The story: After failing to make it to the second round of Iran’s presidential elections, conservative Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has endorsed hardliner Saeed Jalili. However, not all of Qalibaf’s supporters are following suit—with some instead publicly siding with Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian.

This comes as a conspiracy theory alleging that the results of the June 28 elections are embellished is making the rounds on social media. Since voter turnout and ballots received by each candidate are multiples of three, the claim is that the results must be fraudulent.

The coverage: Having finished third with 13% of votes in the June 28 race, four-time presidential candidate Qalibaf has...