ABNA24 - The viral videos by Iranian creators, say analysts, are high-quality though cheap, and strike at fissures in US politics while rallying a world audience against America’s long history of global wars and abuses.
The animated video rapidly shuttles between a range of people who’ve been victims of the United States government, from Black Americans in chains to survivors of Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison complex.
Then it pans to Iranian soldiers sticking large banners on missiles, as the tempo of the background music picks up. “For the stolen Blacks'', says the first one. “For the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki'', comes up next.
“In memory of victims of Iran Air flight 655'', says another, referring to the passenger aircraft brought down by US missiles in 1988, killing all 290 people on board. “In memory of Rachel Corrie’s freedom struggle” follows, referring to the American activist who was killed by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza in 2003. Victims of US war and abuses in Afghanistan, Vietnam and Iraq – and the “children of Epstein island” – all get similar messages, plastered on missiles that then fire off. The video ends with giant statues of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu collapsing, and a line in bold, white and all caps: ‘ONE VENGEANCE FOR ALL.’
The March 29 video is one of many released by Explosive Media, among several Iran-based groups that have used the Lego figures and blocks that households around the world are familiar with to script a viral social media trend, bolstering Tehran’s narrative amid the war against the US and Israel.
The video depicting the multiple victims of US aggression and domestic crimes has been viewed almost 150,000 times on X. Explosive Media’s YouTube account has more recently been deleted by the Google-owned video-sharing platform.
But the Tehran-based group, which uses bespoke lyrics and rap beats to mock Trump – often using the US president’s own words to accuse him of hypocrisy and of pandering to Israel’s interests rather than America’s – isn’t giving up.
An Explosive Media representative, who requested anonymity, told Al Jazeera that their YouTube channel was shut down on the grounds of promoting violence – and that they are convinced that Lego-like brick animations are not at all violent.
“There was frustration, but no surprise – this story is not new'', he said. “We know well how the West wraps truth in silence and tries to mute every voice that speaks it''.
The videos have ranged from sombre stories reflecting deeply on Shia-Muslim history to upbeat rap-style music videos, all set to motion in Lego-like brick figures and environments.
“LOSER is one of our best creations'', the group’s spokesperson said. It’s how Trump often refers to his opponents. “So we flipped it – and showed that, in the end, he’s the biggest loser of all''.
Other videos use phrases like “Epstein regime”, “Loser’’ and show the US president’s supporters wearing brick red hats with MAGA – Trump’s Make America Great Again movement – on them. They depict Trump’s promises to keep the US out of new wars and help ordinary working-class Americans, then use the president’s own words to accuse him of betraying his commitments and instead prioritising Israeli demands.
Another video was aimed at addressing the Lebanese people, stating that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) will not leave them behind, released after the brutal pounding of the country, where more than 100 bombs were dropped in 10 minutes.
The team making these videos comprises 10 people, all between the ages of 19 and 25.
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