Viral image of Macron and Khamenei shaking hands is AI-generated

What is the claim? 

A collage of two images has been shared on social media to claim that "France has been surrendering and betraying Jews for a long time." 

One of the two images is greyscale and shows Adolf Hitler shaking hands with a man in a hat as another man in uniform looks on. The second shows French President Emmanuel Macron shaking hands with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This image has been linked to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran. 

One post on Facebook (archived here) shared the image with the caption, "France leaders: Surrendering to evil since 1940. France people, please don't get offended. This is a response to Macron's arms embargo on Israel, the tiny country who fights seven fronts of evils." 

The claims have emerged after Emmanuel Macron urged countries to stop arms deliveries to Israel for the war in Gaza and Lebanon. Tensions between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah have escalated over the past month, and Macron expressed his concerns regarding civilians in Lebanon, stating it should not be allowed to "become a new Gaza." 

The viral image is also circulating on X (formerly Twitter) with similar claims. Archives of some of the posts are here and here. 

Screenshots of viral posts circulating on social media. (Source: X/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, Logically Facts found that the image of Macron and Khamenei is not real but was created using artificial intelligence (AI). 

How did we verify this?

We noticed multiple discrepancies when we looked closely at the picture of Macron and Khamenei. 

Macron's lips appear distorted, and Khamenei's eyes and teeth look unnatural. A close look at Khamenei's spectacles showed an odd distortion behind the lens. Such flaws are consistent with artificially generated images.

Image showing the distortions visible in the viral picture. (Source: X/Screenshot)

Subsequently, we ran the picture through two AI detection tools — Hive Moderation and Is it AI — to verify its authenticity. Hive Moderation deduced that the picture was "87% likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content." Is It AI found, "This image is highly likely AI-generated."

We also submitted the image to Itisaar, a deep fake and AI image detection tool developed by IIT Jodhpur (India) under Professor Mayank Vatsa, for verification. We are awaiting the results.  

Logically Facts has published a detailed article on detecting AI-generated images, which can be read here. 

The first image in the viral post is real. A reverse image search led us to a report published by the Washington Post and The Times of Israel, which carried the same picture with the caption: "Adolf Hitler, right, shakes hands with the head of Vichy France Philippe Petain, in occupied France, October 24, 1940." 

The verdict

An AI-generated image of Macron and Khamenei has been shared online to claim that France is surrendering to Iran amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran.