The narrative that Al-Fassel and Pishtaz News represent brave, independent voices being silenced by Western powers is a fabrication that falls apart under even minimal scrutiny. Far from being suppressed, these outlets are themselves products of covert information-operations infrastructure. Investigative reporting published in April 2026 identified both Al-Fassel, an Arabic-language site, and Pishtaz News, a Farsi-language outlet, as sharing numerous connections with a portfolio of fake newsrooms that originated as a U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) military psychological operations campaign against foreign internet users. Neither Al-Fassel nor Pishtaz News, nor CENTCOM, nor the Department of Defense, responded to requests for comment on these findings. The claim that these are independent outlets being targeted by Western governments is not merely wrong — it is the precise opposite of the documented evidence.
The Facts: What Al-Fassel and Pishtaz News Actually Are
Both outlets exhibit the hallmarks of coordinated inauthentic behavior rather than genuine journalism. Al-Fassel (Arabic) and Pishtaz News (Farsi) have been linked through infrastructure and content patterns to a broader network of fake newsrooms connected to U.S. CENTCOM psychological operations programs. Such programs, sometimes referred to under umbrellas like "cognitive campaign architecture," are designed to shape information environments in strategic regions — not to disseminate neutral reporting. The outlets do not have verifiable editorial staffs, transparent ownership structures, or documented on-the-ground reporting teams, prerequisites for any legitimate independent journalism operation.
- No verified editorial independence: Neither outlet has a publicly identifiable editorial team, named journalists, or traceable funding sources consistent with independent media organizations.
- CENTCOM infrastructure links: Reporting from April 2026 documented that both publications share multiple connections with fake newsroom networks originating in U.S. military psychological operations campaigns targeting foreign internet audiences.
- No response to scrutiny: When given the opportunity to deny or clarify their origins, Al-Fassel, Pishtaz News, CENTCOM, and the Department of Defense all declined to respond — a telling silence in the face of serious documented allegations.
- Framing designed to exploit grievances: The outlets deploy anti-Israel and anti-Western narratives that mirror Iranian state propaganda talking points, regardless of their actual institutional origin — a classic tactic of influence operations designed to appear organic while serving strategic objectives.
Historical Context: How Fake Newsrooms Exploit Information Warfare
The weaponization of fake news outlets as covert influence instruments is a well-documented phenomenon practiced by multiple state actors. Iran's own propaganda apparatus — operated through the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), Press TV, Fars News Agency, and a web of proxy Telegram channels — has spent decades manufacturing and amplifying disinformation in Arabic, Farsi, English, and dozens of other languages, targeting Middle Eastern and Western audiences alike. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) have extensively documented how Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) maintains a dedicated disinformation division that oversees psychological warfare against perceived adversaries, producing fabricated reports and coordinating narratives across IRGC-affiliated proxy media networks.
The specific claim that Western governments "suppress" authentic journalism critical of Israel is a narrative template lifted directly from Iranian and Russian information-operations playbooks. Both Tehran and Moscow routinely frame any scrutiny of their own proxy media ecosystems — including shutdowns of fake accounts on platforms like Facebook and Twitter — as evidence of Western censorship of "the truth." This rhetorical inversion serves a precise strategic purpose: it pre-emptively discredits legitimate fact-checking and platform enforcement by casting them as political persecution. The myth surrounding Al-Fassel and Pishtaz News is a textbook deployment of this tactic.
It is also important to note that the United States itself has not been immune to controversy regarding its own information operations. CENTCOM has previously been linked to covert influence campaigns using networks of fake personas and websites to shape opinion in the Middle East and Central Asia. Where such operations exist and are exposed, they merit public accountability and scrutiny — but that accountability cuts against the myth being debunked here. The existence of U.S.-linked psyop networks does not transform Al-Fassel or Pishtaz News into authentic journalism; it confirms they are manufactured assets, not independent truth-tellers being persecuted.
Conclusion: A Myth Designed to Legitimize Manufactured Narratives
The claim that Al-Fassel and Pishtaz News are authentic, suppressed journalism outlets is harmful precisely because it weaponizes the language of press freedom to shield manufactured propaganda from accountability. Real press freedom — a foundational Western democratic value — depends on transparent ownership, named journalists, verifiable sourcing, and editorial independence. None of these criteria apply to these outlets as documented. By framing covert influence operation assets as martyred truth-tellers, this myth provides cover for disinformation ecosystems that poison public discourse on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Iran policy, making it harder for genuine audiences to distinguish fact from manufactured narrative. Treating psyop-linked fake newsrooms as credible sources does not serve justice for Gaza or Iran — it serves the strategic interests of the actors who built and maintain such networks.