The satellite image posted by an Iranian outlet of a destroyed US facility in Qatar almost looked real, but it was an AI-generated image, highlighting the disinformation campaign Tehran is undertaking.
The rise of AI has dramatically boosted propagandists’ ability to manufacture plausible satellite imagery during major wars, a trend that researchers warn carries real-world security implications.
As the US-Israeli war against Iran rages, Tehran Times, posted on X, a “before vs. after” image it claimed showed “completely destroyed” US radar equipment at a base in Qatar.
It turned out to be an AI-manipulated version of a Google Earth image from last year of a US base in Bahrain, researchers said.
The subtle visual giveaways included a row of cars parked in identical positions in both the authentic satellite photo and the manipulated image.
Yet the AI image garnered millions of views as it spread across social media in multiple languages, illustrating how users are increasingly failing to distinguish reality from fiction on platforms saturated with AI-generated visuals.
Brady Africk, an open-source intelligence researcher, noted an “increase in manipulated satellite imagery” appearing on social media in the wake of major events, including the Middle East war.
“Many of these manipulated images have the hallmarks of imperfect AI-generation: odd angles, blurred details, and hallucinated features that don’t align with reality,” Africk told AFP.
“Others appear to be an image manipulated manually, often by superimposing indicators of damage or another change on a satellite image that had no such details to begin with,” he said.
Information warfare analyst Tal Hagin flagged another AI-generated satellite image purporting to show that Israeli-US jets had targeted the painted silhouette of an aircraft on the ground in Iran, while Tehran seemingly moved real planes elsewhere.
The telltale clues included gibberish coordinates embedded in the fake image, which spread across sites including Instagram, Threads, and X.
AFP detected a SynthID, an invisible watermark meant to identify images created using Google AI.
The fabricated satellite images follow the emergence of imposter OSINT accounts on social media that appear to undermine the work of credible digital investigators.
“Due to the fog of war, it can be very difficult to determine the success of an adversary’s strikes. OSINT came as a solution, using public satellite imagery to circumvent the censorship” inside countries like Iran, Hagin said.
“But it’s now being preyed upon by disinformation agents,” he added.
Reports of fake satellite imagery created or edited using AI also followed the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the four-day war between India and Pakistan last year.
“Manipulated satellite imagery, like other forms of misinformation, can have real-world impacts when people act on the information they come across without verifying its authenticity,” Africk said.
“This can have effects that range from influencing public opinion on a major issue, like whether or not a country should engage in conflict, to impacting financial markets.”
In the age of AI, authentic high-resolution satellite imagery collected in real time can give decision-makers vital clues to assess security threats and debunk falsehoods from unverified sources.
During a recent militant attack on Niamey airport in Niger, satellite intelligence company Vantor said it detected images circulating online purporting to show the main civilian terminal on fire.
The company’s own satellite imagery helped confirm that the photos were fake, almost certainly generated using AI, Vantor’s Tomi Maxted told AFP.
“When a satellite image is presented as visual evidence in the context of war, it can easily influence how people interpret events,” Bo Zhao, from the University of Washington, told AFP.
As AI-generated imagery grows increasingly convincing, it is “important for the public to approach such visual content with caution and critical awareness,” Zhao said.
Meanwhile, Iran fired missiles at Israel early Monday in the name of the Islamic Republic’s new leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.
An announcer on state television solemnly read a statement from the 88-member Assembly of Experts next to a picture of the new 56-year-old leader, who bears a striking resemblance to his father.
Mojtaba Khamenei “is appointed and introduced as the third leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran, based on the decisive vote of the respected representatives of the Assembly of Experts”, the statement said.
It said the clerical body “did not hesitate for a minute” in choosing a new leader despite “the brutal aggression of the criminal America and the evil Zionist regime”.
State media soon afterwards showed a projectile said to be launched at Israel bearing the slogan, “At Your Command, Sayyid Mojtaba”, using an Islamic honorific.
The younger Khamenei is considered a fellow hardliner who could pursue his father’s rejection of dissent. US President Donald Trump had previously dismissed the younger Khamenei as a “lightweight” and insisted that he should have a say in appointing a new leader.
“If he doesn’t get approval from us, he’s not going to last long,” he told ABC News before the announcement was made. Israel’s military had also warned any successor that “we will not hesitate to target you”.
The notorious IRGC quickly pledged support for the new leader, who comes into the role with far less experience than his father. The Guards Corps said in a statement it was “ready for complete obedience and self-sacrifice in carrying out the divine commands” of the younger Khamenei.
Agence France-Presse (AFP)
