By MELISSA GOLDIN
Because the U.S. and Israel continued to strike Iran on Monday following a main assault over the weekend that killed Iranian Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, misrepresented photos associated to the struggle unfold extensively on-line.
They offered years-old footage as present, falsely claimed that U.S. army autos had been destroyed and erroneously claimed to indicate casualties of the struggle.
Right here’s a more in-depth take a look at the information.
CLAIM: A picture reveals Khamenei’s physique below a pile of rubble.
THE FACTS: That is false. It was created with AI. Google’s Gemini app detected SynthID, a digital watermarking software for figuring out content material that has been generated or altered with AI, within the picture. This implies it was created or edited, both solely or partially, by Google’s AI fashions.
Within the picture, a physique whose face is blurred is trapped beneath rubble whereas 4 males sporting exhausting hats and security vests shine flashlights onto the realm and work on clearing the particles. Small fires burn within the background.
Iranian state media confirmed early Sunday that Khamenei had been killed in Saturday’s assault by the U.S. and Israel. A photograph of his physique has not been publicly launched.
CLAIM: Photos present the usAbraham Lincoln sinking or in any other case broken after an Iranian ballistic missile strike.
THE FACTS: U.S. Central Command stated in an X submit that the warship, one in all two plane carriers the U.S. army has deployed to the area, “was not hit” and that “the missiles didn’t even come shut.” The submit, which went up after Iranian management claimed the ship was struck within the assault, provides that it’s persevering with to launch plane.
Many photos stated to indicate the aftermath of a strike on the usAbraham Lincoln are years-old. For instance, a picture of a ship sinking into the ocean with a helicopter hovering above has appeared on-line since no less than 2021. A video of a ship engulfed in flames and billowing smoke appeared in a Fb submit from June 2025.
CLAIM: A video reveals the downing of a U.S. fighter jet in Iran.
THE FACTS: That is false. It’s from a military-themed online game.
The video spreading on-line reveals a missile dashing towards a fighter jet, which performs dramatic evasive maneuvers. There’s a loud bang on the finish of the video and the plane heads towards the bottom.
However a YouTube channel devoted to army online game simulations initially posted the clip in November 2025. A caption on the clip states that “all scenes are captured in-game for leisure and studying functions solely.” The plane is recognized as an F-4 Phantom II.
Three U.S. fighter jets, all of them F-15E Strike Eagles, had been mistakenly downed in Kuwait — not Iran — by pleasant Kuwaiti fireplace on Monday, in response to the U.S. army. Iranian state tv claimed that Iran had focused one of many planes that crashed.
CLAIM: A video reveals U.S. troopers returning residence in coffins from the Iran struggle.
THE FACTS: That is false. It reveals the dignified switch of U.S. Military servicemembers who died in Iraq in Operation New Daybreak. The switch passed off on June 8, 2011, at Dover Air Pressure Base.
The authentic video was posted to YouTube by a photographer and U.S. Marine Corps veteran who fought within the Vietnam Struggle.
There are a variety of indications that the YouTube video matches the clip at the moment spreading on-line. For instance, about one minute and 57 seconds into the video, a airplane taxis within the background. Moreover, the entrance of a blue automobile is seen all through a lot of the video within the backside proper nook.
Related Press author Abril Mulato in Mexico Metropolis contributed to this report.
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