Questions have been raised about the widespread authenticity of the widely shared video online to demonstrate the strike at Iran's Evin prison.
According to Reuters, Tehran's facility has been the main prison for housing for political detainees since Iran's 1979 revolution.
The agency said it was the site of the execution and that several well-known foreign prisoners were detained there.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the troops were on strike in Tehran on Monday, including Evin.
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Foreign Minister Gideon Sarle shared a black and white video claiming to be showing security camera videos of the strike at the prison gates.
The 6-second clip shows the prison gates that explode just before the 2-second mark.
The straight doors wobble in an unusual way.
Slowing the video gives you signs of the AI generation.
ABC News Verification showed the video to Hany Farid, co-founder and chief science officer of GetReal, a platform that deals with deepfake threats.
He is also a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and specializes in media forensics.
“Unfortunately, the quality of the video is too poor for a proper analysis using forensics or models,” Professor Farid said.
“That said, I have doubts about the credibility of this video.“
GetReal's forensic team tracked early versions of the video on a telegram channel called the “Iranian Human Rights Association.”
“Now is the time to help prisoners,” the post read.
Getreal has also found an image of prison since 2023.
The image was taken from an Iranian news website article posted in 2023. (VOA News))
Matching the first frame of the video, the team notices that the surrounding branches and shrubs are “oddly naked during the summer.”
The 2023 image matches the first frame of the video. (GetReal))
“It seems likely that an interimage generator with AI was used using this image as a source,” Professor Farid said.
The top left of the video also reads the country's “Camera 07”, where the dominant language is Persian rather than English.
Video confirms strike
ABC News confirmation does not suggest that Evin had no Israeli strikes, but it is possible that this “security camera video” was generated or manipulated by AI in other ways.
Other videos from around the prison show smoke in the area, geographically located and can be verified.
This appears to be taken from the north of the prison, heading behind the complex.
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The footage of security cameras in the right location of the Israeli strike was included in reports by major press agencies after being shared by senior minister Sa'ar.
Some included footnotes in their stories about the strike at Evin after deleting the video.
“It appears that one clip has been manipulated to show the moment of strike captured by security cameras, and references to it have been removed,” reads The New York Times.
Checking the video is more difficult as it shows the actual locations that can be found in Google Street View.
The Google Maps Street view image shows similar details to the security camera clip. (Google Maps))
Fake content is circulating
Professor Farid said that if the video is proven to be fake, it is a concern.
“It adds to the growing nasty trend of fake content circulating online as major world events unfold, and understands at best what's going on and how to deal with instability,” he told ABC News Verify.
There have been many examples of fake images and videos circulating since the start of the Israeli-Iran war.
The post incorrectly claims that Tel Aviv is engulfed in flames, and there is one image showing the building carrying the logo of Israel-based weapons maker Rafael.
These images incorrectly claim that Tel Aviv is engulfed in flames. (supply))
The fake video was also posted online, claiming it would show a downed B-2 bomber.
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In the AI-generated clip, one man behind the frame appears to be fused with the background.
