BBC Fact-Checker Outs Mark Levin’s Israeli Strike Clips as ‘AI-Generated’
(Screengrab via X)
A BBC Verify journalist outed clips of purported Israeli strikes on Iranian forces posted by Fox News’ Mark Levin as “AI-generated” – except for one.
Levin posted an Instagram link to his source and a video sequence on Wednesday, one that has already widely circulated on social media, that appeared to show CCTV footage of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel calmly at their computers before disappearing in blasts that wipe out the camera feeds.
Quote-tweeting Levin, BBC Verify senior journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh publicly warned him that all except one of the clips were fabricated:
The genuine clip, slowed down and repurposed for broadcast, was filmed not at an IRGC installation but at the Artesh-run Tabriz air defense base, according to United Against Nuclear Iran director Kasra Aarabi.
Aarabi told The Jewish Chronicle on Wednesday that the clip was “released in a documentary/interview with an Artesh commander” who he said was “speaking about the bravery and commitment of the members of the Artesh.”
According to the commander, the soldiers “knew they were about to be killed” but stayed to carry out a counterstrike rather than flee.
Despite the alleged Iranian rationale for sharing the genuine footage, the clip went viral along with the AI-generated video as pro-Israel social media accounts seized on images as a projection of Israeli operational strength.
