Both before and since the U.S.-Israel joint military campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran began on Feb. 28, 2026, NBC has been serving as a mouthpiece for the Islamic Republic’s propaganda machine. In various articles and interviews, NBC left unchecked critical statements made by government leaders of a regime so oppressive and desperate to control the narrative that it blacks out the Internet for its own people.
NBC Journalists Failed to Critique Ridiculous Statement by Iranian President that Khamenei Could Not Lie
On Feb. 26, 2026, Chantal Da Silva, Andrea Mitchell and Natasha Lebedeva authored an article on U.S.-Iran nuclear deal talks: “U.S. and Iran hold new talks as Trump raises pressure for nuclear deal.” In it, the trio reported uncritically a statement by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, that the “Supreme Leader has already said [the Islamic Republic of Iran] will not have nuclear weapons at all; [t]he . . . religious leader of a community cannot lie.”
If the statement were not so dangerous and irresponsible, it would be laughable. The communications diet of now deceased Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei consisted primarily of propaganda, incitement and lies.
For instance, Khamenei posted on social media on Feb. 1, 2026, “We are not the initiators of war. We do not seek to oppress anyone. We do not seek to attack any country.” Meanwhile, it was Iran who funded numerous proxies who absolutely did initiate war, including most recently and famously, Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel that started a two-year war. Iran was also responsible for antisemitic attacks in Australia, funded Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel and terror attacks on Beirut, Argentina, and Bulgaria (suspected), as well as a flight hijacking, the assassination of a Lebanese prime minister, and many more foiled plots. Iran also supplies the Houthis, who not only launched missiles at Israel, but whose attacks on ships in the Red Sea disrupted shipping routes and even sank two Liberian-flagged, Greek-operated cargo ships.
Khamenei also lied about recent protests in Iran being manufactured by CIA and Mossad agents on the ground. His lies were frequently called out with “community notes” on the social media platform X. This occurred three times alone on Feb. 2, 2026.
Another feature of this sedition was that those ringleaders trained by the US and Zionists were given the task of engineered killings. They even attacked the foot soldiers whom they themselves had drawn into the field with their propaganda, striking them from behind.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) February 2, 2026
One opinion piece published by The Jerusalem Post documented multiple lies by Khamenei in December 2024. Khamenei also peddled absurd narratives such as that President Trump “start[ed] the war in Ukraine” and that Iran was victorious in the 12-day war with Israel.
Yet, NBC News left Pezeshkian’s ridiculous assertion on the ayatollah’s “honesty” unchallenged.
On Day One of the U.S.-Israel Military Campaign, NBC Interviewed Propagandist Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi
Likewise, on Feb. 28, just hours into the U.S.-Israeli military action, NBC’s Henry Austin assisted in the Islamic Republic’s disinformation campaign in his article entitled “Iran’s foreign minister says he’s unsure why U.S. attacked during nuclear talks.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi told NBC News he did not know why the U.S. decided to attack the Islamic Republic as talks were “able to address serious questions related to Iran’s nuclear program.” In reality, the Iranians were refusing to make any meaningful concessions.
To borrow a phrase from the Department of War, the Islamic Republic’s disinformation campaign was “force multiplied” when NBC recited, unchallenged, Araghchi’s claims that the Islamic Republic – which forces its school children to chant “Death to America” each morning – had no “hostility against . . . the United States people” and had only built weapons to defend themselves from enemies. In addition to Iran’s death wish for the United States, numerous other justifications for an American attack were simply ignored by NBC, including that the Iranian government allegedly directed one of its operatives to assassinate President Trump before the last election and that the Islamic Republic has been designated by the U.S. as a state sponsor of terrorism for over 40 years.
Austin reported Araghchi’s claim that American forces were attacking Iranian “people in their cities” while Iran was not attacking people – but instead, American bases, installations and facilities in the region. This was a demonstrably false lie, yet NBC made no mention – either to Araghchi or to readers – that Iranian strikes had already hit a luxury hotel and airport in Dubai.
Also on Feb. 28, 2026, at 5:29 p.m. Tehran time during NBC’s interview of Araghchi, the minister was asked – twice – if Ayatollah Khamenei and the Iranian president were still alive after strikes that morning. As it was later revealed Khamenei had been dead for approximately eight hours by the time of the interview, it is now undeniable that Araghchi lied in a stupendous fashion when he said, “As far as I know, they are alive.”
NBC Invites Back Proven Propagandist Araghchi
Given Araghchi’s bold-faced lie about Khamenei being alive, why would NBC News invite him back for another interview? Logic dictates that Araghchi would not appear on a network he believed to be at all hostile.
In a baffling move, NBC News’ Tom Llamas interviewed the foreign minister again on Mar. 5, 2026, a snippet of which Araghchi proudly posted to social media. (Llamas made no mention of Araghchi’s lie about Khamenei in the Feb. 28 interview.)
My interview with NBC
https://t.co/lTWEthQoTU— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) March 5, 2026
In Babak Dehghanpisheh’s write up of the Llamas-Araghchi interview (“Iran is ‘confident’ it could counter a U.S. ground invasion, foreign minister says”), he reported the minister’s statement that Iran had not yet asked for a ceasefire, contradicting reporting by The New York Times.
Dehghanpisheh turned up the volume on the media microphone when he further reported – also unchecked – Araghchi’s demonstrable falsehood regarding the 12-Day War in June 2025 when he said of Iran, “We didn’t ask for a ceasefire even last time. In previous time, it was Israel who asked for a ceasefire. They asked for an unconditional ceasefire after 12 days that we resisted against their aggression.” In fact, two Iranian and three regional sources reported it was Iran who had asked Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman to pressure President Trump to influence Israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire.
Perhaps the most bizarre interaction, contained in the embedded video but not in the write up, was when Llamas served up the Islamic Republic’s narrative that the United States should not have launched an attack. Llamas asked Araghchi to confirm that “Iran cannot reach U.S. soil, the American homeland, with the weapons that [they] have right now” and then asked if there was any other way Americans should be concerned as to whether Iran could attack the “American homeland,” to which Araghchi – probably with fingers crossed behind his back – responded that there would be no reason or need to do that given sufficient American military bases in the region.
But Iran doesn’t need missiles to do serious damage in the “American homeland.” Llamas did not mention Iran’s unsuccessful attempts to assassinate President Trump and exiled Iranian activist Masih Alinejad– both on American soil.
It is unclear what NBC’s motive is to serve as a mouthpiece for leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a country where gays are hanged and by law, women cannot be outside with their hair uncovered. Instead of NBC expressing skepticism towards an oppressive, terror-spreading regime, it has amplified its disinformation and propaganda at a moment when pushback is needed most.
For the Spanish version of this article, see CAMERA Español.