The US can no longer control the narrative as social media exposes “raw, unfiltered truth” about the conflict, Mahdi Hemmat says
The US is losing the information war against Iran, as social media platforms allow the “raw, unfiltered truth” about the conflict to instantly reach millions, undermining Washington’s narrative, an Iranian-American Lego cartoonist has told RT.
Mahdi Hemmat, whose Lego rap videos have gone viral during the US‑Israeli war on Iran, said that Washington’s “old ‘believe what we say’ approach no longer works,” because “reality is streaming live, and whether anyone likes it or not, the president can’t control it anymore.”
Hemmat is one of several artists that have been creating Lego‑style videos following the outbreak of the US‑Israeli war on Iran. The clips, generated with the help of AI and part of Iran’s information warfare campaign, have garnered millions of views on social media, depicting various incidents and details of the war, often set to rap music. Some have described the phenomenon as “defensive memetic warfare” and “internet diplomacy.”
Hemmat’s animations have covered several incidents, including the Minab school strike, which killed at least 175 people, mostly children, the Iranian strikes on US bases in the Gulf, as well as the $100 million dollar operation to rescue an American F-15 pilot. He said his videos are based on “verifiable events anyone can deep dive into” and learn the truth.
“Iran’s strategy is brilliant,” Hemmat said, describing the country’s overall approach to countering US-Israeli aggression. He explained that Tehran uses the same asymmetric principle online as on the battlefield, noting that “low cost, high impact content forces billion‑dollar media empires to play defense. Iran controls the terms of engagement online, just like it does on the ground.”
Check out the full interview with Hemmat below.
