Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated an alleged quote attributed to a senior Iranian commander about Tehran's determination to develop nuclear weapons, even though the statement had no identified primary source and was later traced to an Indian pro-Israel account on X.
An investigation by Israeli news outlet Ynet and New York Times journalist Ronen Bergman found that Netanyahu used the alleged quote, attributed to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) chief Ahmad Vahidi, in an official address to warn Israelis about Iran's nuclear plans. Ynet's investigation traced the source of Netanyahu's remarks to Ritika, an Indian Hindu-nationalist and pro-Israel X account, which posted the alleged quote on 5 August.
Getty Images/AP"There will be no discussion over enriched uranium or nuclear weapons. As long as the United States and Israel possess nuclear weapons, we will continue working on them for our national security. If they disarm, we will disarm," the post attributed to Vahidi said.
According to Ynet, the quote began circulating rapidly after it was posted.
About four and a half hours later, Mossad Commentary, which presents itself as an unofficial account of Israel's intelligence agency on X but has no connection to the Mossad foreign intelligence agency, repeated the claim to its more than 1 million followers.
"THERE WILL BE NO FINAL DEAL. The sooner we understand that, the better," the account said, before citing the alleged remarks by Vahidi. The account added: "The regime is not preparing to abandon its nuclear ambitions. It is buying time. There will be no deal."
Israel's Channel 14 repeated the alleged Vahidi quote, describing it as the first direct admission by an Iranian official that Tehran was developing a nuclear bomb. It did not provide a primary source for the quotation. Channel 14 News is widely regarded in Israel as a mouthpiece for Netanyahu and his far-right government.
A recent report found that the Israeli government had bought millions of shekels worth of commercial airtime from the channel in recent years.
Ynet reported that Yair Netanyahu, the prime minister's eldest son, subsequently reposted content from the two Israeli accounts to his near-300,000 followers on X.
Yair Netanyahu is one of the most influential figures in the Prime Minister's inner circle, with numerous reports indicating that he and his mother, Sara Netanyahu, are heavily involved in the prime minister’s decision-making. Netanyahu's eldest son is known for promoting hardline politics and false information through his social media accounts, with many of Netanyahu's Likud party members seeking his approval.
Netanyahu Picks Up on Statement, Which then Spreads to United States"Today, we heard the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Vahidi, explicitly declare Iran’s intention to continue developing nuclear weapons - ‘continue’, as he put it," Netanyahu said, according to Ynet's investigation.
The alleged quote subsequently spread to the United States.
According to Ynet, Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the United Nations, reposted the Channel 14 report before later deleting it. US conservative commentator Mark Levin also reposted it.
Fox News later reported that Vahidi had said Iran would continue working on nuclear weapons as long as the US and Israel possessed them. The outlet subsequently clarified its report, saying the remarks "were previously taken out of context and amplified as comments made this week".
The alleged quote continued to circulate in Israeli media, with journalists close to Netanyahu, including Yaakov Bardugo and Avishay Ben Haim, repeating the prime minister’s warning on Israeli television, Ynet reported. The Israeli foreign ministry's Persian-language X account also posted Netanyahu's remarks about Vahidi.
About 13 hours after the original post appeared on the Indian X account, Fox News reported on the alleged statement, saying it was "intensifying concerns that Iran is using negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz to postpone concessions on its nuclear program".
Two days later, the outlet clarified that Vahidi's remarks "were previously taken out of context and amplified as comments made this week".
Two hours after Fox's initial report, Asian News International, a major Indian news outlet, repeated the claim, citing Israeli media reports.
Vahidi's alleged quote, Ynet said, served Netanyahu to bolster his claim that Iran seeks to develop a nuclear weapon amid reports suggesting that Netanyahu opposes a deal between the US and Iran.
In June, Netanyahu told Channel 14 News that "as long as I am prime minister, Iran will not have nuclear weapons", adding that he saved Israel from "annihilation" twice by claiming Iran possessed atomic bombs.
While Ynet could not determine whether Netanyahu or his inner circle directed the circulation of Vahidi's alleged quote, the investigation pointed "to a series of familiar markers of disinformation distribution".
It said that Netanyahu had faced similar accusations in the past. In September 2024, Netanyahu’s office allegedly provided the UK-based Jewish Chronicle and Germany-based Bild newspaper with false information claiming that Hamas intended to smuggle Israeli captives through the Rafah area between the Gaza Strip and Egypt to Iran.
Two Netanyahu aides are also under investigation over allegations that classified documents were leaked to influence Israeli public opinion about military operations in Rafah.
Ynet's investigation said recent reports suggested Israeli influence operations had increasingly targeted audiences outside Israel, including in the US, amid growing criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza and Iran from both Democratic and Republican figures.
Last month, Iran's embassy in India also accused Indian media of spreading false information about Iran. "Indian media should not compromise the public trust and its professional credibility by disseminating fake and fabricated news," the embassy said, adding that it expected outlets to "avoid participating in external propaganda efforts".
Tyler Durden Mon, 08/10/2026 - 23:25On August 5, we at Gun Owners of America won our "One Big Beautiful Lawsuit," against the registration requirements of the National Firearms Act at the district level in Texas.
This is definitely one of the biggest wins for gun rights - ever.
🚨BREAKING🚨
In GOA's case, a federal court just stuck down NFA registration for:
❌Suppressors
❌Short-Barreled Rifles
❌Short-Barreled Shotguns
GOA & our allies in Congress eliminated the tax.
The National Firearms Act of 1934 is now UNCONSTITUTIONAL as applied.
We're proud to have fought this fight, but it's not over yet. The Department of Justice still has the opportunity to appeal, and the court stayed its order for seven days to give them time to seek appellate review. Although as of the writing of this article, they have not done so.
Also, the Judge in this case limited protection to members of Gun Owners of America and other named plaintiffs.
We fought for a nationwide injunction, but the Judge did not grant it to us.
So, because of the ruling, we're encouraging everyone who would like protection from the National Firearms Act's registration requirements to become GOA members.
Since 1934, the National Firearms Act has tightly regulated Short Barreled Firearms (rifles, shotguns), Suppressors, Machineguns, Destructive Devices, and "Any Other Weapons" (a catch-all term for other firearms that don't quite fit in the other categories.)
To purchase any of these items, Americans must submit to a lengthy background check process that includes passport photos, fingerprinting, address disclosure, and paying a $200 tax.
That is, until President Trump signed the "One Big Beautiful Bill" on July 4, 2025.
In that legislation, Congress removed the $200 tax on some of these regulated items.
For short barreled firearms, suppressors, and "Any Other Weapons" or AOWs, the tax was reduced to $0, effective January 1, 2026. Machineguns and destructive devices were not included, and still carry the $200 tax. Thanks to the hard work of Gun Owners of America and our allies, this important change was added to the reconciliation bill and passed into law.
And while GOA fought for a complete removal of the registration requirements, the Senate Parliamentarian removed them at the last second, leading us to call for her removal.
We at GOA were furious that at the last second, an unelected bureaucrat removed arguably the most important part of the legislation - the registration of these firearms.
While there was still a massive win for gun rights, it was incomplete.
So, we sued.
The bureaucrats at ATF and DOJ did not want to give up their registry. They fought us tooth and nail in court, arguing that just because the tax was reduced to $0, it doesn't mean that they couldn't register that "tax" as paid, and keep their gun registry intact.
But, thanks to a few cases from the 1930s, the Supreme Court had already ruled on this issue.
SCOTUS ruled in the 1935 case United States v. Constantine that when a tax stops functioning as a genuine revenue-generating measure, it stops functioning as a tax, and courts must evaluate if it is in fact a regulation disguised as a tax.
Which is exactly what a $0 tax on these NFA-regulated items is.
These regulations cannot be justified as "necessary and proper" as the Department of Justice argued in our case. The court also rejected the government's fallback argument that the Commerce Clause could carry the scheme, finding no sign Congress ever invoked it. The entire constitutional foundation - Congress's taxing power, that the National Firearms Act rested upon - was gone, so therefore the registration requirements that went along with the tax went as well.
So, on August 5 - a little over a year since we filed our lawsuit - U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas ruled that the items that had their taxes reduced to $0 were not subject to the registration and regulatory requirements of the National Firearms Act. The consolidated cases are Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF and Jensen v. ATF.
"[T]he Court concludes that the challenged NFA provisions exceed Congress’s Article I enumerated powers and are therefore unconstitutional... [Gun Owners of America is] entitled to a permanent injunction against the challenged NFA provisions." https://t.co/iyr4teQtN9 pic.twitter.com/UZA6waIAqc
— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) August 5, 2026But, the fight doesn't end here. The Department of Justice still can appeal our win. We're prepared to fight this as long as it takes, and we're confident that the law is on our side.
The Department of Justice could also decide not to appeal this ruling and let it take effect nationwide.
GOA members have been contacting their Senators and encouraging them to get Attorney General Todd Blanche to commit to not appeal this decision.
This Department of Justice likes to refer to itself as "the most pro-2A DOJ in history."
Let's make them walk the walk, instead of just talking the talk.
*** Gun Owners of America is the only No Compromise Gun Lobby in Washington DC
Tyler Durden Mon, 08/10/2026 - 22:35