A comment by the Commander in Chief of Iran’s IRGC, Ahmad Vahidi, on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear weapons programme was picked up by Israel’s Channel 14, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and even American broadcaster Fox Information. It was additionally shared by the American envoy to the UN. The issue? IRGC’s Vahidi did not make these remarks on the nation’s nuclear weapons. The supply of the pretend information that travelled the world has now been traced to a verified X deal with based mostly in India. And Ritika is now on the centre of the storm, which provides a glimpse into how a quotation loop helps pretend information attain unimaginable proportions.
Not simply international media, the pretend information that has roots in India travelled the world to return house inside a span of 16 hours. We’ll get into that later. However allow us to first see how a sitting Prime Minister of a pleasant nation and international media shops grew to become victims of a pretend submit from an India-based deal with.
In keeping with an investigation performed by the Israel-based information outlet, Ynet Information, PM Netanyahu on August 5 repeated an alleged quote by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) chief Ahmad Vahidi, in an official handle to warn Israelis about Iran’s nuclear plans.
That being stated, Vahidi has kind of stayed beneath the radar ever since his appointment because the IRGC chief. In truth, his final public look was on July 3 throughout former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s funeral. That was additionally the final time he had made a public assertion.
So the place did Netanyahu, PM of a rustic boasting one of many world’s most formidable intelligence businesses, like Mossad, get Vahidi’s assertion from? In keeping with Ynet information, the supply is a tweet made by an India-based X account.
RITIKA FROM INDIA COOKS UP A VAHIDI QUOTE, WORLD FEASTS ON IT
The story begins from a tweet made by an India-based verified X deal with @Im_Ritikaa with the show title ‘Ritikaa’. Israel’s Ynet described the account as a “very pro-Israeli”, Hindu nationalist account.
In keeping with the “About this account”, the X deal with was created in November 2021, is predicated in India, and is accessed by way of the X Android app.
It has been X Verified since December 2025 and has modified its username 4 instances, with the final username change recorded in September 2022. Frequent title adjustments are a pink flag.
The submit by Ritikaa, whoever that particular person may me, carried a gif with Vahidi within the foreground and explosions within the background.
Extra importantly, it additionally carried a quote in Hindi attributed to the IRGC Supreme Commander, studying, “There shall be no dialogue over enriched uranium or nuclear weapons. So long as the US and Israel possess nuclear weapons, we’ll proceed engaged on them for our nationwide safety. In the event that they disarm, we’ll disarm.”
Consider, not a single Iranian determine has ever admitted to growing nuclear weapons. In truth, the now deceased Supreme Chief, Ali Khamenei, described the event and possession of nuclear weapons as religiously forbidden.
As such, any admission by a person of Vahidi’s rank could be a large departure for Iran. It could have made international headlines. It could have come from Iran’s a number of information businesses or worldwide media shops. Nevertheless it got here from Ritika.
HOW RITIKAA’S FABRICATED VAHIDI QUOTE WENT TO ISRAEL
Ritika’s submit, which was made at 9.14 am on August 5, would usually have drowned within the every day flood of disinformation that flows by means of the web daily, besides that it did not.
At 13.49 pm, an account calling itself, Mossad Commentary, which proudly flaunts itself because the unofficial social media web page of Jerusalem’s premier intelligence company, Mossad, dedicated one thing most unintelligent. It used the quote attributed to Normal Vahidi by Ritika, and made its personal submit.
The Mossad Commentary submit reads, “THERE WILL BE NO FINAL DEAL. THE SOONER WE UNDERSTAND THAT, THE BETTER. IRGC chief Ahmad Vahidi has once more made Iran’s place clear: There shall be no dialogue over enriched uranium or nuclear weapons. So long as america and Israel possess nuclear weapons, we’ll proceed engaged on them for our nationwide safety. In the event that they disarm, we’ll disarm. The regime just isn’t making ready to desert its nuclear ambitions. It’s shopping for time. There shall be no deal.”
Word, Mossad Commentary, although verified on X, just isn’t an official Mossad account. The Related Press (AP) beforehand investigated the account and reported that it impersonates Israel’s intelligence company. The Israeli navy additionally instructed AP that Mossad Commentary was “clearly not an official account”.
In any case, the deal with amplified the pretend information by Ritika, which might find yourself in Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech.
ISRAELI NEWS CHANNEL, NETANYAHU SON AMPLIFIES FAKE VAHIDI QUOTE
Dangerous sufficient, an account masquerading as Mossad had posted an abject pretend quote. Now, it might be picked up and given, within the phrases of Ynet, a “kosher certificates” by a information channel.
YNet Information and the Center East Eye reported that at 2:22 pm, lower than an hour after Mossad Commentary posted, Israel’s Channel 14 repeated the alleged Vahidi quote, describing it as the primary direct admission by an Iranian official that Tehran was growing a nuclear bomb. It didn’t present a major supply for the citation.
Channel 14 Information is broadly regarded in Israel as a mouthpiece for Netanyahu and his far-right authorities. Center East Eye stated {that a} current report discovered that the Israeli authorities had purchased thousands and thousands of shekels price of economic airtime from Channel 14 lately.
However Channel 14 airing it was not the tip of the story. At 2.49 pm, Ynet reported that Yair Netanyahu, the prime minister’s eldest son, reposted content material from the 2 Israeli accounts to his close to 300,000 followers on X.
Yair Netanyahu is likely one of the most influential figures within the PM’s inside circle, with quite a few experiences indicating that he and his mom, Sara Netanyahu, are closely concerned within the PM’s decision-making. Netanyahu’s eldest son is understood for selling far-right politics and false info by means of his social media accounts, with a lot of Netanyahu’s Likud celebration members searching for his approval, reported the Center East Eye.
RITIKA’S QUOTE ENDS UP IN BENJAMIN NETANYAHU’S SPEECH
To this point, the quote dreamt up by Ritika had solely been circulating in a number of social media accounts, a information outlet pleasant to the present regime in Jerusalem, and sadly amplified by the PM’s eldest son.
Then, PM Benjamin Netanyahu dropped the proverbial bomb.
In keeping with the YNet report, at 5.02 pm, at a state ceremony held on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, Netanyahu was quoted as saying, “As we speak we heard that the Commander of the IRGC, Vahidi, explicitly said the Islamic Republic’s intention to proceed growing nuclear weapons, as he himself stated ‘persevering with’.”
He went on so as to add, “Effectively, as Prime Minister of Israel, I’m decided to proceed. Decided to forestall the Islamic Republic from buying nuclear weapons.”
FOX NEWS GETS FOXED BY RITIKA’S IRAN N-BOMB
Then the proverbial floodgates opened. After PM Netanyahu made his assertion, many within the US additionally jumped on the bandwagon.
In keeping with Ynet, at 5.35 pm, Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the United Nations, reposted the Channel 14 report earlier than later deleting it. US conservative commentator Mark Levin additionally reposted it.
Fox Information later reported at 10.01 pm that Normal Ahmd Vahidi had declared Iran would proceed engaged on nuclear weapons so long as the US and Israel possessed them. The outlet subsequently clarified its report, saying the remarks “had been beforehand taken out of context and amplified as feedback made this week”.
The alleged quote continued to flow into in Israeli media, with journalists near Netanyahu, together with Yaakov Bardugo and Avishay Ben Haim, repeating the prime minister’s warning on Israeli tv, Ynet reported.
The Israeli international ministry’s Persian-language official account on X additionally posted Netanyahu’s remarks about Vahidi.
In the meantime, in a traditional quotation loop, the X account Mossad Commentary, which had initially introduced Ritika’s fabricated Vahidi quote to the eye of Israeli audiences, modified tack at 8:56 pm, claiming in a separate submit that Channel 14 was its supply. In actuality, Channel 14 had obtained the quote from Mossad Commentary.
RITIKA’S CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST IN INDIA
In keeping with Ynet information, 15 and a half hours after Ritika from India had made a submit containing a fabricated quote, attributed to the IRGC’s Supreme Commander in Chief, the hen returned house to roost.
At 12.45 am, August 6, New Delhi-based information company, Asian Information Worldwide (ANI), additionally reported the story, quoting “Israeli media”.
The information company said in its copy, “Commander-in-Chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Ahmad Vahidi has stated that Iran will proceed engaged on nuclear weapons so long as america and Israel possess them.” It cited its supply as “Israeli media”, though it failed to say any explicit outlet.
In any case, there are however two takeaways. One, at all times confirm no matter info you stumble upon within the huge expanses of the web and social media. And two, Ritika from India, whomsoever that could be, managed to take a number of information shops and a sitting prime minister of a robust nation for fairly a trip.
– Ends
