Dublin, April 12 (NationPress) An investigation commissioned by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue has uncovered an Iranian information campaign purportedly aimed at Ireland. This analysis identified several impersonated social media profiles associated with Iran, Russia, and China that were disseminating content related to Ireland.

According to Ciaran O'Connor, a researcher and journalist with The Irish Times, these accounts could be linked to Storm-2035, an undercover influence initiative connected to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The geographical data from the accounts indicated that they were being operated from within Iran.

Additionally, the findings revealed that AI technologies, such as Chat GPT, were employed to generate content that criticized the US and Israel while expressing support for Iran and Palestine.

O'Connor noted that in recent years, various public figures from the UK and North America have increasingly focused their scrutiny on Ireland.

"They manipulate events in Ireland with misleading and alarmist portrayals to further their own objectives, targeting our public institutions and misrepresenting Ireland as a repressive police state," he stated in The Irish Times.

However, he remarked that the extent of involvement by foreign state-supported entities in targeting Ireland remains largely unexplored in our digital age.

Elaborating on their findings, O'Connor revealed that last year, four Twitter accounts impersonating Irish citizens were identified.

He emphasized that there was no evidence to support the authenticity of these accounts.

Furthermore, the operators of these accounts claimed to be recent converts to Islam and all expressed a desire for a united Ireland.

Supporting O'Connor's assertions, the research indicated that all accounts predominantly posted about the late IRGC Major General Qasem Soleimani in the lead-up to the sixth anniversary of his death.

"Within five days, all four accounts shared nearly identical messages celebrating Soleimani. Similarly, in June 2025, they posted commemorative messages about the then Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei," the journalist noted.

O'Connor pointed out that the Russian-linked activity was "widely dispersed".

He mentioned that a distribution network in Russia assists in laundering content from state media, frequently sanctioned by the European Union (EU).

"This content circulates through associated outlets and websites masquerading as credible news sources, which are not subject to sanctions," he explained.

"Moreover, the analysis uncovered that migration in Ireland was utilized by various state-backed and aligned entities to promote narratives about the vulnerability of Western governments, alleged erosion of sovereignty within the EU, and the 'failure of liberal democratic institutions,'" O'Connor added in The Irish Times.

The research also identified intriguing activity linked to China.

It discovered a Facebook page named 'CGTN Gaeilge' that was labeled as "China state-controlled media," suggesting it was operated by the state-run media outlet China Global Television Network (CGTN).

According to O'Connor's report, prior to July 2025, this page was known as CGTN Malagasy, allegedly used to connect to CGTN reports about Madagascar. Last summer, it was rebranded as CGTN Gaeilge.

The Irish Times reported that after the renaming, "it started publishing content in English and Irish about China and Ireland, often using language that seems to be machine-translated."