And in response – “silence”: TASS, “Israeli bullets in the bodies of Iranian children” and permitted Russian anti-Semitism

The Russian state agency TASS published a material on January 21, 2026, titled “TASS: Israeli bullets found in the bodies of children killed in Iran” about the death of children during protests in Iran. The text is presented as “news” but is entirely based on claims from an anonymous source in the Iranian security forces.

The publication by TASS about “Israeli bullets” allegedly found in the bodies of children killed during protests in Iran would itself look like another propaganda ploy. But it was not solitary. Almost simultaneously, Moscow sent a second signal — a demonstrative diplomatic gesture towards Israel.

First — what exactly TASS wrote, without retelling or additions.

“Israeli combat bullets were found in the bodies of children killed during protests in Iran. This was confirmed by a forensic examination, a source in the Iranian security forces told TASS.”

“It was an eight-year-old girl from Isfahan… The forensic examination showed that the bullets were Israeli combat bullets,” the agency’s interlocutor noted.

“On the evening of January 7, 2026, in Kermanshah, three-year-old Melina Asadi… on the way back, she was suddenly shot from behind by terrorists and died,” the source reported.

This is where the facts end.
The text does not include the names of experts, laboratory names, types of ammunition, ballistics, photo or documentary evidence. Israel is not a party to the Iranian protests, but it is highlighted in the headline and turned into an explanation for the tragedy.

Almost simultaneously, the Russian Foreign Ministry publicly reported on a “meeting” with the Israeli ambassador in Moscow — in a format that has long been read internally as a “summons.”

Here is verbatim what was officially published:

“On January 23, the Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, M.V. Zakharova, held a meeting with the Ambassador of the State of Israel in Moscow, Oded Yosef.”

“There was an exchange of views on preserving the historical memory of World War II and the victims of Nazism in Europe.”

“Information was conveyed to O. Yosef about Russia’s efforts to perpetuate the feat of Soviet soldiers.”

“On the eve of January 27… the parties emphasized the need for joint opposition to attempts to rewrite history, deny the crimes of Nazism,” with reference to UN General Assembly resolution No. 60/7.

Formally — correct diplomatic language.
In fact — the second part of the same construction.

The first part is emotional and toxic. Through the state agency, Israel is attributed with involvement in the death of children in a foreign country.
The second is demonstrative. Moscow shows that it can simultaneously accuse and “talk from above,” appealing to the memory of the war and the Holocaust.

For the internal Russian audience, this forms a coherent picture:
Israel — suspect.
Israel — object of pressure.
Russia — arbiter and bearer of “historical truth.”

The Ukrainian background here is key, even if it is not spoken. Russia is waging war against Ukraine, where strikes on residential areas and the death of children are documented. This topic is toxic for propaganda. Therefore, “foreign children” and “foreign bullets” appear — in Iran, with a convenient external culprit. This dilutes moral responsibility and diverts attention from one’s own actions.

And here arises the main question that Moscow has clearly already asked itself — and to which it has not received an answer: why is Israel silent.

Who heard official indignation from Jerusalem regarding the openly anti-Semitic publication by TASS?
Who saw a public protest from the Israeli Foreign Ministry?
Who heard of a harsh reaction to the fact that a country unrelated to the events is being drawn into the murder of children?

The answer is simple — no one.

This silence in Moscow is read not as diplomatic restraint, but as permission.

Therefore, Israel in the Russian media field today can be “hit” with impunity — accused, drawn in, lectured. Today — “Israeli bullets” in Iran. Tomorrow — something else. There will be no reaction — so it can continue.

In the “TASS + diplomatic report” bundle, this no longer looks like a coincidence, but as a synchronized line. Accusation plus pressure. Emotion plus symbolic gesture. And all this — against the backdrop of the war against Ukraine, from which it is increasingly difficult for the Kremlin to divert the attention of the world community.

While one side chooses silence, the other gets used to complete impunity — in headlines, formulations, and meanings. It is this dangerous norm that NAnews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency records: line by line, without conjecture, but with an understanding of how propaganda and diplomacy work together.