A viral video claiming to show an Iranian attack on Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv was generated by AI, a fact check has revealed. The report cites visual inconsistencies, AI detections, and previous versions of the same clips existing online.
TEHRAN: A viral video purporting to show an Iranian attack on the Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv, circulating on X and other platforms, was found to be generated by AI.
The video has been shared by multiple users since Thursday, many of whom appear to be pro-Iranian accounts. A post accompanying the video claimed to show an explosion at Israel’s foreign intelligence headquarters in Tel Aviv.
According to fact-finding, the Middle East war has entered its 35th day of fighting. According to the report, the conflict began on February 28, 2026, when the United States and Israel conducted coordinated airstrikes against Iranian military infrastructure, including missile systems and nuclear facilities. Iran then counterattacked with missile and drone strikes targeting Israel, U.S. military bases and other locations in the region, the report said.
The report also stated that several senior Iranian officials were killed in targeted attacks on March 17, 2026, including National Security Secretary Ali Larijani and Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani.
How the video spread
According to Fact Check, the X account, which frequently shares AI-generated content, posted a video on April 2nd with the following caption:
Breaking news: Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv completely evaporated,
The post received more than 2 million views.
A pro-Iranian account also shared the same clip with the caption:
Please, for the love of all that is holy, please tell me this is true.
The post received 1.7 million views, and several other X accounts amplified the clip, totaling over 18,000 views.
Iranian state media Tasnim News Agency also shared the video and said:
Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv is destroyed. Iranian forces destroyed the Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv in a precise attack.
The post received more than 15,000 views, according to the report.
Why the claim was rated false
Fact Check said the video was launched due to its virality and public interest in the conflict. Some visual inconsistencies were observed within the footage.
Analysis showed that the vehicle in the video continued to move despite what appeared to be a massive explosion. The plume of smoke also rose in a very uniform pattern, with no natural spread as would be expected in a real fire. The report further notes that when the apparent scale shown in the clip explodes, it causes strong lighting changes and flickering reflections on surrounding surfaces that are normally invisible.
This video was tested using AI detection tools. Undetectable AI assessed that 96% of the clips were generated by AI, while Detect Video provided inconclusive results.
A reverse image search led to an Instagram post dated March 4, 2026, featuring the same video with a different caption referring to Tehran. Its caption read:
BREAKING: Explosions echoed in multiple districts overnight, and new shelling was reported in Tehran. Thick smoke was rising over parts of the horizon as authorities assessed the extent of the damage. Details of casualties have not yet been officially confirmed and the situation remains fluid.
The fact check also found an X post dated March 1, 2026, by an Israeli journalist that used images from the same video with the title:
It directly hit Tel Aviv and Haifa. casualties. It’s a huge boom in Jerusalem.
It said the same clip was also in a threaded post dated February 28, 2026, but that earlier version did not include the missing building details seen in the later viral version.
The report said these findings indicate that videos shared since April 2 contain visual patterns consistent with AI generation. It added that a keyword search did not reveal any credible international media reports about the attack on Mossad headquarters.
The claim was assessed as false, and it was concluded that the viral video did not depict an attack on Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv.
