Iran

Did Donald Trump post on Truth Social that he would be "vaporizing an entire nation of ANIMALS" on Tuesday? No, that's not true: There is no evidence such a post was published on Trump's account. The profile description of the account that posted a screenshot of the non-existent Trump post stated its posts were for amusement, suggesting it is a…

Did a Texas televangelist send his congregation his Grindr account in an Easter morning e-card in April 2026? No, that's not true: The story originated in a post on X by a satirical account and was subsequently reshared on Facebook without the satire disclaimer. There are no reliable reports to support such an incident or claim. The claim appeared in…

Does a video show American F-15 pilot Col. David Eberly after he was captured by Iran in April 2026? No, that's not true: The video shared on social media in the days after an American F-15 fighter jet was shot down during a mission over Iran shows Col. Eberly after his F-15 was shot down over Iraq and he was…

Does a photo show a "captured" American in Iran wearing an authentic U.S. military uniform? No, that's not true: The image is AI-generated, and online detection tools indicate it is fake, including a SynthID watermark indicating it was created or edited using Google AI tools. There are no reliable reports of an American service member being taken captive by Iran.…

Is an image of a smiling man in a combat uniform holding an American flag a real photo of a U.S. F-15 crew member after his rescue from Iran? No, that's not true: An AI content detection tool determined the image was AI-generated. The fake image fooled some people on social media, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who reposted it…

Did President Donald Trump post a warning on his Truth Social account on Easter morning, April 5, 2026, that the United States would soon attack Iran's power plants and bridges and demanding that Iran "Open the Fuckin' Strait"? Yes, that's true: While it is not unusual for fake Trump posts to be widely shared on social platforms, Lead Stories confirmed…

Does a real video show two crewmembers parachuting to the ground after ejecting from a damaged U.S. F-15 fighter jet over Iran? No, that's not true: A content detection tool determined with 99.9 percent confidence that the video was AI generated. While an F-15 was shot down over Iran on April 3, 2026, only one of the two crewmembers had…

Does a video show burning tower buildings in Tel Aviv following Iranian strikes in April 2026? No, that's not true: The video shows a deadly fire in Hong Kong in November 2025. The footage is not related to the Middle East conflict. The claim appeared in an April 1, 2026, post on X account @drhossamsamy65 (archived here). It opened: 🔴…

Does a viral image actually show a U.S. Army helicopter that crashed in Iran on April 3, 2026? No, that's not true: The picture was online more than a year earlier. It was published in Honduras in March 2025. The claim appeared in a post (archived here and here) published by the @TheLaikYobaz account on X on April 3, 2026.…

Is this real footage of an American F-15 fighter jet being shot down by Iran? No, that's not true: The clip appears to come from a military simulation video game, and the same video was posted online about a month before the reported shootdown of a U.S. F-15 in Iran in early April 2026. An online AI detection tool estimated…