Iran used AI on new photo of unseen Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, report claims

Questions are being raised over the authenticity of new images of Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei after a BBC Verify journalist said photos circulated by Iranian media appear to have been manipulated using artificial intelligence.

Shayan Sardarizadeh, a senior journalist with BBC Verify who specializes in disinformation and online verification, said the widely shared photo of the new Iranian leader shows signs of AI editing.

“This image of Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, which has been widely published by Iranian media today and now appears on his new X account, appears to have been manipulated with AI,” Sardarizadeh wrote in a post on X.

According to the journalist, analysis of the picture suggests it was altered using AI tools rather than being a newly captured image.

“Google’s SynthID finds watermarks in it that indicate it has been edited using Google AI,” Sardarizadeh said.

He added that the photo appears to be derived from an older image rather than a recent photograph of Khamenei.

“A cropped reverse image search finds what appears to be the original version of the photo published several years ago,” he wrote. “It shows Mojtaba at a pro-government rally. The background and those surrounding him seem to have been edited and removed using AI.”

The image has been widely circulated by Iranian state media and is now displayed on Khamenei’s newly created account on X. Metadata linked to the account reportedly shows it is based in the Netherlands.

The emergence of the altered image has fueled speculation about the condition of Iran’s new leader, who has not appeared in public since being appointed earlier this week following the death of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Reports have suggested Mojtaba Khamenei was wounded during the strike that killed his father on February 28. Since then, no verified recent photographs or public appearances have been released.

Some reports, including claims cited by The Sun, allege that the new leader may be in a coma and undergoing intensive care at Sina University Hospital in Tehran. “One or two of his legs have been cut off. His liver or stomach has also ruptured. He is apparently in a coma as well,” the publication cited a source as saying.

Iranian officials, however, have rejected speculation about the leader’s condition. Yousef Pezeshkian, the son of President Masoud Pezeshkian and a government adviser, said Mojtaba Khamenei was “safe and sound” despite reports that he had been injured during the strikes that killed his father.

“I heard news that Mr Mojtaba Khamenei had been injured. I asked some friends who had connections, and they told me that, thank God, he is safe and sound,” Pezeshkian wrote in a post on Telegram, according to AFP.

Other Iranian sources have disputed those claims, saying Khamenei only suffered relatively minor injuries, including a fractured foot, bruising around the eye and facial cuts during the initial wave of airstrikes.

Analysts say the lack of public appearances may be intentional while Iran attempts to project stability during the ongoing conflict.

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