Trump Shares AI Video of Kharg Island Strike Amid Renewed US-Iran Clashes

US President Donald Trump has posted an AI-generated video on social media purporting to show Iran's Kharg Island oil hub being destroyed, hours after Washington and Tehran exchanged their first military strikes since July. The post, shared on Truth Social, was accompanied by the caption "Kharg Island being blown to smithereens!!!" but offered no further details.

It remains unclear whether the post was a threat or a claim of an ongoing attack. Several hours after the post, there was no evidence that Kharg Island had been struck. The White House and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and Iranian state media did not react to the post.

The video clip was confirmed by wire service analysis to be most likely synthetically generated, using software that detects AI-manipulated imagery. Kharg Island handled 90% of Iran's oil exports before the war that began in late February, making it a critical target that could severely disrupt Iran's energy trade and economy.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran was not seeking war but would respond decisively to any aggression. "We will never remain silent in the face of any aggression and will respond decisively to the aggressors," he was quoted as saying by state media.

The renewed hostilities began after US forces struck two Iranian rocket launchers on the island of Larak, about 660 km east of Kharg. A US official said Revolutionary Guard forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz. US Central Command described the action as "limited, precise" against an "imminent threat."

In response, Iran launched attacks on two US bases in Jordan and struck the UAE's Al Minhad air base, according to Iranian media and the army. The Revolutionary Guards also shot down a US drone that crashed in Gulf waters. A supertanker caught fire and was brought to a halt after being struck by two naval mines in the southern Strait of Hormuz, Iran state TV reported.

Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said new secondary sanctions on Iran were likely to be unveiled weekly, with an initial focus on banks. "We're starting with the banks, and we're telling the banks it's not okay to have Iranian money and to aid the regime," he said in an interview. He indicated the next step could be cutting an institution off entirely from the dollar-based financial system.

The Strait of Hormuz, which carried nearly a fifth of global crude oil and LNG shipments before the blockade, remains a flashpoint. Shipping data showed the number of visible commodity vessels transiting the strait dropped to five a day over the weekend, though the actual number could be higher as some ships have switched off tracking systems.