Is the video of Iran announcing the new leader with a cardboard cutout of Ayatollah Mojtaba Hosseini real? No, that's not true: In the original video, a framed photo of the Ayatollah is presented and not a cardboard cutout. An online AI detection tool found the video was 73.5% likely generated with AI.
The claim appeared in a March 10, 2026, video posted on X account @MahyarTousi (archived here). It opened with this caption:
Mojtaba Khamenei couldn't turn up so they had to use his cardboard cutout.
Why is his head so big and why did they use a photo of him that looks so miserable? 😂
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Image source: post of @MahyarTousi on X.)
The video was originally posted on the X account @snntv_fa of Iranian state news agency SNN, and showed a framed image of the Ayatollah being presented on stage, not a cardboard cutout of him (archived here). It was captioned:
The moment of announcing the leadership of Ayatollah Sayyid Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei as the third leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran's system in the holy shrine of Her Holiness Fatima Masumeh (peace be upon her).
لحظه اعلام رهبری آیت الله سید مجتبی حسینی خامنه ای به عنوان سومین رهبر نظام جمهوری اسلامی ایران در حرم مطهر حضرت فاطمه معصومه سلام الله علیها pic.twitter.com/PNLMa5e2rz
-- SNN.ir | خبرگزاری دانشجو (@snntv_fa) March 9, 2026
Here is a screenshot of the framed image being presented:
(Image source: post of @snntv_fa on X.)
The cardboard Ayatollah meme circulated widely on social media amid the U.S. attack on Iran. Lead Stories debunked the claim that President Trump unveiled a cardboard Ayatollah in the Oval Office here.
Hive Moderation AI-Generated Content Detection tool confirmed that the video was "likely to be: AI-Generated" with a score of 73.5%. The higher the score, the greater the AI content. Here is the screenshot of the Hive rating:
(Image source: Hive Moderation.)
