The misinformation in question concerns Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander-in-chief Ahmad Vahidi supposedly claiming that Iran was now intent on building a nuclear weapon.
The New York Times reported on Sunday (August 16, 2026) that a “dubious post” from India had spread around the world to key leaders in the U.S.–Iran conflict, potentially harming ceasefire talks between the two countries.
This post barely had 10,000 views, but other handles on X picked up the quote until it reached Israeli media. After the quote was picked up by a pro-establishment Israeli media outlet, it was picked up by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son, following which Mr. Netanyahu himself mentioned it in a speech made during the reinterment of the remains of Theodor Herzl’s grandparents (Mr. Herzl is cited in Israel’s declaration of independence as “the spiritual father of the Jewish State.) The U.S.’s ambassador to the United Nations in New York, Mike Waltz, also posted a quote of the misinformation on X, but subsequently deleted his post.
“There will be no talk of Enriched Urenium [sic] or nuclear weapons, as long as U.S. & Israel are owning nuclear weapons, we will keep working on it for national security,” the fabricated quotation said.
