Alex Croft – The Independent Oct 21, 2026
Iran and Russia have been exploiting the riots in France in an attempt to weaken the west, researchers have claimed.
A series of peaceful protests over the cost-of-living and education descended into violence over the weekend, with clashes between protesters and police, vandalism and shop looting spreading across towns and cities throughout the country.
Experts and police sources have suggested that the mobilisation of protesters on 17 October was stirred up online by accounts backed by foreign agitators.
“Police and territorial intelligence sources say the mobilisation of the troublemakers was stirred up, accentuated and instrumentalised by bloggers and influencers backed or made viral by foreign powers. Iran, Russia and Algeria are cited,” state radio France Culture reported, according to The Times.
Tehran has denied sowing disinformation and accused France of “violent treatment” of protesters and “extensive and flagrant human rights violations”, despite facing its own allegations of the same. It has advised its citizens against travel to France, Belgium and Italy amid the unrest.
The claims come after Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto said that a similar weekend of rioting in Milan was caused by a “hybrid war” being waged against the West – and that the protests were “fundamentally different from those seen in other eras”.
Comment – Oct 21, 2026
The above is a prime example of disinformation that frames Russia and Iran as the guilty culprits, without any mention of Europe’s immigration problem.
For example the final sentence quoted above mentions how “rioting in Milan was caused by a “hybrid war” being waged against the West.” Crucially, it omits to mention that half of those arrested in Milan were foreign born.
That is a telling omission, particularly as the article strives to portray Russia and Iran as the bad guys.
Is it a coincidence that the U.S. is reportedly preparing for strikes against Iran, or that NATO is arming and supporting Ukraine in its proxy war with Russia?
Readers will note that even though the protests started out peacefully, many of those arrested or involved in the unrest that developed later were of migrant background.
However, the words “immigration” or “migrant” are not mentioned anywhere in the article. Instead it claims that “foreign agitators” were instrumental in stirring the unrest.
That is not to say that Russian and Iranian intelligence would not exploit the unrest, if they could, but whether they did or not is a moot point.
However it is clear that the mainstream Western media is trying to implicate Russia and Iran with little hard evidence, while it omits to mention the obvious culprits.
This does not doesn’t auger well for any peaceful resolution to the conflicts in Ukraine or with Iran. Indeed, we suspect it foreshadows deeper Western involvement in both conflicts. Ed.