Iran attracted a large crowd to the funeral of former supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei in Tehran, international news agencies recorded. But alongside real images from mourners, AI-generated videos and photos falsely showing the event were widely circulated online. Some exaggerate the size of the crowd, while others include obvious AI errors or fabricated landmarks to garner clicks and engagement.
Iran held a funeral procession for former supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei on Monday, drawing large crowds to Tehran. International news agencies recorded dense crowds lining the streets as Khamenei’s coffin was carried through the capital after lying in state for two days at the Grand Mosala Mosque.
However, along with verified images of queues and crowds, a wave of misleading AI-generated videos and photos spread on social media, falsely claiming to show the event.
One video widely shared by a pro-regime account was viewed hundreds of thousands of times and was claimed to depict “the biggest funeral in history.” However, some clues indicate that it was generated using artificial intelligence. Not only is the Persian text in the clip gibberish, but the mosque itself is architecturally different from Tehran’s Grand Mosala. A video circulating online depicts a white dome, but in reality, and in images reported by France 24 correspondent, the mosque’s dome is actually blue.
The same pattern can be seen elsewhere online. Another AI-generated viral image falsely claimed to show a crowd gathered around Tehran’s Azadi Tower. OpenAI’s image detection identified the SynthID watermark, indicating that the image was created using that AI tool. The image also includes geographic inconsistencies, such as trees and rows of buildings that are not visible in recent satellite images of Azadi Square.
Another AI-generated video, which has been viewed more than a million times, shows millions of mourners carrying Khamenei’s coffin through a crowded street. However, the footage contains some common AI artifacts, such as distorted hands, unrealistic crowd movements, and lack of clear facial features.
Misleading content about major news events typically falls into three categories: One is old footage taken out of context and presented as a new, authentic image, or media that is completely AI-generated. In the case of Khamenei’s funeral, much of the misinformation circulating online is synthetic.
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