Iran drew huge crowds for former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s funeral procession in Tehran, documented by international news agencies. But alongside genuine images pf mourners, AI-generated videos and photos falsely claiming to show the event have spread widely online. Some exaggerate crowd size, while others contain tell-tale AI errors and fabricated landmarks to rack up clicks and engagement.
Huge crowds gathered in Tehran on Monday as Iran held the funeral procession for former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. International news agencies documented dense crowds lining the streets as Khamenei’s coffin was carried through the capital, following two days lying in state at the Grand Mosalla mosque.
But alongside verified images of the procession and crowds, a wave of misleading AI-generated videos and photos has spread across social media, falsely claiming to show the event.
One widely shared video by pro-regime accounts was viewed hundreds of thousands of times and claimed to depict the “largest funeral in history.” However, several clues indicate it was generated using artificial intelligence. Not only is the Persian text in the clip meaningless gibberish, the mosque itself differs architecturally from Tehran’s Grand Mosalla: the viral video depicts a white dome, whereas in reality – and as viewed in images reported by our FRANCE 24 correspondent – the actual mosque’s dome is blue.
The same pattern appears elsewhere online. Another viral AI-generated image falsely claimed to show crowds gathered around Tehran’s Azadi Tower. OpenAI‘s image detection identified a SynthID watermark, indicating the picture was created using its AI tools. The image also contains geographical inconsistencies, including rows of trees and buildings that do not appear in recent satellite imagery of Azadi Square.
A separate AI-generated video, viewed more than a million times, appears to show millions of mourners carrying Khamenei’s coffin through packed streets. But the footage contains several common AI artefacts, including distorted hands, unrealistic crowd movement and a lack of distinct facial features.
Misleading content surrounding major news events typically falls into three categories: old footage presented as new, genuine images taken out of context, or entirely AI-generated media. In the case of Khamenei’s funeral, much of the viral misinformation circulating online is synthetic.
Vedika Bahl separates fact and fiction in Truth or Fake.
This story originally appeared on France24
