Image of Iranian missile tribute to Epstein’s victims is AI-generated

“Iranian missile honors ‘Epstein Island’ victims,” reads a post published on March 11, 2026, by a Nigerian Facebook page with more than 48,000 followers. 

The post adds that “Iran fired a missile at Tel Aviv,” and the warhead was inscribed with a message in Persian that reads: “In memory of the victims of Epstein Island.” 

Image

Screenshot of the false post, taken on March 17, 2026. AI symbol added by AFP 

Epstein Island refers to a private island once owned by Epstein, a convicted American financier and child sex offender who died in 2019.

The post features an image of what appears to be a missile warhead with Persian text reading: “In memory of the victims of Epstein Island.” 

The claim was shared elsewhere on Facebook and X.

Epstein and Iranian propaganda 

As the Middle East war drags on, Iranian strikes have been reported across Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Iraq. Meanwhile, Israel continues to target Tehran and Beirut (archived here). 

Iran has also waged a parallel propaganda campaign, alongside its retaliatory military operations against Israel and the US.

A state-linked institute recently broadcast a Lego-style animated film portraying its version of the war. The video depicts US President Donald Trump alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a symbolic figure of Satan examining an album labeled “Epstein Files” (archived here). 

Trump’s name has appeared in the Epstein files. Earlier this month, the US Justice Department released additional material, including previously withheld FBI interview summaries containing uncorroborated allegations that Trump sexually assaulted a minor decades ago. Trump has denied any wrongdoing (archived here). 

Iran’s former supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28, 2026, in a joint US-Israeli strike that triggered the war, had previously described the crimes on Epstein’s island as a product of “Western civilisation and liberal democracy,” calling it a “morally corrupt island” (archived here). 

However, the image claiming to show an Iranian missile bearing a message dedicated to Epstein’s victims is not real. 

AI-generated image 

AFP Fact Check conducted a reverse image search and found an uncropped version of the image published on X on February 5, 2026 (archived here). 

“The discussion regarding the specifications of the Khorramshahr rocket (Khorramshahr—the reddened one, an Arab city in southwestern Iran) is not new; rather, what is new is the production of the rocket's warhead and its use in underground bases,” the Arabic post reads in part.

The Khorramshahr is an Iranian liquid-fuelled, medium-range ballistic missile, named after the city of Khorramshahr in southwestern Iran. Seen as a symbol of resistance during the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988), the missile has reportedly been used by Iran in the current Middle East conflict (archived here and here).

The original version of the image does not include the Epstein-related text, suggesting the inscription was digitally added.

Image

Screenshots comparing the earlier image (left) and the false image, taken on March 17, 2026. AI symbols added by AFP.

However, it is likely the original image is also fake; AFP Fact Check identified several visual inconsistencies, including a warped ladder, merging strips and pipes, and irregular edges -- typical indications of an AI-generated image.

Image

Screenshot showing the visual anomalies in the earlier image, taken on March 17, 2026. AI symbols added by AFP

AFP Fact Check also used Google’s SynthID AI detector, which found that the image was artificially generated by one of the tech company's AI platforms. 

Image

Screenshot of the result generated by SynthID, taken on March 17, 2026  

The claim was also debunked in Arabic. 

Read other AFP Fact Check reviews of AI-generated images from the Middle East war here, here and here.