#FactCheck - AI-Generated Video Falsely Claims Death of Iran’s Supreme Leader

Research Wing
Research Wing
Innovation and Research
PUBLISHED ON
Mar 3, 2026
10

Executive Summary

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was reportedly killed in a major attack carried out by Israel and the United States, with claims circulating that Iranian state media confirmed his death early Sunday morning. Amid these claims, a video is being widely shared on social media. The viral video shows a body trapped under debris. Users sharing the clip claim that the body seen in the footage is that of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. However, research conducted by CyberPeace found the viral claim to be false. Our research revealed that the video is not authentic but AI-generated.

Claim:

On March 1, 2026, an Instagram user shared the viral video with the caption: “Shaheed Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei — Neither fled nor hid in a bunker, embraced death like a brave man.” The link to the post and its archived version are provided below along with a screenshot.

Fact Check:

Upon closely examining the viral video, we noticed several visual irregularities and technical inconsistencies. This raised suspicion about its authenticity. We then scanned the video using the AI detection tool Hive Moderation. The results indicated that approximately 83 percent of the content showed signs of being AI-generated.

To further verify the claim, we also analyzed the video using another AI detection tool, WasItAI. The findings similarly suggested that the video was generated using artificial intelligence.

Conclusion:

Our research establishes that the viral video is not real. It has been artificially generated using AI and is being shared with misleading claims.

PUBLISHED ON
Mar 3, 2026
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#FactCheck
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