An anonymous India-based X account posted an unverified claim about Iran’s nuclear programme on the morning of August 5, saying Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi would not abandon efforts to obtain nuclear weapons while Israel and the United States possessed them. The post included Vahidi’s photograph and an AI-generated mushroom-cloud image. No evidence showed that Vahidi made the statement or that Iran had built nuclear weapons.

According to The New York Times’ fact-checking, the claim originated from an Indian X account with about 175,000 followers. Within two hours, another Indian account with about 82,000 followers published a Hindi translation. Israeli accounts then amplified it, followed by Channel 14, Yair Netanyahu, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, Senator Rick Scott and Fox News.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei rejected the viral post as a rumour against the Islamic Republic and blamed Israel without providing evidence. Later, questions arose over the claim’s authenticity, and Waltz’s X post was removed without explanation. The episode showed how a fabricated quotation from an anonymous account could cross borders and languages and influence senior political statements before verification.