Iran

Are viral posts claiming Cole Allen, the suspect in the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting, worked as a driver for dozens of celebrities real? No, that's not true: The false claim is part of an AI-generated series of articles and posts created by a spam operation managed from Vietnam. Fake fan pages are used to target North American and European…

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.…

Are the eight women in a Truth Social post by President Donald Trump, purportedly facing execution in Iran, actually AI-generated? No, that's not true: The women are real and are facing a variety of charges, Iran Human Rights in Oslo, Norway, told Lead Stories. The organization said, "Only one of the women has a death sentence," though others faced death-related…

Does a verified report say President Donald Trump tried to "access the nuclear codes" but was blocked by Gen. Dan Caine, as claimed by retired CIA analyst Larry Johnson? No, that's not true: There are no credible or verified reports indicating that such an incident ever occurred. While Johnson said on a podcast that there was a report of this…

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 Donald Trump post on Truth Social that he has access to "the Vatican files", boasting he could "bring down the Papacy, the Vatican and the entire Catholic Church overnight"? No, that's not true: This is a fake post that never appeared on Truth Social. A search of Google News showed no reporting about this post being made or deleted.…

Did Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, storm out of an emergency meeting after President Donald Trump said he wanted to threaten Iran with nuclear weapons? No, that's not true: There are no credible or verified reports indicating that such an incident ever occurred. While news coverage has documented internal discussions and differing views within the…

Does a social media post by President Donald Trump call Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese "Airbus"? No, that's 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. The image of the fake post also uses a different font than that used on Truth Social.…

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 Pope Leo XIV misquote Jesus as saying, "Blessed are the peacemakers, but woe to those who manipulate religion"? No, that's not true: The pope wasn't reading a Scripture passage at the time; he was delivering a homily on peace while in Bamenda, Cameroon, on a tour of Africa. The sentence in question excerpted a famous line from the Gospel…