Why didn't SNP smell a rat over Iranian X accounts backing Scottish independence?

Telegraph

26-06-2025

All sorts of people believe in Scottish independence. That's the claim often made by the SNP; it's seen as natural justice, they insist, and as such is viewed by supporters everywhere.
After all, they've been getting hundreds of supportive messages – for the most part from attractive young people who included pictures of themselves on social media when they voiced their passion for breaking up Britain.
They listed themselves not by name but sometimes described themselves as things such as an 'NHS Nurse' or a 'Glasgow socialist', often hundreds of times per week on platforms such as X, formerly Twitter.
There were no half-measures, either, in their support for independence and they were usually happy, just like the most ardent of SNP supporters, to denounce England and the English.
They said that England 'suppressed Scottish freedom' and that England was subsidised by Scotland.
Just the sort of backing that the ambitious political party would crave on the route to what they'd hope was Scotland leaving the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
All great stuff, eh? Except for one thing – it was all baloney, complete rubbish and the work of a foreign state that clearly hates Britain and is determined to undermine a country it obviously sees as an enemy. And, furthermore, an enemy that deserves to be attacked relentlessly.
That foreign state is Iran. The disclosure comes after US researchers last year identified a network of more than 80 X accounts linked to Iran which had posted more than 250,000 messages since late 2021.
Internet blackout
But the posts suddenly stopped at the same time on June 12 when a major Israeli air strike campaign crippled Iran's cyber infrastructure, causing an internet blackout that affected 95 per cent of national connectivity.
Clemson University in South Carolina estimated that the campaign accounted for at least 4 per cent of discourse about Scottish independence on the website in early 2024, 'and likely more'.
While it is great to have a laugh at the SNP's expense, this episode is a clear signal that the Iranian autocracy would stoop even to using phoney messages to undermine Britain. But more than that it begs several questions for the SNP to answer.
Did they not smell a rat, or even several rats, at all of these social media messages singing the same song? Are they really a sophisticated party with enough 'nous' to suspect phonies in their midst, or are they also so wrapped up in their own propaganda that they believe everyone, everywhere, loves them?
And will they now seek to track down the perpetrators of this fraud? After all, a handful of American students managed it.
It was a pity that Angus Robertson was the minister who responded to questions on the issue yesterday. He was at his pompous worst when asked by the Tories' Murdo Fraser if his Government wasn't concerned that its central policy objective was being backed by a terrorist state.
Instead of showing even a hint of humility, Mr Robertson warned his tormentor that he should be 'careful not to smear people' who believe in Scottish independence.