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How foreign influence hijacks American minds — and turns us against ourselves

When Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed under American and Israeli bombardment last month, a few dozen activists gathered in New York to mourn him.

Cameras outnumbered candles — yet the moment generated nearly 19 million views on X and led broadcasts on CBS, ABC and Fox News.

The gap between who showed up and who was watching is the whole story.

It was far from organic; it was engineered.

The Network Contagion Research Institute spent months mapping the pipeline behind moments like this.

At its center is Press TV, an Iranian state broadcaster under US Treasury sanctions.

Ex-Trump counterterror honcho Joe Kent promotes disturbing Iranian propaganda claiming US tried to kill stranded soldier

Iran’s president sends propaganda letter addressed to Americans, claiming nation is not a threat to them

CNN accused of peddling ‘pro-Iran regime propaganda’ for report on ‘calm’ scenes in Tehran

Records show Press TV contacted two American activist groups — the United National Antiwar Coalition and the Workers World Party — more than 260 times over three years, with messages spiking reliably before major protests.

The Khamenei vigil was not a spontaneous expression of American sentiment, but a manufactured media event.

This network doesn’t operate like traditional propaganda — it functions more like a switchboard.

Small, fringe events are routed through aligned activists, picked up by state-linked media, then amplified across Western platforms, making them appear far larger and........

© New York Post