I think you're right—there’s a strange blind spot in mainstream media, even when spotting patterns should be their job.
I’ve followed the situation in Iran since "Women, Life, Freedom" started trending. I've also talked with Iranian women running street stands, and I still track updates on Threads, Bluesky, and YouTube.
From what I’ve seen, a lot of the people who seem authentically Iranian are openly supportive of the Israeli military operation. I’ve see memes showing Israeli and Persian lions shaking hands, or Persian lions cutting the Islamic symbol out of the Iranian flag.
I can’t say for sure whether it’s grassroots or bots—but someone is definitely posting lots of it.
So, either Israel is pushing this narrative really hard, or there’s a genuine groundswell among Iranians who’ve seen something in that codename and decided run with it.
My bet? A mix of both.
