Since Israel began bombing Iran last Friday and Iran fought back in retaliation, the battlefield has not only remained on the ground, but has expanded to include the internet. A huge amount of disinformation spreads on both sides. Mostly old videos are reused as current material. DW Fact Check also found videos generated in AI created to spread misinformation.
DW Fact Check exposes some of them and tells you what to watch out for and how to check the content yourself.
Claim: Video clip compilation shows multiple bombings from nighttime air, explosions and fire. With a one-minute video shared on Tiktok “No Mercy – Israel launches a revenge attack on Iran” is written in capital letters. In the caption, the user reiterates the claim that “Israel bombed Iran mercilessly.” The video has been viewed over 2.8 million times.
DW Fact Check: error
The video does not show the current conflict between Iran and Israel. They were 22 years old and date back to the US bombing in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, in 2003.
Reverse image search for stills from compilations reveals two sources that prove the time and place of the video sequence. The first sequence of Tiktok videos is part of a longer video compilation of the night bombing in Iraq issued by US media outlet CNN. (2:46pm).
The sequence starting at 0:31 on Tiktok can be found here At Getty Images Photo Agency.
In conflict situations, old footage and photographs are often shared from context. In this case, many users noted in the comments section that the video shows the US on strike in Baghdad. If you are unsure whether the video shows current conflicts, the first clue is to check other users' comments. However, users may misuse this to soothe their suspicions and claim that the real material is generated or mislabeled by AI.
This video is also an example of how unreliable AI chatbots can be as fact checking tools, as DW Fact Check writes in detail here. In the comments section below X posts containing this video, some users turned to X's AI chatbot Grok to see how the video is displayed.
Grok responded incorrectly“It is likely to mark an Iranian missile strike in Tel Aviv on June 16, 2025” Grok even fought The answer is based on reports from the CNN, the BBC, and the Guardian. These sources confirm similar events with no evidence to suggest that the video is from another location.” This is not true.
When providing further questions about the video showing Baghdad in 2003, Grok AI chatbots stick to their own theory, “However, they argue that the 2003 Iraq War footage cannot be completely dismissed. There is no similar visual.
As DW Fact Check shows, there is clear evidence that the video dates back to 2003.
The same or similar version of the video is also spreading to claim that it is said to indicate Israel's bombing of Iran. These claims appear here in Arabic Or Urdu Or, in the French version of Pravdaa website known to be part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
AI-generated content becomes more and more realistic
Claim: The 16-second video clip shows a bird's-eye view of the city of massive destruction and collapsed buildings. The location stamps in the video are listed in the Arabic “Tel Aviv.” This video is widely shared on X, for example by Iranian media outlet Tehran Times.which we call the “The End of Tel Aviv.” It has been viewed over 1.9 million times. Video is shared in Arabic Similarly, “It's rare. This isn't Gaza, it's Tel Aviv.”
DW Fact Check: fake
The video is not real. AI is generated. It shows no destruction in Tel Aviv.
Reverse image search revealed that the video was released on Tiktok on May 28thbefore the current escalation between Israel and Iran. The bio in the account says “AI resistance.” Many of the videos published on this account are generated by AI.
Two clear clues reveal that the video is being generated by AI, and are shown in the screenshot below. In the back, the two cars meet up while driving towards each other at 0:07 in the video. At the bottom, the shade on the roof gives it. Shadows of cylindrical objects must be parallel as a physics rule, as the sun is far apart as a source of light. But that's not the case. On the roof on the left, the shadows point slightly towards the left than the roof on the right.
In the upper left corner, the two cars join while they drive towards each other. At the bottom, the shadows of the cylindrical objects on the roof must be aligned at the same angle. The building on the left is heading to the left than the building on the right.
According to AI expert Hany Farid, the video was created by AI Model Veo3. As he stated in a post on social network LinkedIn. Farid is a professor of information in Berkeley, California, California, and works in the field of digital forensics. He is the co-founder of GetReal, which aims to detect AI deepfakes.
How to find videos generated by AI?
Farid said the AI model currently has a maximum shot length of 8-10 seconds for a single video sequence. If the video has this maximum length or consists of multiple short shots, it indicates that the video can be generated by AI.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to tell with the naked eye whether video is generated by AI. Tools are getting better and better with the creation of highly realistic videos. If you are in doubt, try finding the video version in high resolution. Take care if the video looks rough or is of low resolution. Visual inconsistencies are much more difficult to find in rough videos, so disinformation people can use downscaling to hide operations to hide operations.
A low video quality can also indicate that the clip has been downloaded and uploaded multiple times. This usually reduces video quality. In this case, the original video posted to Tiktok has a much better resolution than the other versions.
Videos of Chinese chemical explosions have been misused
Claim: Many virus tweets in X including thisclaims in Arabic that it has received 2.1 million views at the time of writing, the video shows an Iranian bomb destroying weapons stocks in Tel Aviv. “A huge Iranian bomb fell, destroying the weapons depot in Tel Aviv, causing the largest explosion in the history of the occupying group.”
Another post They share the same video and claim it shows Iran's strike in Israel. Here, the Post claims it shows an explosion at Haifa port after the Iranian attack. “The explosion at Haifa port is scheduled to be remembered in history as one of Iran's most deadly and strategically devastating strikes. The witnesses were unfolded before their eyes, leaving them shocking.”
DW Fact Check: error
The video does not show the explosion in Israel caused by the Iranian attack. Haifa and Tel Aviv are not displayed. Reverse image search reveals that the footage is much older And from a completely different region. It shows a chemical explosion at a factory in Tianjin Port in northern China. The incident occurred on August 12, 2015, killing 173 people. According to Chinese authorities.
It's not the first time this video has been presented in the wrong context. The same video was presented incorrectly in 2023 Turkish nuclear power plants are on fire after the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria in February.
Emad Hassan and Kathrin Wesolowski contributed to this report.
Edited by Rachel Byig
