Iran Israel

Does a real photo show an Iranian player displaying a symbolic school backpack at the World Cup? No, that's not true: An AI detection tool determined that the image was 99.8% "likely to be AI-generated." There are no credible reports that an Iranian player held up the backpack. The symbol previously has been exhibited in honor of schoolgirls killed when…

Does a video featuring a burning fuel tank rolling away after an explosion show an event in Iran in June 2026? No, that's not true: The footage shows an explosion at a gas station in Chechnya, a republic within the Russian Federation, in October 2024, not Iran. The clip also appeared on a social media account labeled as a parody.…

Does a video show an Iranian missile strike on Israeli or U.S. assets in early June 2026? No, that's not true: The explosion shown in the video occurred at a fireworks factory in Malta. The powerful blast injured two people at the Ta' Lourdes fireworks factory on June 1, 2026. The claim appeared in a post and video (archived here)…

Does a video show an actual U.S. strike on the Iranian drone carrier IRIS Shahid Bagheri or any Iranian aircraft carrier? No, that's not true: The clip is AI-generated and labeled "Made with AI." An AI detection tool also concluded that the video was "likely AI-generated." Additionally, visual and audio analysis revealed U.S. fighter jets on the flight deck and…

Is there a real set of pictures of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wearing a Palestinian flag scarf and slapping Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? No, that's not true: The pictures are screenshots from an AI-generated video. Additionally, as of April there are no reports of Meloni slapping Netanyahu. The claim appeared in a post made on X by the…

Does a real video show Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni ignoring and walking away from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that the incident portrayed in the clip ever took place. An AI detection tool also found that "the video is likely AI-generated" after assessing the content. The claim…

Did Al Jazeera broadcast a report stating that NATO countries shared intel with Iran on U.S. military movements? No, that's not true: Lead Stories did not find evidence of such a report. The video claiming to be the Al Jazeera report contained an AI-generated voice-over. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on April 22, 2026.…

Did President Donald Trump say Israel is "a far more important ally than the American people"? No, that is not true: The supposed post does not appear on the president's official Truth Social account, and there are no reliable reports that it ever did. While Trump did praise Israel as "a GREAT Ally of the United States of America" in…

Did Pope Leo XIV say, "Iran can have a nuclear weapon," as President Donald Trump suggested on the White House lawn in April 2026? No, that's not true: The pope has repeatedly argued against war and denounced nuclear weapons. In March 2026, he posted on X, "Let us #PrayTogether that nations move toward effective disarmament, particularly nuclear disarmament, and that…

Did CNN rely on an unnamed "fake news site from Nigeria" to report on Iran's ceasefire statements on April 7, 2026, as U.S. President Donald Trump claimed? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no evidence that CNN relied on a Nigerian website. The initial CNN report said that the statement attributed directly to the Supreme National Security Council was…