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Has Iran ‘hacked’ Epstein files amid tension with US? Here's the truth on viral ‘Trump videos’ claim
Amid US-Iran tensions, viral claims that Iran hacked Epstein files and found videos of Trump with minors stem from misread posts by Khamenei and are false.
Amid the escalating tensions between the United States and Iran, a lot of misinformation is doing the rounds on social media. One such claims that Iran has purportedly hacked the Epstein files and plans to release videos of Trump with minors that were allegedly found in the files. However, the claim is false.
The claims originated with two posts on X by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei where he criticized, Trump, the US and the "Western civilization" in general over the Epstein files row. After that, claims started going viral that Iran purportedly hacked the Epstein files. Some posts also went on to claim that, with the hack, Iran managed to lay their hands on "videos of Trump with minor."
Ht.com can confirm that the claims are false, as Iran has not suggested anything about hacking the Epstein files. There are also no reports that Iran has got its hands on the Epstein files through a hack.
For instance, here is a post on X that claims Iran has videos of Trump with "minor girls." It was viewed and shared millions of times.
YouTube channel MediasTouch, which has over 3 million viewers, also did a video discussing the claim and suggesting that the Epstein files have been hacked by Iran. The video was viewed more than 200,000 times within just an hour of its release.
Here's the video:
Over 3 millions pages of files related to the US Department of Justice's probe into Jeffrey Epstein and his partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, were released in January by the DOJ. Since the release, they have dominated headlines over Epstein's link to powerful leaders in the US.
Also read: Did Jeffrey Epstein really eat babies? What fact-checkers say about cannibalism and ritual sacrifice
What Ayatollah Khamenei Said
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, made a couple of tweet seemingly criticizing the United States government over the Epstein files row. Although Khamenei did not directly mention the Epstein files in the tweets, he talks about the "moral corruption" of Western countries.
"We had heard so much about the corruption of Western leaders, but the affair of this infamous & corrupt island exceeds all limits!" the first X post read. “This represents Western liberal civilization & democracy. They toil away for 200, 300 years, and here is the result.”
The follow-up post, shared as a reply to the original post, read: "This island of corruption is just one example; there are many phenomena of this kind. Just as this case was not apparent but was revealed, many other cases exist that will be revealed later."
