Update V from The Iranist

April 3, 2026

Salam reader,

If you’re like me and spend any time on social media, you’ve probably noticed that the Islamic Republic’s meme game is unusually strong right now. Since the war began, a collection of AI-generated animations done in the style of The Lego Movie franchise has gone viral (CNBC). The account behind it, Akhbar Enfejari (“Explosive News”), has had its videos amplified by Iranian government accounts, Russian state media, and corners of the Internet that are anti-Trump and/or anti-war.

While some reports suggest links to Iranian state media, a representative told The New Yorker they’re a “student-led media team with a background in social activism.” The representative added, “Every scene, every frame, every hidden detail, and every idea in our work feel like our own children.”

My theory is this: if they’re not Gen Z diaspora Iranians, they’re likely ones inside Iran. The attention to detail is a sign of an Iranian youth who learned English, lives on social media, and grew up downloading and watching bootleg Hollywood films—hardly unusual. It’s also possible they’re behind some of the recently meme-heavy social media accounts linked to Iranian embassies and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, which have taken to trolling the United States and Israel (X/X/X/X). One could argue they’re winning the propaganda war online…

This week, President Donald Trump clarified his objectives in the war, which have shifted repeatedly since it started on February 28 (he initially said the US was going for regime change). The most important part of Trump’s address to the nation on April 1 was the following:

“We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong. In the meantime, discussions are ongoing. Regime change was not our goal. We never said regime change, but regime change has occurred because of all of their original leaders’ death. They’re all dead. The new group is less radical and much more reasonable. Yet if during this period of time no deal is made, we have our eyes on key targets. If there is no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously. We have not hit their oil, even though that’s the easiest target of all, because it would not give them even a small chance of survival or rebuilding. But we could hit it and it would be gone. And there’s not a thing they could do about it.”

While Trump’s comments weren’t exactly new—given that he had reiterated some of his points in recent weeks—the most striking line was his threat to bomb Iran to the “Stone Ages.” Iranians across the political spectrum expressed widespread dismay online. Beyond a violation of international humanitarian law, which the Islamic Republic itself has committed, the strategic cost is significant: Iran has one of the most pro-American populations in the world, and targeting their ability to live would turn public opinion sharply against the United States.

Prominent historian Abbas Milani, who is the founding director of the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University, wrote:

“Bombing Iran ‘back to the Stone Age’ does not help the Iranian people or beget ‘regime change.’ People want a secular democracy where they can chose their rulers and their future. It is the regime that is hell bent to keep its murderous hold on power even in a ‘Stone Age’ Iran.” (X)

And in case you’re wondering, here’s how one Iranian embassy account responded to Trump:

There was some commentary noting that Iranians have existed since the time of Cyrus the Great, while the West was still in its “caveman” era. (X)

Less than a day later, the B1 highway bridge—reportedly the tallest in the Middle East and inaugurated earlier this year—was destroyed in airstrikes (Fox News/X). Iranian state media said the bridge, which connected the capital city Tehran to the neighboring city of Karaj, was struck twice, resulting in civilian casualties.

Trump wrote on Truth Social:

“The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again—Much more to follow! IT IS TIME FOR IRAN TO MAKE A DEAL BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE, AND THERE IS NOTHING LEFT OF WHAT STILL COULD BECOME A GREAT COUNTRY! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

Reporting by Iranian state media and accounts from ordinary Iranians “indicate mounting attacks on civilian infrastructure, including homes, factories and electricity facilities.” (Bloomberg) Among the sites hit this week were Tofigh Daru, a major pharmaceutical company owned by Iran’s largest pension fund, and Tehran’s historic Pasteur Institute, the oldest public health and vaccine production center in the Middle East (New York Times/Al-Monitor). The Israeli military alleged that both sites had dual-use functions.

Trump may believe that targeting civilian infrastructure will force Tehran to capitulate, but the Islamic Republic is only going to double down. According to multiple US intelligence agencies, the clerical establishment “believes it is in a strong position in the war and does not have to accede to America’s diplomatic demands… And while Iran is willing to keep channels open… it does not trust the United States and does not think President Trump is serious about negotiations.” (New York Times)

This may come as a surprise, but after five weeks of war, US intelligence assessments claim that Iran still possesses thousands of one-way attack drones, and roughly half of its ballistic missile launchers remain intact (CNN). That said, these figures may include systems that are inaccessible, such as those buried by airstrikes.

As the war drags on, conditions on the ground continue to worsen across multiple fronts. Since the conflict began, at least 1,606 Iranian civilians have been killed, including more than 244 children, with hundreds more cases still under review, according to the group Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA). Among the dead was a 79-year-old protester who had joined the January anti-regime uprising with his walker and was beaten by security forces (X). He was killed in an airstrike.

Security forces have carried out more than 1,500 arrests since the war began, targeting ordinary citizens, activists, ethnic and religious minorities, and even the families of activists abroad (CHRI). The actual number may be far higher, as many cases go unreported. Executions are also on the rise: at least four dissidents have been put to death, including 18-year-old protester Amirhossein Hatami from the January uprising (RFERL/Reuters/IHRNGO). At least seven others face imminent risk of execution (Amnesty International).

Meanwhile, prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has been arrested, and electronic devices belonging to her and her husband have been confiscated. Notably, Sotoudeh had been among those inside Iran calling for Responsibility to Protect (R2P) following the January massacre, but opposed unilateral US intervention. Also, Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi may have suffered a heart attack in prison and was reportedly denied both hospital transfer and access to her cardiologist (AP/Narges Foundation).

Yet even as the Islamic Republic tightens its grip, the mood on the ground toward the war is anything but straightforward.

Teacher and union activist Mohammad Habibi wrote on March 31:

“Before I get cut off, I’ll keep it short: I’ve always been against war and still am. War brings nothing but destruction and the entrenchment of authoritarianism. But on [March 19th], one day before Nowruz, they raided our home, tore the whole place apart, and took every communication device we had. With great difficulty, we managed to get two phones on the eve of the New Year. Despite all this I still say: #NoToWar” (X)

In a CNN interview, Iran-based photojournalist Yalda Moaiery managed to get online—perhaps via Starlink—and described the war as “terrible.” Yet she added:

“People are supporting the war… people want the war to be continued because they tried many peaceful ways to change this regime and they couldn’t do anything. So they hope that this time something happens to them—the regime will fall with this war. I don’t think so. I don’t see any evidence.”

I leave you with this beautiful read on the complexities of war from an anonymous writer in Tehran.

“…as an ordinary citizen, I wish I did not have to know the difference between a B-2 plane and an F-35..? What purpose does it serve me to know why a heavy-water reactor is considered a highly sensitive target for attacks, what the functions of the UN Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency are..? Why do I need to learn how to circumvent various types of Internet filtering, only to find myself, especially during emergencies, behind the virtual walls of a blackout? I wish we could have spent our entire youth simply enjoying literature and the arts, history and philosophy. I wish we could have drowned ourselves in Persian poetry, from the 52,000 verses of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh to the three thousand passionate ghazals left to us by Mowlana Rumi.” (New York Review)

More soon,

Holly

P.S. Feel free to follow me on X for real-time updates and on LinkedIn, where I’ve been sharing additional interviews and commentary.

Also, if you have time, please consider signing up for an upcoming virtual panel I’ve organized at the Washington Institute, “IN THE DARK AND IN DANGER: Iran’s Internet Shutdown and Wartime Repression” on April 10. I’ll be joined by human rights advocate and actress Nazanin Boniadi, Roya Boroumand of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, and Mahsa Alimardani of WITNESS.