“Iran: Trump restocked ammunition during the ceasefire! Today, Trump made another big move. I was inadvertently caught off guard!” reads an X-post in simplified Chinese shared on July 14.
The video shows people in helmets and uniforms running for their lives as missiles rain down on what appears to be an oil depot.
A screenshot of a false post taken on July 15 with a red X added by AFP
The Middle East war flared up again in July, with the United States and Iran dealing another blow in a battle over the crucial Strait of Hormuz (archive link).
Local authorities said US airstrikes on July 14 in the Iraq-Iranian border region near Kuwait also targeted the city of Abadan, home to the Middle East’s oldest oil refinery, and the port city of Mahashahr, Khuzestan’s deputy governor Variola Hayati said (archive link).
Similar claims appear in Threads and X, as well as English, Arabic, and Spanish.
However, the video does not show any recent attacks in Iran and was created using AI.
This includes visual errors that indicate AI content, such as the running man at the beginning of the video disappearing shortly after hitting the ground.
Screenshot of accidentally shared clip with highlights added by AFP
The figure looks unnatural. Some are distorted and interlock. When running away from the explosion, some of the staff’s white hats turn yellow.
Screenshot of accidentally shared clip with highlights added by AFP
Analysis by Hive Moderation, an AI detection tool, showed that there was an 85% chance that it was generated by AI.
Screenshot of Hive moderation results with AI symbols added by AFP
A reverse image search on Google using the screenshot revealed that the video was published on March 31 by an Instagram account that regularly shares AI-generated content (archive link).
On March 8, shortly after the Middle East war broke out in February, the United States and Israel launched nighttime attacks on five oil facilities in the Iranian capital and its suburbs (archive link). AFP news agency also distributed photos of the attack at the time.
AFP news agency has debunked a series of false claims about the Middle East war.
