From Tom and Jerry digs at US to ‘trees older than Israel’: Iran's embassies fire memes as missiles on online warfront | World News

As Iranian missiles continue to streak across the Strait of Hormuz, and US bombers pound targets around Tehran, a different kind of warfare has been playing out on the timelines of Iran's official embassies.Since the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran on February 28, Iran’s diplomatic missions — ranging from South Africa’s Pretoria to Kabul in Afghanistan to the consulate in India’s Hyderabad — have weaponised dark humour, viral memes, and pop-culture references.On Monday, when US President Donald Trump claimed he’s held talks over two days with Iran towards ending the hostilities, Iran’s embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, was among the first to respond. It mocked Trump.Also read | Donald Trump hits pause after 3 weeks of 'winning' claims against Iran, gets mocked: What his many ‘Truths’ revealIn a caustic response titled “Trump's Retreat After Iran's Firm Warning”. The embassy’s X handle posted in Farsi: "After the Islamic Republic threatened that in the event of any US attack on Iran's energy infrastructure, it would target the energy infrastructure of the entire region, Trump backed down and stated that he had issued an order to postpone the attack.” Trump had earlier said the US would target Iran’s energy infrastructure if it did not reopen the global oil route Strait of Hormuz.The Kabul embassy was only following the tone and tenor of other Iranian diplomatic missions.The Iranian consulate in India’s Hyderabad shared a video from state TV that denied that talks were being held at all. “Yes, HE IS LYING, #OperationEpicFail. Informed sources in the highest authorities informed that Trump's false claim about talks with Iran is to evade his recent threat about attacking #Iran's electrical infrastructure,” it said.Also read | ‘Restrain the Israelis first’: Joe Kent, who quit as Trump's aide, on US President's climbdown on Iran warNot-so-straight takes on Strait of HormuzOn the subject of the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, last week posted an image on X and Instagram showing the waterway filled with coffins draped in the American flag. The caption said: “The only American thing that can pass through the Strait of Hormuz.” A community organisation called SA Jewish Report flagged the post and said it’s "not a mistranslation or a clumsy attempt at satire — it's a deliberate fantasy about Americans entering a vital shipping lane only as corpses”. There was no formal response from South Africa, which has been among Iran's most vocal supporters. The African National Congress (ANC) government has maintained ties with Iran through the war. South Africa had also filed the genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.Thai crew meme that backfiredThe coffin post was not this Iranian embassy's first controversial dig at the US. On March 13, the mission's official account on X shared an image of a Thai crewman in a rescue boat, with smoke visible from the stern of the Thai-flagged bulk carrier Mayuree Naree behind him, and the caption: "When you crash the car and are too scared to go home because of your dad… Strait of Hormuz." This vessel had been struck by Iranian missiles on March 11, when 20 of its Thai crew members were rescued by the Omani navy after abandoning ship in a lifeboat.The remark quickly drew anger from many Thai social media users, who saw it as mocking people caught up in a deadly attack. Thailand's government summoned the Iranian ambassador too. The Pretoria Iranian mission then deleted this post. It issued a clarification on X that said the post had not been intended to insult Thai people. "The message was clear: do not pass through the Strait of Hormuz without coordinating with us," the embassy said. Attack on Zelensky too: ‘Clowns and fools’However, the Iranian embassy in South Africa also reacted with a stern comment when Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky made an X post wishing the people of Iran on Nowruz, the Iranian New Year.Zelensky wrote in Farsi: “Ukraine wishes the people of Iran true freedom and security. By ridding itself of this horrific terrorist regime, Iran can become a peaceful and prosperous society, as it once was… Ukrainians remember that the current regime in Tehran is an accomplice of Russia. These two criminal regimes are brothers in their villainy and beliefs, so life must certainly prevail.”To this, the Iranian official handle said, “Oh God, on this blessed day, free the people of Ukraine and America from clowns and fools.”On Monday, March 23, the handle even re-shared an X post that used a Tom and Jerry meme to mock the Americans’ inability so far to have the Strait of Hormuz reopened by force. Iran’s India mission fires salvo at IsraelThe Hyderabad Iranian consulate also reacted with scorn when Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran must be “wiped out” because they are "attacking Israeli civilians". It claimed that trees in the consulate’s compound were probably older than the “entity”, a reference to Israel which Iran terms a Zionist and racist project and not a country.