Iran

Did Karoline Leavitt say, "It's hard for President Trump to make key decisions on Iran when he doesn't have enough intelligence"? No, that's not true: The White House press secretary never remarked that Trump "doesn't have enough intelligence." The fake quote was published by a humorist on social media. There are no records of her making the comment on the…

Is a video showing an Iranian ballistic missile attack on a U.S. aircraft carrier real? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Iran hit a U.S. aircraft carrier with ballistic missiles, and no credible news organizations had reported such an incident as of July 24, 2026. Plus, an online AI detection tool concluded that the video was very…

Does a viral video actually document an attack by a giant reptile? No, that's not true: After a visual inspection, Lead Stories found signs of AI-generated content in the video. Three online detectors concluded the clip was between 99 and 99.9% likely made by generative AI. The claim appeared in a post (archived here and here) on X where it…

Is this an actual video of the Iranian attack on a base in Jordan used by U.S. forces on July 17, 2026? No, that's not true: There is no evidence the clip depicts an actual attack. An online AI detection tool concluded that the video was likely AI-generated, assigning it an 80.9% confidence score. Additionally, the account that posted the…

Does an image posted by President Donald Trump on his Truth Social account as evidence of "retribution" against Iran show a U.S. bombing in July 2026? No, that's not true: The photo shows a previous attack on Iran by Israel that took place more than a year earlier, on June 15, 2025. Trump got the image from another social media…

Did New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani only put Iran's flag on New York subway trains? No, that's not true: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which serves New York City, Long Island, southeastern New York State, and Connecticut, decorated trains to represent each of the 48 countries competing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Each train features the colors of a competing…

Do real images show FIFA President Gianni Infantino attending two World Cup games that took place simultaneously in different cities? No, that's not true: The photos have been edited to give the appearance that he was present at two matches occurring at the same time. Instead, they show different games on different days. The claim appeared in a post and…

Is this a real photo showing Pride rainbow flags on the field ahead of the Iran-Egypt World Cup game in Seattle on June 26, 2026? No, that's not true: The image is AI-generated, an online detection tool identified it as such by detecting a SynthID watermark. There are no credible reports that Pride flags appeared on the field before the…

Did Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni publicly point out to President Donald Trump that, out of the nine countries with nuclear weapons, the United States is the only one that has used them? No, that's not true: The quote is completely made up. There is no evidence or actual credible news reports of Meloni making such a comment. The video…

Was Iran soccer player Mohammed Mohebi deported from the U.S. following the June 15, 2026, FIFA World Cup game against New Zealand? No, that's not true: When contacted by Lead Stories, the Department of Homeland Security denied the online speculation. Lead Stories found no credible media reports that Mohebi had been deported. The claim appeared in a post (archived here…