The US and Iran have signed an interim agreement to end the war, but their ideological battles continue in the digital world.
Iran's presence at the 2026 Fifa World Cup has given pro- and anti-regime Iranian football fans a major peg on which to promote their cause using social media and tech.
Minutes before Iran's initial World Cup match against New Zealand on Monday, Explosive Media, the group behind many of the popular pro-Iran AI videos resembling The Lego Movie, released a video portraying Iran's players holding hands with schoolchildren killed in a US attack in March.
A hashtag that included the name of the school struck in the attack in Minab soon started trending globally on X. “With you from the stadium,” read a message accompanying the AI-generated content.
The video received millions of views and hundreds of thousands of shares and comments in less than one hour.
Meanwhile, Iran's state-linked news outlets were quick to publish videos when Iran scored against New Zealand.
In turn, many of Iran's embassies around the world also shared the videos, increasing their reach.
On the opposite side of the ideological battle, Iranian activists outside the country, who were not shy about their disdain for its rulers, worked to push their message out.
Although Fifa barred fans from bringing Iran's pre-Islamic Revolution flag to World Cup matches, activists created a website, IranSync, to skirt the rules.
The web-based app lets fans synchronise their phones to display a digital version of Iran's older monarchist flag.
“IranSync is developed and managed by a group of Iranian activists who volunteer their time and expertise to create tools that amplify the voice of the Iranian people,” one of its creators said in a message to The National.
Despite Fifa's ban on the older monarchist flag, photos and videos showed that some fans still managed to sneak them into the stadium.
IranSync also gives the option to display messages that support and echo the platform of Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last shah. “Turn smartphones into one unified display,” the homepage says.
The site's creator said that because of the popularity of IranSync, he and others decided to create another web portal, IranUp.
“The platform helps co-ordinate large-scale participation on X, enabling supporters of a free Iran to share messages in a synchronised and impactful way during one of the world's biggest media events,” the individual explained.
“The goal is to help the voices of Iranians reach a global audience when international attention is at its peak.”
IranUp's main page provides several pre-written messages touching on anti-regime themes such as democratic leadership, human rights, cultural erasure and regime overthrow.
Links provide users with a quick way to share messages on X, Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook, LinkedIn and even Truth Social.
Social media campaigns aside, Iran's players have been placed at the centre of unprecedented attention given the continuing tension between the US and Iran.
Shortly after Iran's 2-2 draw against New Zealand in Los Angeles on Monday, Fifa president Gianni Infantino visited the Iranian team in the locker room.
A video shared on social media showed the Fifa boss telling them “you are stronger than everything” and that the team were “writing history, the whole world is watching you”.
Although Mr Infantino did not mean that literally, the World Cup is easily one of the most watched sporting events, so his comments carried a significant amount of weight. They were in addition to the hundreds of thousands of comments being exchanged about Iran on social media.
The back-and-forth online messaging battle is set to continue as Iran faces off against Belgium on Sunday.
