#FactCheck-Fake Quote Falsely Attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei on India’s Prime Minister and Indira Gandhi
Executive Summary
A graphic featuring a photograph of Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is being widely circulated on social media. The graphic carries a statement attributed to him: “It is not appropriate for the Prime Minister of India to bow before Trump, and India was a matter of pride under Indira Gandhi.” The graphic claims that Mojtaba Khamenei made this statement. CyberPeace Research Wing’s research found that Mojtaba Khamenei did not make any such statement. The research revealed that there is no credible evidence, official statement, interview, or verified social media post supporting the claim. Had such a statement been made by him, it would have been reported by credible media outlets.
Claim
Sharing the graphic, an X user named Thakur Kuldeep Singh wrote:“Narendra Modi has tarnished India’s name across the entire world. Do we now have to hear all this from Iran too?”
https://x.com/Ramesh18498367/status/2066095602954649607?s=20
Fact Check
As part of our fact-checking process, we conducted a keyword search on Google using terms such as “Mojtaba Khamenei criticized India’s Prime Minister for bowing before Trump” and “Mojtaba Khamenei praised India under Indira Gandhi.” However, we found no credible news reports, official statements, interviews, or verified social media posts supporting the claim that Mojtaba Khamenei made such remarks. During our research, we also found a report published by NDTV on March 12, 2026, which mentioned remarks made by a representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader regarding Iran-India relations.
According to the report, the representative stated that Mojtaba Khamenei “loves India” and values the long-standing civilizational ties between the two countries. He further said that Iran’s leadership has historically admired India’s culture, philosophy, and history and has consistently supported stronger relations between the two nations.
Conclusion
Our research found that the claim attributing a statement to Mojtaba Khamenei criticizing India’s Prime Minister for bowing before Trump and praising India during Indira Gandhi’s tenure is false. There is no credible news report, official statement, interview, or verified social media post confirming that Mojtaba Khamenei made such a statement. The viral graphic is being circulated with a false attribution.
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Introduction
The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-in) is a nodal agency of the government established and appointed as a national agency in respect of cyber incidents and cyber security incidents in terms of the provisions of section 70B of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000. CERT-In has issued a cautionary note to Microsoft Edge, Adobe and Google Chrome users. Users have been alerted to many vulnerabilities by the government's cybersecurity agency, which hackers might use to obtain private data and run arbitrary code on the targeted machine. Users are advised by CERT-In to apply a security update right away in order to guard against the problem.
Vulnerability note
Vulnerability notes CIVN-2023-0361, CIVN-2023-0362 and CIVN-2023-0364 for Google Chrome for Desktop, Microsoft Edge and Adobe respectively, include more information on the alert. The problems have been categorized as high-severity issues by CERT-In, which suggests applying a security upgrade right now. According to the warning, there is a security risk if you use Google Chrome versions earlier than v120.0.6099.62 on Linux and Mac, or earlier than 120.0.6099.62/.63 on Windows. Similar to this, the vulnerability may also impact users of Microsoft Edge browser versions earlier than 120.0.2210.61.
Cause of the Problem
These vulnerabilities are caused by "Use after release in Media Stream, Side Panel Search, and Media Capture; Inappropriate implementation in Autofill and Web Browser UI, “according to the explanation in the issue note on the CERT-In website. The alert further warns that individuals who use the susceptible Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome browsers could end up being targeted by a remote attacker using these vulnerabilities to send a specially crafted request.” Once these vulnerabilities are effectively exploited, hackers may obtain higher privileges, obtain sensitive data, and run arbitrary code on the system of interest.
High-security issues: consequences
CERT-In has brought attention to vulnerabilities in Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Adobe that might have serious repercussions and put users and their systems at risk. The vulnerabilities found in widely used browsers, like Adobe, Microsoft Edge, and Google Chrome, present serious dangers that might result in data breaches, unauthorized code execution, privilege escalation, and remote attacks. If these vulnerabilities are taken advantage of, private information may be violated, money may be lost, and reputational harm may result.
Additionally, the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive information may be compromised. The danger also includes the potential to interfere with services, cause outages, reduce productivity, and raise the possibility of phishing and social engineering assaults. Users may become less trusting of the impacted software as a result of the urgent requirement for security upgrades, which might make them hesitant to utilize these platforms until guarantees of thorough security procedures are provided.
Advisory
- Users should update their Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Adobe software as soon as possible to protect themselves against the vulnerabilities that have been found. These updates are supplied by the individual software makers. Furthermore, use caution when browsing and refrain from downloading things from unidentified sites or clicking on dubious links.
- Make use of reliable ad-blockers and strong, often updated antivirus and anti-malware software. Maintain regular backups of critical data to reduce possible losses in the event of an attack, and keep up with best practices for cybersecurity. Maintaining current security measures with vigilance and proactiveness can greatly lower the likelihood of becoming a target for prospective vulnerabilities.
References
Background
Cyber slavery and online trafficking have become alarming challenges in Southeast Asia. Against this backdrop, India successfully rescued 197 of its citizens from Mae Sot in Thailand on November 10, 2025, using two Indian Air Force flights. The evacuees had fled Myanmar’s Myawaddy region in October after intense military operations forced them to escape. This was India’s second rescue effort within a week, following the November 6 mission that brought back 270 nationals from similar conditions. The operations were coordinated by the Indian Embassy in Bangkok and the Consulate in Chiang Mai, with crucial assistance from the Royal Thai Government.
The Operation and Bilateral Cooperation
The operation was carried out with the presence and supervision of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul of Thailand and Indian Ambassador Nagesh Singh, who were both present at the ceremony in Mae Sot. This way, the two countries have not only proved but also cemented their bond to fight the crimes which were mentioned before and more than that, they have even promised to facilitate communication between their authorities. Prime Minister Charnvirakul thanked India for the quick intervention and added that Thailand would be giving the needed support for the repatriation of the other victims as well.
“Both parties reaffirmed their strong commitment to the fight against cross-border crimes, including cyber scams and human trafficking, in the region and to improving cooperation among the relevant agencies in both countries.”, Embassy of India, Bangkok.
The Cyber Scam Network
The Myawaddy area in Myanmar has made a quick shift to become a hotspot for the entire world of cybercrimes. Moreover, the crimes are especially committed by the organised criminal groups that take advantage of foreign nationals. After the Myanmar military imposed a restriction in late October, over 1,500 people from 28 nations moved to Thailand because of the KK Park cyber hub and other centres being raided.
A UN report (2025) indicated that this fraud activity is part of a larger network that extends the countries populated with very low-tech criminals who target the most naïve, and they are the very ones who end up being tortured. The trafficked persons often belong to the local population or come from neighbouring countries and are recruited with the promise of high salaries as IT or customer service agents, only to be imprisoned in a compound where they are forced to perform phishing, investment fraud, and cryptocurrency scams aimed at the victims all over the globe. These centres operate in border territories having poor governance, easy-to-cross borders, and little police presence, hence making human trafficking a major factor contributing to cybercrime.
India’s Response and Preventive Measures
The Indian Embassy in Thailand worked hand in hand with the Thai government to facilitate bringing back and repatriating the Indian citizens who had entered Thailand illegally when they were escaping Myanmar.
The embassy was far from helpless in the matter. In the case of the embassy's advisory, they suggested to the citizens that:
- It is mandatory to check the authenticity of the job offers and the agents before securing employment in other countries.
- Such employment by means of tourist or visa-free entry permits should be avoided, as such entries allow only for a short-duration visit or tourism.
- Be careful of ads claiming high pay for online or remote work in Southeast Asia.
The embassy reiterated the Government of India’s commitment to ensuring easy access to assistance for citizens overseas and to addressing the growing intersection between cyber fraud and human trafficking.
CyberPeace Analysis and Advisory
The case of Myawaddy demonstrates that cybercrime and human trafficking have grappled to become a complicated global threat. The scam centres gradually come to depend on the trafficked labour of people who are being forced to commit the fraud digitally under coercion. This underlines the requirement for the cybersecurity measures that consider the rights of humans and the protection of the victims, not only the technical defence.
- Cybercrime–Human Trafficking Convergence:
Cybercrime has moved up to the level of a human trafficking operation. The unwilling victims of such fraud schemes are scared for their very lives or even more, not of a reliable way out. This situation is such that one cannot tell where cyber exploitation ends and forced labour begins.
- Cross-Border Enforcement Challenges:
To effectively carry out their unlawful acts, the criminals use legal and jurisdictional loopholes that are present across borders. Dismantling such networks requires the regional cooperation of India, Thailand, and ASEAN countries.
- Socioeconomic Vulnerability:
The situation with unemployment being stagnant and the public not being educated about the situation makes people, especially the youth, very prone to scams of getting hired overseas. Thus, to prevent this uneducated flocking to the fraudsters, it is necessary to constantly implant in them the knowledge of online literacy and the importance of verification of job offers.
- Public–Private Coordination:
The scammers’ mode of operation usually includes online recruitment through social media and encrypted platforms where their victims can be found and contacted. In this regard, cooperation among government institutions, tech platforms, and civil society is imperative to put an end to the operation of these digital trafficking channels.
CyberPeace Expert Advisory
To lessen the possibility of such incidents, CyberPeace suggests the following preventive and policy measures:
Individuals:
- Trust but verify: Before giving your approval to anything, always verify the job offer by official embassy websites or MEA-approved recruiting agencies first.
- Watch out for red flags: If a recruiter offers a very high salary for almost no work, asks for tourist visas, or gives no written contract, be very careful and pull out immediately.
- Protect your documents: Give a trusted person the responsibility of keeping both digital and physical copies of your passport and visa, and also register your travel with the MADAD portal.
- Report if in doubt: If an agent looks suspicious, contact the nearest Indian Embassy or Consulate or report it to cybercrime.gov.in or the 1930 Helpline.
Policymakers and Agencies:
- Strengthen Bilateral Task Forces: Set up armed forces of cyber and human trafficking enforcement units in South and Southeast Asian countries.
- Support Regional Awareness Campaigns: In addition to targeted advisories in local languages, the most vulnerable job seekers in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities should also receive such awareness in their languages.
- Overseas Employment Advertising should be regulated: All digital job postings should be made to meet transparency standards and fraudulent recruitment should be punished with heavy fines.
- Invest in Digital Forensics and Intelligence Sharing: Create common databases for monitoring international cybercriminal groups.
Conclusion
The return of Indian citizens from Thailand represents a significant humanitarian and diplomatic milestone and highlights that cybercrime, though carried out through digital channels, remains deeply human in nature. International cooperation, well-informed citizens, and a rights-based cybersecurity approach are the minimum requirements for a global campaign against the new breed of cybercrime that is characterised by fraud and trafficking working hand in hand. CyberPeace reminds everyone that digital vigilance, verification, and collaboration across borders are the most effective ways to prevent online abuse and such crimes.
Reference
- https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/197-indians-repatriated-from-thailand-by-special-indian-air-force-flights-9611934
- https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-airlifts-citizens-who-worked-in-myanmar-cybercrime-hub-from-thailand/article70264322.ece
- https://www.mea.gov.in/Images/attach/03-List-4-2024.pdf
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Introduction
In the intricate maze of our interconnected world, an unseen adversary conducts its operations with a stealth almost poetic in its sinister intent. This adversary — malware — has extended its tendrils into the digital sanctuaries of Mac users, long perceived as immune to such invasive threats. Our narrative today does not deal with the physical and tangible frontlines we are accustomed to; this is a modern tale of espionage, nestled in the zeros and ones of cyberspace.
The Mac platform, cradled within the fortifications of Apple's walled garden ecosystem, has stood as a beacon of resilience amidst the relentless onslaught of cyber threats. However, this sense of imperviousness has been shaken at its core, heralding a paradigm shift. A new threat lies in wait, bridging the gap between perceived security and uncomfortable vulnerability.
The seemingly invincible Mac OS X, long heralded for its robust security features and impervious resilience to virus attacks, faces an undercurrent of siege tactics from hackers driven by a relentless pursuit for control. This narrative is not about the front-and-centre warfare we see so often reported in media headlines. Instead, it veils itself within the actions of users as benign as the download of pirated software from the murky depths of warez websites.
The Incident
The casual act, born out of innocence or economic necessity, to sidestep the financial requisites of licensed software, has become the unwitting point of compromised security. Users find themselves on the battlefield, one that overshadows the significance of its physical counterpart with its capacity for surreptitious harm. The Mac's seeming invulnerability is its Achilles' heel, as the wariness against potential threats has been eroded by the myth of its impregnability.
The architecture of this silent assault is not one of brute force but of guile. Cyber marauders finesse their way through the defenses with a diversified arsenal; pirated content is but a smokescreen behind which trojans lie in ambush. The very appeal of free access to premium applications is turned against the user, opening a rift that permits these malevolent forces to ingress.
The trojans that permeate the defenses of the Mac ecosystem are architects of chaos. They surreptitiously enrol devices into armies of sorts – botnets which, unbeknownst to their hosts, become conduits for wider assaults on privacy and security. These machines, now soldiers in an unconsented war, are puppeteered to distribute further malware, carry out phishing tactics, and breach the sanctity of secure data.
The Trojan of Mac
A recent exposé by the renowned cybersecurity firm Kaspersky has shone a spotlight on this burgeoning threat. The meticulous investigation conducted in April of this year unveiled a nefarious campaign, engineered to exploit the complacency among Mac users. This operation facilitates the sale of proxy access, linking previously unassailable devices to the infrastructure of cybercriminal networks.
This revelation cannot be overstated in its importance. It illustrates with disturbing clarity the evolution and sophistication of modern malware campaigns. The threat landscape is not stagnant but ever-shifting, adapting with both cunning and opportunity.
Kaspersky's diligence in dissecting this threat detected nearly three dozen popular applications, and tools relied upon by individuals and businesses alike for a multitude of tasks. These apps, now weaponised, span a gamut of functionalities - image editing and enhancement, video compression, data recovery, and network scanning among them. Each one, once a benign asset to productivity, is twisted into a lurking danger, imbued with the power to betray its user.
The duplicity of the trojan is shrouded in mimicry; it disguises its malicious intent under the guise of 'WindowServer,' a legitimate system process intrinsic to the macOS. Its camouflage is reinforced by an innocuously named file, 'GoogleHelperUpdater.plist' — a moniker engineered to evade suspicion and blend seamlessly with benign processes affiliated with familiar applications.
Mode of Operation
Its mode of operation, insidious in its stealth, utilises the Transmission Control Protocol(TCP) and User Datagram Protocol(UDP) networking protocols. This modus operandi allows it to masquerade as a benign proxy. The full scope of its potential commands, however, eludes our grasp, a testament to the shadowy domain from which these threats emerge.
The reach of this trojan does not cease at the periphery of Mac's operating system; it harbours ambitions that transcend platforms. Windows and Android ecosystems, too, find themselves under the scrutiny of this burgeoning threat.
This chapter in the ongoing saga of cybersecurity is more than a cautionary tale; it is a clarion call for vigilance. The war being waged within the circuits and code of our devices underscores an inescapable truth: complacency is the ally of the cybercriminal.
Safety measures and best practices
It is imperative to safeguard the Mac system from harmful intruders, which are constantly evolving. Few measures can play a crucial role in protecting your data in your Mac systems.
- Refrain from Unlicensed Software - Refrain from accessing and downloading pirated software. Plenty of software serves as a decoy for malware which remains dormant till downloaded files are executed.
- Use Trusted Source: Downloading files from legitimate and trusted sources can significantly reduce the threat of any unsolicited files or malware making its way into your Mac system.
- Regular system updates: Regular updates to systems released by the company ensure the latest patches are installed in the system critical to combat and neutralize emerging threats.
- General Awareness: keeping abreast of the latest developments in cyberspace plays a crucial role in avoiding new and emerging threats. It is crucial to keep pace with trends and be well-informed about new threats and ways to combat them.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this silent conflict, though waged in whispers, echoes with repercussions that reverberate through every stratum of digital life. The cyber threats that dance in the shadows cast by our screens are not figments of paranoia, but very real specters hunting for vulnerabilities to exploit. Mac users, once confident in their platforms' defenses, must awaken to the new dawn of cybersecurity awareness.
The battlefield, while devoid of the visceral carnage of physical warfare, is replete with casualties of privacy and breaches of trust. The soldiers in this conflict are disguised as serviceable code, enacting their insidious agendas beneath a façade of normalcy. The victims eschew physical wounds for scars on their digital identities, enduring theft of information, and erosion of security.
As we course through the daunting terrain of digital life, it becomes imperative to heed the lessons of this unseen warfare. Shadows may lie unseen, but it is within their obscurity that the gravest dangers often lurk, a reminder to remain ever vigilant in the face of the invisible adversary.
