This Wednesday Donald Trump claimed that out of respect for him, Iran had agreed to spare the lives of 8 young Iranian women facing execution. But he was quickly struck with accusations that the women were AI-generated. Iran gave conflicting information, both mocking the AI claims but also declaring 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 the Iranian government agreed to release 8 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 – as he urged Tehran to release them as a gesture of goodwill ahead of potential peace negotations.
Almost straightaway, internet users claimed that the women in the al Iranian embassy accounts on social media were quick to jump on board with these claims, many trolling Trump and sharing AI-generated montages of women in mockery.
The news agency affiliated to Iran’s judiciary also responded, but contradicted the embassies’ claims of AI. Mizan News Agencysaid 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 accounts have all spread falsehoods.
According to the two NGOs who document arrests and deaths during the Iranian protests, the women are very much real and 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), who confirmed only Bita Hemmati faces a confirmed death sentence. The information corresponds with data from NGO Iran Human Rights, who spoke to our fact-checking colleagues at LeadStories.
Executions in Iran have been at their highest number since 1989, as NGOs warn that the regime risks killing even more people this year since protests in January and the war triggered by the US and Israel.
Vedika Bahl explains on Truth or Fake.
