AI image of crashed jet falsely linked to Iran-Israel war
"The F-35 shot down by Iran. Much bigger than I thought," reads the Korean-language caption of an image shared on Threads on June 15, 2025.
The image appears to show a massive fighter jet that has crashed in the desert and is missing its left wing. A crowd appears to have gathered around its nose.
It circulated after Iranian state media said the country's forces had downed two Israeli fighter jets during a massive Israeli air raid on June 13 (archived link). An Israeli official rejected the report as "fake news" (archived link).
The same image was shared on South Korean forum Aagag, and a wider crop appearing to show the plane next to a road surfaced in similar Threads and X posts as well as in other forums such as SVR Forum, Ruliweb, MLB Park and Inven.
But the image has tell-tale signs of being AI generated, and the purported F-35 fighter jet does not match photos of the warplane.
In the version that shows the plane next to a road, the people surrounding the aircraft appear to be as large as the buses and one vehicle appears to be fused to the road.
Moreover, the shape and size of the purported crashed jet -- which according to manufacturer Lockheed Martin measures just under 16 metres (52 feet) -- differs from F-35s as seen in photos available in AFP's archives (archived link).
An AFP photo of an Israeli F-35 also shows the symbol on its wing -- a Star of David on a circle -- is different to the symbol on the purported crashed jet's wing, which appears to be a star with a thick border.
While generative AI technology is rapidly improving, visual inconsistencies persist and are the best way to identify fabricated content.
The Iran-Israel conflict has triggered a wave of misinformation, which AFP has debunked here.

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