Iran · 31 August, 2026 · 3 min read
Donald Trump Posts AI Video Saying Iran’s Hadar Island Is Being Destroyed
Trump posted an AI-generated video claiming Iran’s Kharg Island was being blown apart. There was no evidence Kharg Island was attacked; officials denied targeting it.
Whether the AI video shows real destruction of Kharg/Karg/Jarg island.
3 of 4 outlets skipped it: no immediate Iranian response to Trump’s AI video.
Anadolu Ajansı was read line by line by the Watchdog: 5.6. See the score →
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El Independiente
“Trump shared this Sunday a video generated with AI on Truth Social, showing the destruction of Iran’s island of Jarg, the country’s main oil terminal.”
Translated from the original.
Read the original ↗BBC
“Hours later Trump posted apparent AI videos on Truth Social showing oil infrastructure exploding.”Read the original ↗
El Independiente treats Trump’s AI post as destruction, while BBC frames it as AI footage.
AI post meets strikes
President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social an AI-generated video clip saying Iran’s Hadar Island, described as an energy hub in Iran, “is being destroyed,” while Reuters reported the accompanying video showed massive explosions likely generated from a factory using software that detects altered images created by artificial intelligence.
“saying that Hadar Island, which is a energy hub in Iran, "is being destroyed."”
A US official told Reuters on Monday that the army did not target the island in its late Sunday–Monday raids, and US Central Command said it took “limited, precise” action against IRGC mine-laying forces in the Strait of Hormuz.
In contrast, Hamid Bourd, CEO of Iran’s National Oil Company, told the Iranian Fars agency that the situation on Hadar Island in southern Iran was “calm and stable,” and said oil activities there have not stopped for a moment.
The BBC reported that US and Iran traded strikes after American forces attacked two rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz, with the first known US strikes on Iran since late July killing two people and injuring two others, according to the IRGC.B
Retaliation and competing claims
Iran said it struck US military bases in Jordan in response, with Jordan’s army saying it had intercepted eight missiles early on Monday morning, while the UAE Ministry of Defence denied reports that Al-Minhad Air Base had been targeted as “unfounded” and confirmed it shot down a drone.
The BBC added that Iranian state TV also said the Iranian army had targeted an air base in the UAE with drones, and that Iran’s foreign ministry said on Monday it “strongly condemned the American military aggression on Larak,” calling the strikes on bases in Jordan a “legitimate defence.”B
In a separate account, CNBC reported Trump told Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst that “We're going to hit them very hard,” after Iran said it launched an attack on two U.S. bases in Jordan in response to an American strike on Larak Island.
Reuters also reported that the accompanying AI video was likely altered, while Anadolu Ajansı said Trump’s post came hours after US forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island, targeting systems allegedly being prepared to launch rockets carrying sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz.
What’s at stake next
The BBC described Larak Island as sitting just offshore from Bandar Abbas and on the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global shipping, and said some 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas used to travel through before the war began.B
“Some 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas used to travel through”
It also reported that Iran is currently demanding tanker traffic pass by Larak Island for checks and reportedly forcing vessels to pay $2m (£1.5m) to cross, while the strait has effectively been closed since February, causing wild fluctuations in the price of oil on world markets.
For the United States, Centcom said it acted to protect the free flow of world trade, and it said it had disabled three vessels, boarded two and redirected 82 as part of the blockade on Saturday.
For Iran, the BBC reported that Iran’s Tasnim news agency said the attack on Larak was carried out by drones, and it quoted Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian saying, “We are not seeking war, but we will deliver a decisive response to the aggressors.”B