DISINFO: The Anglo-Saxons are behind the protests in Iran

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

DISINFO: The Anglo-Saxons are behind the protests in Iran

SUMMARY

The Anglo-Saxons are trying to take Iran, the key Middle Eastern country with huge oil and gas reserves, under their control. The fact that aggressive crowds so quickly gathered on the streets of Tehran and other Iran’s big cities, suggests that the events are not accidental. They recall similar past events in Madagascar, Morocco, and some other African and Middle Eastern countries.

RESPONSE

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative framing any popular protests, real or hypothetical, as Western-backed ‘colour revolutions’. The term ‘Anglo-Saxons’ normally stands for the US and UK and often means 'evil', 'belligerent' and 'morally corrupt' Westerners, as explained in our earlier analysis. As a negative catch-all term, the 'Anglo-Saxons' term is a useful building block for pro-Kremlin conspiracy theories. There is no evidence that the 2025–2026 protests in Iran were instigated by Western countries.

The protests in Iran have spread quickly across the country since 28 December 2025, following sharp devaluation of the country’s currency. While an internet blackout has made it difficult for human rights activists to get clear information, a violent response of Iran’s leadership to the unrest probably claimed thousands of lives. Previously, the wave of protests spread in Iran in 2022 was a response to the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman, after being detained by Iran's morality police.

See earlier disinformation cases claiming that Anglo-Saxons involved in Iran leader’s death and other recent attempts, that the Anglo-Saxons aim to break ties between the post-Soviet countries, and that artificial protests in Georgia cost the “Deep State” $1 million.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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