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Topic: Air Warfare, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Social Media Blog Brand: The Buzz Region: Middle East Tags: Disinformation, Grok, Iran, Iran War, Misinformation, Operation Epic Fury, and United States AI Is Spreading False Information in the Iran War. It’s Also Fact-Checking It. April 5, 2026 By: Peter Suciu
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Artificial intelligence tools have been a double-edged sword in Operation Epic Fury—both helping to spread disinformation, and helping to clear it up.
On Thursday afternoon, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) issued a “fact check” debunking claims that Iran had shot down a Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II in the ongoing Operation Epic Fury. Iran’s state-run Tasnim news agency had also reported that a US pilot may have been in custody.
“CLAIM: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it downed an ‘enemy’ fighter jet over Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz,” @CENTCOM wrote in a post on X. It added, “FACT: All US fighter aircraft are accounted for. Iran’s IRGC has made the same false claim at least half a dozen times.”
What is noteworthy about the IRGC’s claims is that they are routinely picked up by state media in Iran and can then spread beyond the region.
The South China Morning Post was among the international news outlets that subsequently posted the “statement” from the IRGC, though it noted the United States had not confirmed the incident.
There have been no confirmed cases of any F-35 lost due to enemy action. Earlier in the war, an Iranian missile damaged an F-35 and caused it to return to base, but the extent of the damage remains unclear.
Artificial Intelligence Can Now Debunk False Claims in Real Time
Social media has increasingly changed how wars are reported, enabling real-time coverage from the front lines. However, the same platforms have also enabled misinformation and even disinformation to spread—aided in part by the ability to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to generate real-looking video clips of equipment being destroyed.
Iran and its regional proxies have regularly made dubious claims, such as striking and even sinking a US Navy aircraft carrier. There have been repeated claims that an F-35 Lightning II, arguably the most advanced fifth-generation fighter in service today, has been shot down.
Now, just as social media is allowing the spread of fake news, Grok, the AI chatbot on X (formerly Twitter), is being employed to counter those claims. This week, users on the platform used Grok to verify whether any of the IRGC’s posts showing destroyed F-35s were real.
In one response, Grok explained, “The first pic is a stock F-35 photo (archive/illustrative). The wreckage shots show twisted metal panels with clear ‘EUROPE’ lettering, yellow caution stripes, and generic black paint—no USAF stars, tail codes, or F-35 stealth contours. Doesn’t match a Lakenheath-based US jet. Looks like repurposed old debris photos.”
Iran’s Claims Have a Grain of Truth to Them
Iran’s claims of the loss of multiple F-35s come as the US military has lost at least 20 aircraft in the ongoing conflict. That total included three F-15E Strike Eagles that were shot down in a friendly fire incident, a KC-135 aerial refueler that crashed in Iraq with the loss of six airmen, and an E-3 Sentry that was destroyed on the ground in Saudi Arabia.
At the same time, Iran has benefited from the so-called “Liar’s Dividend,” whereby it attempts to discount real video of its malign actions as disinformation. The object is not to construct an alternate reality, but merely to spread doubt, leading observers to eschew fact-checking altogether. Many authoritarian states have practiced this phenomenon, and Tehran has been a master of it for some time, but the IRGC has increased its use in response to the ongoing war.
Social media has become another tool of Tehran’s asymmetrical warfare efforts. That has included AI-generated videos that have been directly targeting President Donald Trump, who is known to frequent social media and who takes such slights very seriously.
The use of social media propaganda by Iran and its proxies has been significant enough that the US Navy had to respond to the claims that the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) had been damaged in a drone and missile strike in the summer of 2024, and now CENTCOM must post “fact checks” to Iranian media reports.
Truth was the first casualty, and it is dead and buried!
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu has contributed to dozens of newspapers, magazines and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.
The post AI Is Spreading False Information in the Iran War. It’s Also Fact-Checking It. appeared first on The National Interest.
Источник: nationalinterest.org