the Middle East; that everything is falling apart in the U.S., while people are being sent to die in these wars that nobody wants,鈥� says Dr. Bajoghli.
Explosive Media also counted on the simplicity of Lego characters to 鈥渃reate contrast,鈥� after testing several options, to propel the message that started the trend, says the video producer in Iran.
鈥淪erious subjects presented through a simple, almost playful medium become more accessible 鈥� and sometimes more impactful,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t lowers resistance and invites curiosity.鈥�
Indeed, the effectiveness of the Lego style is highlighted in a music video called 鈥淚ran changed the world,鈥� created by a different production house. It describes a 鈥渄igital content machine鈥� that turned 鈥渃artoon Legos into one of the most viral political phenomena of the decade.鈥�
The Lego format 鈥渨asn鈥檛 accidental,鈥� and was chosen with 鈥渄eliberate precision, lowering audience defenses before delivering each sharp geopolitical incision.鈥�
鈥淏ricks stack high, but the message cuts deep / Lego figures dancing while the world can鈥檛 sleep,鈥� goes the song. 鈥淓xplosive Media press play and the algorithm spreads / cartoon diplomacy putting real grievances in plastic heads / They didn鈥檛 fire missiles, they fired WiFi, from Tehran to your timeline.鈥�
An Iranian researcher contributed to this report.
