A video showing Israel’s U.N. ambassador offering a Starlink device to an Iranian representative has generated roughly 9 million views on social media. Analytics shared with News Media indicate that viewers in Iran made up nearly 40% of the video’s Instagram audience.
A spokesperson for Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon said the office was caught off guard by the clip’s popularity in Iran, noting that Israeli diplomatic accounts rarely attract such a large Iranian audience.
“We couldn’t imagine to be the popular,” the representative said while discussing the video’s reach in Iran.
Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon attends the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday. (Angelina Katsanis/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The exchange followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the U.N. General Assembly. During the address, Netanyahu held up a Starlink device as part of a message directed at the people of Iran.
Danon’s representative said Netanyahu had incorporated the device into his prepared remarks and later instructed that it be presented to Iran’s delegation. Danon subsequently approached an Iranian representative with the Starlink device, an interaction recorded on video.
The Iranian official refused the offer.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a Starlink device during his address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday. Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon later offered the device to an Iranian representative. (John Lamparski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Danon later uploaded the footage to social media, where it rapidly attracted widespread attention.
Instagram data shared with News Media show that Iran accounted for 39.9% of the video’s viewers, the highest percentage of any country. Viewers in the United States represented 14.3%, followed by Israel with 12.6%, Canada with 5.9% and Germany with 4.1%.
Danon’s office said the size of the Iranian audience was especially notable because the Starlink gesture was intended to convey a message of freedom and freedom of expression to the Iranian people.
Delegates arrive for the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at U.N. Headquarters in New York City this week. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
At the same time, Danon’s office said a separate social media narrative began gaining momentum as the Starlink video circulated.
According to the representative, accounts believed to be based in Iran began sharing an older video showing former Israeli U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan being escorted out of the General Assembly during a protest involving then-Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
The footage was recorded in September 2023, when Erdan entered the General Assembly holding a photograph of Mahsa Amini as Raisi delivered his speech.
One post that resurfaced the archival footage in recent hours has received hundreds of thousands of views, while presenting the incident as though it were a current clash involving Israel’s ambassador to the U.N.
Danon’s spokesperson described the renewed sharing of the clip as a “disinformation campaign” designed to divert attention from the ambassador’s viral Starlink encounter.
“From our perspective, the Danon video moved something in Iran,” the representative told News Media, alleging that Iran’s government was trying to “change the story.”