2026 Israeli–United States strikes on Iran

[Ann K]

These days, I'd add:

Fake AI videos of spectacular, unrealistically huge explosions.
Recycled video of impressive explosions in earlier wars claimed as from the current war.
Click-bait false stories of major destruction of various well known locations on social media.
Use of real footage of missiles and anti-missile weapons, bombers, etc. from the current conflict, claimed to be UFOs.

Yes.

Minutes after Donald Trump announced that the US and Israeli governments had launched a "major combat operation" against Iran in the early hours of Saturday morning, disinformation about the attack and Tehran's response flooded X. WIRED has reviewed hundreds of posts on X, some of which have racked up millions of views, that promote misleading claims about the locations and scale of the attack.

Elon Musk's social media platform is a verifiable mess: In some cases, alleged video footage of the attack shared in posts on X are actually months or years old. In several posts, video footage of apparent attacks have been attributed to incorrect locations. A number of images shared on X appear to be altered or generated with AI. Other posts attempt to pass off video game footage as scenes from the conflict.

https://www.wired.com/story/x-is-drowning-in-disinformation-following-us-and-israels-attack-on-iran/

 

[Ann K]

View attachment 88797

Apparently he is dead.

Iranian law requires new leader "must be determined as soon as possible," according to a spokesperson for the country's powerful Guardian Council, which includes theologians selected by the country's now deceased Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"Given the wartime conditions, this will take place at the earliest opportunity," Hadi Tahan Nazif told Iranian state media outlet IRIB News today.

"The constitution has provisions for the current circumstances, and until a leader is appointed, the leadership council will assume responsibility," he added.

https://www.nbcnews.com/world/iran/...l-trump-khamenei-dead-live-updates-rcna261172

 

[Giddierone]

Conspiracy-theory related? I'm sure there will be lots.

We're in a weird place where it's no longer fringe to think there's a conspiracy of shadowy elites making decisions based solely on their own desire to stay at the top. Consider how un-fringey the argument is that this military campaign is not a beneficent gesture towards the Iranian people and is more about consolidating power in the US for a deeply corrupt administration. If this results in retaliatory attacks within the Homeland, it'll be yet another excuse to invoke a national emergency and disrupt or cancel the midterms.

 

[deirdre]

Apparently he is dead.

i said that 7 hours ago. i guess with all the noise in this thread you missed it
https://www.metabunk.org/threads/2026-israeli–united-states-strikes-on-iran.14770/post-364108

i only mention the timeline because it was hours old news when i told it. ie. the Iranians didnt "cover-it-up" for as long as has been speculated by some.

 

[Gary C]

This is just going to complicate sorting out the various video claims.

Shahed drone meets clone in US war on Iran

The Feb. 28 strikes saw the first combat use of the LUCAS, a near-copy of Iran's cheap and effective Shahed-136.

https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2026/02/shahed-drone-meets-clone-us-iran-exchange-strikes/411785/

 

[JMartJr]

Fake garbage appearing on FaceBook reals already, likely AI but could also be video game graphics or old footage:

(Presumably Iranian) fighter jet attacks US battleship from WWII era.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1470808427733599


Another battleship attacked

Source: https://www.facebook.com/reel/2366578217120066


Not sure if AI or just old footage of sky divers with pyrotechnics -- I doubt there are many people out for a boat ride during the air strikes.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/reel/2169541627209445

 

[MapperGuy]

The first two might be from the World of Warships computer game, with some real footage added in. I have never played it, but the games graphics appear to be high quality.

World of Warships

 

[John J.]

Fake garbage appearing on FaceBook reals already, likely AI but could also be video game graphics or old footage:

(Presumably Iranian) fighter jet attacks US battleship from WWII era.

Yep, definitely garbage. Those aren't modern ships.

The attacking aircraft in the first clip has canards (the small wings ahead of the main wings) and a tail boom, it's probably meant to be a Sukhoi Su-30 or Su-33, possibly a related Chinese type, Shenyang J-11 or J-15. All developed from the Su-27 Flanker.
The Su-30 has been widely exported but not to Iran; Su-33 is only in service with the Russian Navy, the Shenyangs are only used by China.

The Iranian air force doesn't operate any aircraft with canards AFAIK.

See "List of aircraft of the Iranian Air Force", Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_of_the_Iranian_Air_Force, hover cursor over aircraft names for a photo of each type.