A video aired on Iranian state television has compared accusations that Russia sought to influence the 2016 US presidential elections with biased and fake news to the efforts of the UK-funded BBC to influence Iranian domestic policy and topple its government — in the process airing footage of the arrest of a jailed dual British-Iranian citizen and her alleged links to outlawed Iranian websites.
The video – taking the shape of a documentary — began with clips of US officials criticizing then-candidate Donald Trump, highlighting comments by Sen. Lindsay Graham calling Trump a “jackass” and former Gov. Mitt Romney calling Trump a “phony.” It also showed clips of then-Sen. Al Franken during a hearing asking how Facebook did not catch why electoral advertisements were being paid in rubles.
