Bushra Shaikh, a UK television personality who appeared on The Apprentice, has been accused of spreading Iranian regime propaganda after participating in two state-sponsored tours of Iran this spring, according to an investigation by the Iranian fact-checking organisation Factnameh.
Shaikh's Background and Social Media Influence
Shaikh, from Surrey, owns a luxury clothing brand and finished ninth in series 13 of The Apprentice in 2017, where she described herself as inspired by Coco Chanel. She posts to hundreds of thousands of followers on X and Instagram, sharing her appearances on TalkTV and Good Morning Britain, as well as her opinions on right-wing figures such as Laura Loomer and Rupert Lowe.
Factnameh Investigation Findings
Factnameh found that Shaikh played a highly active role in reproducing the Iranian government's narrative this spring after taking part in two press tours organised by IRIB World Service, the international arm of Iran's state broadcaster. The investigation identified more than a dozen participants in these tours, including a handful of US journalists.
Fereidoon Bashar, executive director of ASL19, which created Factnameh, said that cultivating friendly journalists and public figures has been part of Iran's strategy for some time. There has been a long tradition of having prominent Western figures in Iran who are aligned with anti-imperialist, anti-colonial frameworks. However, since the 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel in June 2025, there has been a major shift in Iran's communication approach. Bashar noted that many mainstream media outlets are losing their audiences, and individual influencers are easier to engage and invite. The content they put out is more likely to align with state narratives and less likely to be fact-checked.
Details of Shaikh's Tours
It is unclear whether Shaikh and others covered their own expenses or were paid for the trips. However, Bashar said it appears the Iranian government valued Shaikh's content, as it invited her back for a second trip in April after her first tour in February. The level of access she got the second time around was far higher, with high-level officials, suggesting they appreciated her coverage the first time.
Shaikh's posts about Iran appeared timed to coincide with critical events, including the intensification of the conflict, ceasefire talks, and nationwide protests in January. Some of this amounted to broadcasting the unedited propaganda of the Islamic Republic, according to Factnameh. During her visits, she documented touring an Armenian monastery and Tehran's Tajrish bazaar. In one post, she modelled a black and gold scarf that she said was a gift from Iran's culture minister. She also met senior officials, including the governor of Isfahan and the foreign ministry spokesperson, and visited sensitive military sites, including the Strait of Hormuz, where she posed on a boat with the caption: The Strait of Hormuz is open for us but closed for the Epstein empire, appearing to refer to the US.
Social Media Manipulation and Criticism
Factnameh found that Shaikh's posts showed a highly calculated pattern of social media manipulation. In the past year, 20% of her 4,047 posts have been about Iran, generating millions of interactions and disproportionately high engagement. Earlier this year, her tours sparked criticism from Iranian digital rights activists, who noticed she appeared to have access to the internet that ordinary people did not, suggesting her trips were at the invitation of the regime. Iranian activists, some affiliated with the Women, Life, Freedom movement, circulated an online petition suggesting Shaikh should be investigated for sanctions violations.
Shaikh shrugged off the internet shutdown in Iran, writing: It seems those outside of Iran are more bothered about limited internet access for Iranians to the outside world, than Iranians inside Iran themselves. Most don't see it as a government crackdown but rather temporary citizen security.
Rise of War-Influencers
Shaikh is part of a growing number of war-influencers or war-fluencers, content creators who offer followers unmediated, citizen-journalist-style access to a war zone. Several of her posts aimed to offer an on-the-ground look at the effect of US-Israeli strikes against Iran. In one, she describes residential buildings destroyed; in another, she says she investigated a missile strike on a girl's school in Minab. Israel and Russia have also been reported to use influencers to spread their narratives, especially in the face of more hostile coverage from traditional media.
Shaikh was approached for comment.
