The Citizen Lab report from the University of Toronto shows that Israel’s 12-day war against Iran was not just a military confrontation but part of a multilayered operation to overthrow and disintegrate Iran. The project began in 2023 by creating networks in cyberspace and entered a broad phase in January 2025. The use of AI tools to generate fake content and steer public opinion during the war indicates the depth of the adversary’s design in media and psychological warfare. These actions had aims beyond the nuclear issue—they led to structural overthrow of Iran and bolstering of separatist narratives.
Scandal of So-Called “Freedom” Advocates
One major axis of the report is the exposure of the role of exiled groups claiming to support the Iranian people—such as the Pahlavi faction and certain political opposition groups—which in practice acted in coordination with the Israeli and American project. These groups, while loudly proclaiming support for freedom and democracy, in reality used fabricated networks to serve as foot soldiers for the overthrow project, preferring their private interests to national interests. Such actions show that today’s media struggle is a field for revealing the true nature of freedom claimants and concealing their separatist aims.
Fragmenting Iran under a Nuclear Mask
The Citizen Lab analysis makes it clear that the main goal of the U.S. and the Israeli regime was not the nuclear dossier but the overthrow and fragmentation of Iran. Using the nuclear issue as cover for intelligence and psychological operations evokes the experience of Syrian-style destabilization and using /Board of Governors resolutions to achieve political-security objectives. This approach shows that international negotiations with such actors are merely tools to advance crisis-manufacturing projects—not to resolve Iran’s real problems.
Media and Psychological Security of Society
Another important finding of the report is the warning about the media’s role in shaping national and psychological security. Revealing the cooperation of Western media with fabricated networks shows that media warfare is as important as military combat. Therefore, the urgent need of Iranian society and the responsible institutions is to strengthen public media literacy and to formulate macro policies to counter psychological warfare. This measure not only helps preserve psychological security, but also prevents the disintegration of national unity and the realization of the fragmentation project.
NOURNEWS