Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new Supreme Leader, has an official social media profile now. However, the photo used has reportedly been ‘manipulated with AI’.
Khamenei has been chosen as Iran‘s new Supreme Leader, after his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in joint US-Israel strikes on Tehran.
Shayan Sardarizadeh of BBC Verify shared on X “This image of Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, which has been widely published by Iranian media today and now appears on his new X account, appears to have been manipulated with AI.” The journalist, who among other things, specializes in AI, and disinformation, added “Google’s SynthID finds watermarks in it that indicate it has been edited using Google AI.”
He further stated that the photo was actually not a recent one, but from a picture published several years ago. “A cropped reverse image search finds what appears to be the original version of the photo published several years ago. It shows Mojataba at a pro-government rally. The background and those surrounding him seem to have been edited and removed using AI,” the journalist added on the X post.
Several people reacted to this revelation. “He probably didn’t make it past the first day,” one person stated, adding to rumors of Khamenei’s son having been killed. Notably, Mojtaba Khamenei is alive as per Iranian officials, but was injured at the start of the war.
Mojtaba Khamenei: Coma, injury reports
Mojtaba Khamenei is reportedly in a coma as per The Sun. “One or two of his legs have been cut off. His liver or stomach has also ruptured. He is apparently in a coma as well,” the publication cited a source say.
Iranian officials had earlier said that Khamenei had sustained injuries, including to his legs. However, they did not elaborate further.
However, Yousef Pezeshkian, the son of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and a government adviser, has said that the new supreme leader is “safe and sound”.
A statement from Mojtaba Khamenei, read out by a news anchor on the Iranian state TV broadcast said Iran would not hesitate to ‘avenge the blood of Iranians’ who have been killed and vowed to carry on attacks on Dubai as well as block off the critical Strait of Hormuz, as per the publication.
