A gigantic billboard threatening a US naval flotilla that is currently nearing the Iranian coast is the latest visual propaganda message that has been rolled out above one Tehran street corner in recent months.

The image of a battered aircraft carrier trailing blood looms over Tehran’s Enqelab (Islamic Revolution) Square, which sits on the main road from Tehran's international airport. Over the past two months, at least five different propaganda posters have been installed on the busy street corner.

The strikingly large mural gives Tehran a way to effectively hack into the Western media ecosystem, according to Darren Linvill, a professor with the Media Forensics hub at Clemson University. “They create these images so that they will be shared by [Western media outlets] and then from there to social media.” In that context, he told RFE/RL that despite the expense of frequently updated, building-sized posters, “in the grand scheme of things, billboards are cheap.”

Janatan Sayeh, a research analyst with the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told RFE/RL that another purpose of large-scale murals such as the one on Enqelab Square is "constant exposure, ensuring citizens encounter propaganda everywhere, from the metro to public parks.” He adds that “it’s a psychological tactic meant to remind Iranians there is no escape from the regime."

Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, there have been murals on Tehran city blocks threatening the US and Israel. Howevers, the use of massive billboards that can be changed overnight has been adopted only in recent years.

Photos of the Enqelab Square billboard first appeared in Iranian news agencies in early 2023. Another smaller billboard in nearby Vali Asr Square has been used since 2015 to project regime messaging that often reflects the issues of the moment or Islamist tropes.

Government propaganda billboards have been torched during anti-government uprisings in recent years, but there is no evidence the Enqelab Square billboard, known as a rallying point for pro-regime demonstrations, was targeted. Some Iranians reportedly used the blood of those killed in the latest unrest to write anti-regime messages on shop fronts.

Some Iranians have expressing anger at the belligerent tone of some billboards. One woman told a journalist that banners such as the one seen above threatening Israel are “just provoking more tension.”

With the Iranian government recently lurching from crisis to crisis, analyst Sayeh says the aggressive propaganda seen above Enqelab Square is often at odds with what is taking place behind closed doors. "Image is everything for the regime, and it cannot afford to appear weak to its support base. This is why there are moments when it issues public threats while it seeks to de-escalate in private," he said.