On Wednesday, Donald Trump claimed that out of respect for him, Iran had agreed to spare the lives of eight young Iranian women facing execution. But he was quickly struck with accusations that the images of the women were AI-generated. Iran itself gave conflicting information, both mocking the AI claims but also declaring that none of the women faced confirmed death sentences. The reality – as confirmed by two NGOs – is that all parties shared incorrect information.
The US president claimed that the Iranian government agreed to release eight young women facing the death penalty, after being arrested during protests that swept Iran in December and January. His announcement came a day after he’d reposted a photomontage of the women – alongside a claim they faced hanging – as he urged Tehran to release them as a gesture of goodwill ahead of potential peace negotiations.
Almost immediately, internet users claimed that the women in the photo did not exist, and that the images were AI-generated. Official Iranian embassy accounts on social media were quick to jump on board with these claims, with many trolling Trump and sharing AI-generated montages of women to mock him.
The news agency affiliated to Iran’s judiciary also responded, but contradicted the embassies’ claims of AI. Mizan News Agency said Trump got “played by fake news,” and that some of the women had been released, whilst others faced charges that, if confirmed, would result in prison. But it claimed that none of the women have a final confirmed death sentence.
Despite all these conflicting accounts, Trump, Iran and the Iranian social media accounts have all spread falsehoods.
According to the two NGOs that have documented arrests and deaths during the Iranian protests, the women are very much real and were arrested during Iran’s protests, but only one of them is facing execution.
The FRANCE 24 Observers spoke to Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA), which confirmed that only Bita Hemmati faces a confirmed death sentence. The information corresponds with data from the NGO Iran Human Rights, who spoke to our fact-checking colleagues at LeadStories.
Executions in Iran have reached their highest level since 1989, as NGOs warn that the regime risks killing even more people this year since the protests and the war triggered by the US and Israel.
Vedika Bahl explains in Truth or Fake.