What is known about the alleged US and Israeli attack on fake F-4 Phantom II fighters in Iran

The propaganda networks of Iran's Islamist dictatorship and its allies, especially Russia, are working overtime these days.

The weaponry of United States Navy fighters in Operation Epic Fury in Iran
The US Navy shows the aircraft from Operation Epic Fury against the Iranian dictatorship

One of his latest fabrications consists of claiming that the United States and Israel have attacked silhouettes of F-4 Phantom II fighter jets at an air base in Iran, spreading an image that shows a bomb crater on one of those silhouettes. That image is being circulated on Russian networks, Arab networks and far-left networks, claiming that it would be an Iranian tactic to make Americans and Israelis waste expensive weaponry.

Checker.news has indicated that the image is fake and generated by artificial intelligence. In fact, Gemini, Google's AI, has indicated that the image includes a SynthID digital watermark, a Google DeepMind technology for identifying AI-generated images. Gemini's examination adds:

"While the presence of this watermark is a strong indicator of its origin, you can also look for visual cues that are common in AI-generated imagery. For instance, in this specific image, the "impact crater" and the surrounding debris patterns exhibit a level of symmetry that is often uncharacteristic of actual physical events. Additionally, the shadows cast by the aircraft and the buildings appear somewhat inconsistent with a single light source, a common artifact in synthetic images."

This is not the first hoax spread by Iranian propaganda networks and their supporters in other countries. On March 1, an Iraqi Twitter account shared this video claiming: "The Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which the United States and its allies used to boast about... Four ballistic missiles would have been enough for it!" The video shows an aircraft carrier engulfed in flames:

استهداف حاملة الطائرات ابراهام لينكلن الذي كانت تتباهى بها امريكا وعملاءها..

4صواريخ باليستية كانت تكفيها! pic.twitter.com/WP9lfVs11r

— صادق المحمداوي (@almohamadawi31) March 1, 2026

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) denied this hoax that same day, responding to information from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claiming that they had hit that aircraft carrier in a missile attack. Leadstories.com noted that the fake video had already been posted on a Facebook page on June 23, 2025. Despite this, the fake video garnered 4.7 million views, and many people believed it without question.

There are. real videos of air and naval attacks in this war, and perhaps what pro-Iranian propagandists are trying to do is cover them up by resorting to fake material. On March 2, CENTCOM released this video of an attack on an air base in which we see the destruction of two old Iranian Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets:

U.S. forces are taking bold action to eliminate imminent threats posed by the Iranian regime. Strikes continue. pic.twitter.com/z1x07D7APl

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 2, 2026

On March 5, CENTCOM released this other video of the attacks on Iranian air bases in which we see the destruction of a Sukhoi Su-25 attack aircraft (which was inside a hangar) and an old Northrop F-5E Tiger II fighter jet (one of the remnants of the Iranian Air Force from the Shah's time) located next to three Fokker F27 Friendship transport aircraft:

The Iranian regime's ability to impact U.S. forces and regional partners is rapidly declining, while American combat power continues to build. pic.twitter.com/21TXHbWwFi

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 5, 2026

Finally, yesterday CENTCOM released this video showing two heavy impacts on the Iranian Navy's IRIS Shahid Bagheri, a 240-meter-long aircraft carrier that was commissioned a year ago. It was built on the site of a former container ship, the Perarin. The impacts hit the ship's island and flight deck. CENTCOM has not confirmed the sinking of this vessel.

U.S. forces aren't holding back on the mission to sink the entire Iranian Navy. Today, an Iranian drone carrier, roughly the size of a WWII aircraft carrier, was struck and is now on fire. pic.twitter.com/WyA4fniZck

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 6, 2026

According to data compiled in this entry of the English Wikipedia, the US has so far managed to destroy eight ships of the Iranian Navy, including the most modern of its four submarines, the IRIS Fateh. Interestingly, the IRIS Shahid Bagheri does not appear on that list.