Fact Check: Does the image shared by Trump show renewed US strikes on Iran?
WASHINGTON, DC: Following the renewed tensions between the United States and Iran, President Donald Trump shared an image of a massive fire and plumes of smoke on social media, claiming to show the US’ retribution for Iranian attacks on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Let us analyze the image and fact-check its authenticity.
Claim: Donald Trump shared an image claiming to show retribution against Iran
Trump posted the image on his official Truth Social account, showing a massive fire and plumes of smoke on July 8, claiming to show his country's "retribution" for Iranian attacks on ships traversing the vital Strait of Hormuz.
The image in the post showed a screenshot of an X post from an account called "@Osint613," which claimed it showed "Chabahar, Iran."
The image was accompanied by a caption stating, “This is in retribution for yesterday's bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!"
The president’s post was reshared by the official account of White House on X and the Pentagon on Facebook, after which the visual was amplified by the TV outlet Newsmax.
Fact Check: The image is an altered version of an old image
However, the image shared by Trump claiming to show retribution is unrelated to the renewed hostilities. A reverse search for the image revealed a near-identical photo from Getty Images dated June 2025.
The caption on the photo and other shots showing the same event says it shows fire and smoke rising "into the sky after an Israeli attack on the Shahran oil depot on June 15, 2025, in Tehran, Iran."
Also, the X account that first shared the image wrote in a follow-up post, “BIG CORRECTION: I just double checked, and this image is not from tonight."
According to an analysis using OpenAI's image verification tool, the version Trump shared contained a SynthID, the invisible watermark used to embed signals in AI-generated media created with its platforms.
AI detection tools such as Hive Moderation and Zero GPT also concluded that the image is very likely to contain AI-generated content.
Donald Trump ends US-Iran ceasefire with fresh strikes
Trump declared the US-Iran ceasefire effectively over on Wednesday, July 8, as the United States launched another round of military strikes against Iran following recent attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that it had begun conducting "additional strikes against Iran to degrade further their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz."
