Fact check: Fake satellite images distort Iran conflict

Social media users have grown better at spotting obvious signs of AI doctoring in celebrity photos or glitchy cityscapes. But in the US‑Israel war with Iran, a new type of deception has entered the spotlight: fake satellite imagery. 

"For satellite images, we can safely say that the majority of people have very limited familiarity," Symeon Papadopoulos, an AI researcher specializing in media verification at Greek research institute CERTH, told DW. "That makes them particularly prone to being misused, because if you change a small detail in a satellite image, most likely nobody will notice." 

Manipulating satellite imagery is not new — Russia infamously faked satellite imagery of a downed Malaysian plane in 2014. Similar fakes have surfaced in other regional conflicts, including the India-Pakistan tensions last year. But experts say the technique has become far more widespread during the current US‑Israel conflict with Iran.

"It seems like the problem's getting worse," said Brady Africk, an open-source intelligence (OSINT) analyst.

One reason: AI tools now make it trivial to pull a real satellite image from Google Earth or Bing Maps and apply effects to it. By suggesting destroyed infrastructure or strategic damage, the doctored images are often deployed to promote military narratives advantageous to one side.

Adding to the problem is that many commercial satellite providers have limited public access to high-resolution imagery during the war to prevent their data from being used for military targeting. But that information gap creates a vacuum — one increasingly filled by fabricated images that exploit public unfamiliarity with how satellite imagery is captured and what it realistically shows.

"Many people link the complexity involved in capturing a real satellite image to a resilience against those images being faked, but there's no such link," Africk said. Social media users should remember that satellite images "are photos just like any other and can be vulnerable to similar manipulations." 

DW Fact check examines several prominent examples.

Watermark reveals AI-generated satellite images 

Claim: In this X post, one user shares what looks like a satellite image of the Persian Gulf and alleges it shows burning oil fields in Qatar.  

DW Fact check: Fake

While Qatar's Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facilities were indeed targeted by Iranian missiles, this image does not show its aftermath. It is easily identifiable as an AI-fake: Gemini's watermark can be seen in the lower-right corner.

The image mimics the texture and coloration of real satellite photos — showing varied landscapes, vegetation, and water bodies — but the supposed fire and smoke are inconsistent with what such phenomena look like at that scale from orbit.

A reverse image search brings up multiple recent reposts, indicating the image was likely built from a real satellite base layer, with AI-generated fire plumes added later.

In addition, the AI-detection tool ImageWhisperer also flagged the image as likely AI-generated with 73% confidence. However, such tools should be used cautiously due to known false positives.

Iranian state media shares AI-generated "after" image of a drone strike

Claim: The Tehran Times, a state-linked English-language newspaper, shared a post on X with satellite images of "An American radar in Qatar." The two images allegedly show it "before and after" it was destroyed in an Iranian drone strike. The post has been viewed over 950.000 times. 

DW Fact check: Fake 

The images do not show Qatar. The site is actually a US naval base in Manama, Bahrain.

The "before" image matches a genuine Google Earth capture dated February 10, 2025, down to the identical positions of vehicles.

The "after" image, however, is visibly AI-generated. Building structures change shape, architectural lines appear inconsistent, and certain elements are artificially added.

To complicate matters, Iran did in fact attack this U.S. base - and verified satellite images from Planet Labs and Airbus (published by The New York Times) show authentic damage.

And according to an analysis by ImageWhisperer, "the debris patterns are repetitive and lack the physical complexity of a real blast site, and the structural damage does not conform to the engineering of the radar systems it claims to depict." 

While the Tehran Times listed the location incorrectly, the visual similarity between the real and fake before/after sets demonstrates how difficult it can be to identify manipulated satellite images at first glance.

Fake account poses as Chinese intelligence company

Claim: An account impersonating the Chinese company MizarVision on X posted images supposedly showing burning oil fields in Qatar.

DW Fact check: Fake

Not only is this specific image fake, which has been posted numerous times across the internet, but the entire account is.

MizarVision, a legitimate Shanghai-based geospatial intelligence company, publishes only on Weibo and WeChat. An account created in January, falsely claiming to be based in "Chinatown, Portland," used stolen logos to post images with MizarVision watermarks before being taken down.

The company publicly clarified in February that any X (formerly Twitter) accounts using its name are impostors: "Any accounts appearing on X (formerly Twitter) and other overseas social media platforms under the names '觅熵' or 'MizarVision' are impersonators and have no affiliation with our company."

One image from the fake account showed a heavily filtered black-and-white "satellite" view of Qatar's Ras Laffan refinery with repeated plumes of smoke. All explosions appear in nearly identical stages, indicating they were artificially cloned.

A search on Google Earth reveals that the underlying image corresponds to real oil tank layouts - with the plumes added artificially afterward.

Caution suggested with satellite imagery

As satellite imagery becomes an increasingly powerful tool in both journalism and warfare, the rise of AI‑manipulated visuals poses a growing challenge for public understanding. False or altered images can spread rapidly, shaping narratives long before experts have time to debunk them. 

In an era where conflict unfolds in real time on social media, developing digital literacy - and a healthy skepticism toward dramatic "satellite" revelations - is essential. Genuine satellite data remains crucial for documenting events but distinguishing it from fabricated material will require vigilance from platforms, media organizations, and users alike. 

Edited by: Rachel Baig