An anti-Israel activist whom NPR touted in recent years in a segment on "how to be a good citizen"—citing her campaign work on behalf of Sen. Ed Markey (D., Mass.)—filmed a pro-Iran propaganda video from an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps facility this week.
Calla Walsh, a 20-year-old socialist from Massachusetts, traveled to Tehran as part of a delegation hosted by World Service of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, part of a propaganda junket to portray Iran as resilient in the aftermath of the U.S. military bombings of Iran’s nuclear facilities and IRGC outposts last month. Clad in a hijab, Walsh said it was "the greatest honor of my life" to visit Iran, which she said was "under genocidal siege" by the United States, and the "Zionist entity."
"It is a great honor to be surrounded by the indigenously produced drones and missiles and military equipment that are actively resisting this genocide and this imperialism," said Walsh.
Walsh’s propaganda tour caps off a meteoric rise in radical activism, a path spurred on by news organizations like NPR, the New York Times, and the Boston Globe, all of which have portrayed Walsh as an enthusiastic activist paving the way for young Democrats.
NPR, which had its federal funding cut by President Donald Trump and Congress this week because of liberal bias, featured Walsh in a June 2021 segment, "How to Be a Citizen: Being Involved in Civic Life at a Young Age." Walsh, 17 years old at the time, was highlighted as an example of how to be a "good citizen" over her progressive activism, and her organizing on behalf of Markey.
"I think the driving factor that pushed me to get involved in politics was the climate crisis because I had always grown up, you know, knowing that there was this existential threat to my generation," Walsh told NPR.
The Times hailed Walsh as an "ardent" leader of the so-called Markeyverse, a group of Massachusetts teenagers who campaigned for Markey. Walsh was "representative of an influential new force in Democratic politics," according to the Times, which noted that Walsh has also campaigned for Sens. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), as well as Boston mayor Michelle Wu. In 2021, the Globe cheered Walsh as "a force in the world of climate activism," and praised her in 2022 after she protested her high school over a homework assignment that asked students to list the benefits of imperialism.
Walsh has embraced the anti-Israel cause in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on the Jewish state. She cofounded Unity of Fields, a radical group that advocates violence against Israel and American police officers. Walsh was indicted in November 2023 for vandalizing the New Hampshire factory of Elbit Systems, an Israeli defense contractor, and later sentenced to 60 days in jail.
Walsh took part in the Columbia University encampments in May 2024 against the Ivy League school over its investments in Israeli companies. She signed an open letter in support of Elias Rodriguez, the 31-year-old socialist who assassinated two Israeli diplomats outside the Capitol Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on May 21.
Walsh’s visit to Iran is perhaps her most radical step yet, and is certain to draw the attention of U.S. authorities. Walsh claimed she was detained by customs agents after returning to the United States—which she referred to as "the Great Satan"—from Cuba in May.
Fourteen others attended the propaganda trip with Walsh including American journalist YouTube personality Rezwana Akhtar Matin and Jennifer Koonings, a former nurse who generated headlines for staging a hunger strike over Gaza.
Koonings, who has hailed Hamas fighters as "brave selfless men," donated $50 to the campaign of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, according to campaign finance records.
"The U.S. empire is the most criminal evil entity on the planet," Koonings said in her propaganda video.