Iran International
Iran was behind the anti-Israel protests on at least one Canadian university in an attempt to undermine Western support for Israel and fuel divisiveness on Canadian soil, sources combating digital disinformation told Iran International.
Cyber security company XPOZ, through the use of a large-scale analysis of factual evidence and data that’s collected on social networks, came to the conclusion that Iran was behind the campus protests at McGill university in Montreal.
Analysts working for the American cyber company, which monitors social media, use AI technology to unmask the networks and campaigns behind “inauthentic” users interacting on a large scale.
They dug deeper into inauthentic accounts, which could be defined as either bots or fake users managed by a foreign power, operating in a highly coordinated matter on social platforms. They said the coordination aspect is key because that’s how social media algorithms work to push a certain narrative. The analysts also used technology to investigate the content such users post.
What they found was that there was a high-percentage of inauthentic accounts primarily written in Farsi, coming from Iranians inside Iran linked to the regime and IRGC, fueling the campus protests at McGill. Analysts told Iran International they are confident based on analysis of which group inauthentic users belong to and the type of narrative they are producing over time within those groups.
XPOZ analysts, came up with their results after one month by identifying the language used in the posts, where it was coming from, and how much of it was coordinated among inauthentic accounts linking back to Iran.
Iran International is not identifying the XPOZ analysts by name for security reasons.
“The primary takeaway is that there is a massive activity, funded, coordinated and organized by a foreign government that is influencing Canadians in Canada and driving incitement to violence and real-world activity,” said one of the XPOZ analysts.
Their analysis of the alleged coordinated activity at McGill reveals 60 percent of Pro-Palestine campus protestors were not authentic online users. The data indicates the presence of coordinated Farsi-speaking accounts, suggesting a targeted campaign. By comparison, 75% of commentators critical of the encampment were authentic.
The data drew on nearly 150,000 posts on X, over 500,000 likes and more than 65,000 comments. The analysts emphasized that their data does not identify whether the Pro-Palestine protesters are aware or unaware of Iran’s alleged role and may be acting in good faith.
The analysts revealed to Iran International that the network driving the McGill protests had been promoting narratives supporting the IRGC and the government of Iran while proliferating rhetoric against Israel and US.
“When you look at something that is happening in Montreal, Canada, you expect most of the users to be writing in English or French. Or you would expect most of them to be primarily engaging in other posts in English or French. It’s natural to see other languages but up to a certain point. What we saw here were users that were primarily writing in Farsi or that their followers were writing in Farsi.”
They added the users were not Iranians living in Canada and not regular citizens in Iran but rather tied to the Islamic Republic.
“In addition to their history of what they were writing and what they were engaging with, we also see that they're highly intertwined with one another in the sense that they're following one another,” which the analysts said indicated coordination.
“They share a very abnormally high proportion of followers amongst one another,” said another XPOZ analyst.
Foreign interference and national security
XPOZ analysts said their data demonstrate that Canada is subject to the use of deceptive mass influence campaigns coordinated by foreign governments, like Iran, to target Canadian society through proxies to deepen divides and threaten national security.
In June, Canada named Iran as one of the top four countries, along with China, Russia and North Korea, that engage in extensive campaigns to compromise government and private sector computer systems.
"Foreign interference, enabled by sophisticated cyber tools, poses one of the most serious threats to Canada’s national security, economic prosperity and sovereignty, as well as our way of life," the statement read.
In its annual report released in May, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) highlighted the cyber-attacks by the Islamic Republic that target Canada.
A foreign interference report also in May concluded that Iran, China, Russia, India, Pakistan, are key threats against Canada.
Iran International’s exclusive report comes on the heels of US intelligence report that Iran is funding and emboldening anti-Israel protests in the US to sow discord.
US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said on July 9 that Iran harnessed social media to warp domestic debates and create more division. She issued an official statement warning that the Islamic Republic of Iran was boosting anti-Israel protests online.
Neil Oberman, a Canadian lawyer who recently represented students who filed an injunction against the McGill encampment, said the XPOZ data suggesting Iran’s role in the protests proves “foreign interference.”
“In Canada we do not tolerate and should not tolerate foreign countries interfering, meddling, creating disruption for the purposes of basically trying to influence young students who are the future of our country, from not being able to study, not being able to interact, and more importantly, not being able to be safe on their own campus,” he said.
Sources with XPOZ released the data to Oberman, who became the face of injunctions against the encampments in Canada.
Oberman said the students he represented were subject to aggression and hate on campus. The court had rejected his application, but he believes the outcome would have been different if he had the XPOZ documentation.
“Do I think for a moment that the courts would have known that evidence existed to establish that a foreign country with very evil intentions was attempting to influence good Canadians and Quebeckers so that they could fight with each other to have an encampment, I think the outcome might have been different, and I would even beg to say maybe McGill might have acted differently,” he added.
In July, McGill's campus security dismantled the school's encampment.
Oberman said he’s bound by lawyer-client privileges and can’t discuss litigation but hinted that he will be using the evidence for a future legal proceeding.
“Evidence that does exist will be used. The form of its usage would probably be in the form of a legal proceeding.”
For Oberman, this is not an issue of antisemitism or the Jewish and Iranian communities but rather about Canada and the safety of all Canadians.
These events come at a time of rising fears of a full-scale regional war, with escalating tensions between Israel and Iran's proxies in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. This escalation coincides with a coordinated and forceful American move in Iraq.
The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, one of Hamas' most prominent leaders, in Tehran was the most spectacular of such attacks. Haniyeh, who was leading the political operations of the movement while living abroad, was the second leader of an Iran-backed armed group to be killed in less than 24 hours.
Hamas accused Israel of carrying out the attack after Haniyeh attended the inauguration of the new Iranian president. The assassination comes at a critical time, coinciding with escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah and rising fears of a wider regional war.
In the same context, Israel carried out an attack in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Tuesday resulting in the death of Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah’s top military commander, accused of carrying out a deadly attack in the occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 children.
The Israeli retaliation against Fuad Shukr, the second-in-command in Hezbollah and one of Hassan Nasrallah's top advisors, known as “Hajj Mohsen,” eliminated a prominent military figure in Hezbollah, with a $5 million bounty placed on him by Washington.
He was often described as the “Qasem Soleimani of Hezbollah” due to his significant role in planning and executing Hezbollah’s military operations, making his death a significant loss for the terror group.
The latest escalation is the most serious since the clashes between Hezbollah and Israel began last October following the outbreak of the Gaza war, sparked by the Iran-backed Hamas invasion of Israel. Hezbollah has since launched over 6,400 projectiles towards Israel in support of Hamas in Gaza.
Although Israel has not commented on Haniyeh’s death, it has previously called him “a dead man walking” and amid sensitive hostage negotiations, had to agree not to assassinate him in Doha, one of his foreign bases.
Haniyeh was the point contact for the negotiations moderated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to release 114 Israeli hostages still held in Gaza after Hamas took 250 or more captive on October 7. Questions now linger as to who will take his place.
The double assassination comes at a time when Israel faces multiple challenges on several fronts, including Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen, Iran’s proxies acting in allegiance with Hamas in Gaza.
By attacking Haniyeh in Tehran, Israel aims to send a direct and clear message to the Iranian regime, led by Ali Khamenei, indicating that Israel can reach its targets whenever and wherever it wants.
Israel’s decision, seen as a move to strengthen deterrence against the Tehran axis, also included targeting Ismail Haniyeh on the day of the new Iranian president's inauguration, a carefully timed move to deliver a precise political and security message.
Simultaneously and possibly not by coincidence, the United States carried out a defensive airstrike in Iraq this week on a base south of Baghdad which resulted in the death of four and injury of four members of the Iran-backed Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces.
While the Popular Mobilization Forces did not directly accuse anyone, the United States indicated that the strike targeted militants planning drone attacks threatening US and coalition forces. Since October 7, over 200 attacks by Iranian proxies have targeted US troops across the region with multiple deaths and scores of injuries.
A spokesman for the Iraqi armed forces condemned the attack, calling it an "atrocious crime" that could undermine joint efforts to combat ISIS. These developments come at a sensitive time for Iraq, which is experiencing increased reciprocal attacks between armed factions since the war between Israel and Hamas.
With 2,500 American troops in Iraq, the US-led coalition is expected to begin withdrawing in September, with some forces possibly remaining in an advisory capacity until 2025.
The recent assassinations of prominent leaders in Hamas and Hezbollah indicate a new Israeli strategy that relies on preemptive and direct strikes to enhance deterrence and send clear messages to Tehran and its allies. This escalation occurs amid broad geopolitical shifts, with both the United States and Israel aiming to reduce Iran's influence in the Middle East.
In Iraq, the American attack on Popular Mobilization Forces reflects growing tensions between Washington and Iran's proxies, showcasing US readiness to take strong measures against threats to its forces. These strikes come at a time when Iraq is experiencing political and security turmoil, further complicating the situation and placing the Iraqi government in a difficult position between maintaining its relationship with Washington and containing internal anger from Iran-backed armed factions.