Fact Check: Photos of Khamenei's Death Flagged as AI-Generated

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Several images showing the body of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have circulated on Facebook [archive] and X. In these social media posts, he is depicted pinned beneath the rubble of a building with blood pouring from his forehead.

Another photo shows an elderly man's head buried in dust and dirt. These images emerged alongside news of Khamenei's death following a US-Israeli strike on Iran on February 28, 2026.

Do these photos truly capture Khamenei's final moments?

FACT CHECK

Tempo verified the images using Google’s reverse image search, credible media reports, and artificial intelligence detection tools. The investigation revealed that the circulating photos were created using artificial intelligence (AI).

Not Khamenei's Body

Tempo tested the photos of Khamenei, who was confirmed dead on March 1, using two detection tools: AI or Not and Image Whisperer.

The analysis by AI or Not determined that the photo of a man amid the ruins was 100 percent likely to be AI-generated. According to the tool, the image was likely produced by the GPT-4o model.

Meanwhile, Image Whisperer categorized the content as "Likely AI-Generated."

For the next photo, Tempo utilized Google’s reverse image search to locate a full-face version to optimize the detection tool's performance.

This image of an elderly man’s head among the ruins was traced back to the Instagram account @karbala_our_destination. Tempo then analyzed it with AI or Not and Image Whisperer.

AI or Not classified the photo as a deepfake, noting significant irregularities, while Image Whisperer also flagged it as potentially AI-generated.

US-Israeli Strike on Iran

As reported by Tempo, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was confirmed dead by the Iranian government on March 1, 2026, one day after the United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran. The Iranian government subsequently declared a 40-day period of mourning and a week-long national holiday.

In addition to Khamenei, Iranian state media outlet Fars reported that several members of his family were killed in the strike. According to Al Arabiya and sources close to the Supreme Leader's family, Khamenei's daughter, son-in-law, grandson, and daughter-in-law were among the deceased.

However, no legitimate news reports have featured photographs of the bodies of the Supreme Leader or his family members.

Photos that are circulating show Iranians pouring into the streets to escort Khamenei's casket and expressing grief over his passing, as documented by Al Jazeera, the New York Times, and the Guardian.

Some outlets, such as the Associated Press, published photos of Khamenei taken while he was still alive just days prior.

ABC News published images of the Leadership Building complex destroyed during the US-Israeli attack, which allegedly led to the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

CONCLUSION

Based on Tempo's investigation, the photos circulating that claim to show the body of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after his death are false.

TEMPO FACT-CHECK TEAM

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