It’s true, we kind of love Jon Stewart. But I had no idea “The Daily Show” was an instrument of the nefarious “Zionist lobby.”

That’s the claim in a recent Iranian television report on Stewart’s upcoming movie “Rosewater,” based on the memoir by Maziar Bahari, an Iranian journalist imprisoned and tortured by the regime. To film the movie, Stewart took several months off from “The Daily Show,” during which he left hosting duties in the very capable hands of John Oliver.

The Iranian report traffics in all the expected tropes of Jewish media control, with references to Stewart’s “masters” who commissioned the movie and the allegation, from a supposed “media expert,” that the film originated in a think tank. And if that’s not enough, the film is “ultra formulaic.”

Bam!

The report’s paranoia is breathtaking. It alleges that Bahari was given a “mission” to overthrow the Iranian government by the Carnegie Foundation and the National Iranian American Council. It  also mentions Bahari’s visit to Israel to interview Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon for his documentary, “From Cyrus to Ahmadinejad.”

“After this incident,” the narrator intones, “we could easily believe any news about Bahari.

No doubt.

Ben Harris is JTA’s news editor. In his seven years with JTA, he has reported from more than 15 countries. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, New York magazine, among other publications.