Iranian State Media Accuses Activist "Vahid Online" of Mossad Ties and Missile Target Link; He Denies All from Maryland

IRGC-affiliated Fars and Tasnim news agencies, Mehr news agency (affiliated with the Islamic Propagation Organization), and other Islamic Republic sources alleged that Iranian activist Vahid Online was hacked and that his connections to Mossad had been exposed. They further claimed he was connected to a location struck by a missile attack on March 17. Vahid Online denied all the claims in a post from his home in Maryland, USA: "I don't know where they attacked, but I am just an ordinary citizen with no connections anywhere. I do everything by myself and I am at home in Maryland, USA, and no one has hacked me and nothing else has happened to me." He added that Iranian authorities had known his registered identity for years and had finally decided to expose it to fabricate a narrative and intimidate people. He noted that some personal details in his leaked ID — such as his stated birthplace of Babol — were inaccurate due to family tradition, and his birth date was also incorrectly registered. He dismissed an AI-generated image of him as bearing no resemblance to him. He also denied alleged collaboration with a website called Kalame, calling all such claims "nonsense." He reassured followers that his brief absence was due to lack of time, not any incident.