A video appearing to show an Indian oil tanker’s cabin window engulfed in flames after an alleged Iranian strike is being shared on social media, with claims that Iran attacked an Indian vessel carrying crude oil in the Strait of Hormuz, is fake and AI-generated.
We analysed the video using AI detection tools which further confirmed that the video was synthetically created.
BBC News reported on March 16, 2026, citing an interview with the Financial Times, that Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said he is hopeful talks with Iran are easing shipping disruptions for Indian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Claim
The video was posted on X by the handle Iran Press (@GP_Presss) claiming that Iran had launched a heavy strike on an Indian oil tanker carrying crude oil in the Strait of Hormuz.
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What We Found:
1) AI Detection Tool results
We analysed the video using the AI detection tool, DeepFake-O-Meter, developed by the University at Buffalo’s Media Forensics Lab and Hive Moderation.
One of the results by DeepFake-O-Meter flagged the video as synthetic, assigning it a 100% fake probability.
Hive Moderation indicated that video was 94.3% likely to be AI-generated.
2) No Credible Reports Of Such An Attack
We did not find any credible news reports of an Indian oil tanker coming under attack by Iran. Additionally, no other visuals or reports of an Indian vessel being struck in the Strait of Hormuz have surfaced.
The viral video also contains visual inconsistencies. For instance, after the alleged strike, a person can be seen standing and looking out of the cabin window, instead of reacting to the apparent danger or taking cover, behaviour that appears unrealistic in a real attack scenario.
