Huge crowds gathered in Tehran on July 7, 2026, for the funeral procession of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with international news agencies documenting dense crowds lining the streets as his coffin was carried through the capital after two days lying in state at the Grand Mosalla mosque.

Alongside verified images, a surge of AI-generated videos and photos falsely claiming to show the funeral event have circulated widely on social media. Some of these fakes exaggerate the size of the crowds, while others contain clear AI errors and fabricated landmarks designed to attract clicks and engagement.

One widely shared video by pro-regime accounts, claiming to depict the "largest funeral in history," was viewed hundreds of thousands of times. However, analysis revealed several signs it was AI-generated: the Persian text in the clip was meaningless gibberish, and the mosque shown had a white dome, differing architecturally from Tehran's Grand Mosalla, which has a blue dome as confirmed by on-site images.

Another viral AI-generated image falsely showed crowds gathered around Tehran's Azadi Tower, but contained geographical inconsistencies such as rows of trees and buildings not present in recent satellite imagery of Azadi Square.

These misleading AI creations highlight the challenges of verifying visual content amid significant public events.

Sources