Trump plays with fire with Iran and publishes a montage made with Artificial Intelligence that shows the false destruction of Kharg Island

Donald Trump has once again used artificial intelligence to take his war rhetoric against Iran a step further. The President of the United States has disseminated on his social network Truth Social an artificially generated video simulating a spectacular bombing of the Iranian island of Kharg, the country's main oil export center.

The images show large explosions over depots, island facilities, and a docked ship while Trump celebrates a destruction that has not actually occurred. "Kharg Island has been reduced to rubble!!!", wrote the president accompanying the montage, without initially explaining that it did not correspond to a real attack.

Hours later, there was still no record of any US bombing of Kharg. The images were identified as synthetically generated content, and Iranian authorities themselves responded to the publication. Hamid Bovard, head of the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company, has called Trump's messages "ridiculous" and has assured that the situation on the island remains "calm and normal".

Bovard also maintains that oil operations continue and that reconstruction and renovation work already underway has not stopped. The enclave is of enormous importance to Tehran. Before the war began on February 28, about 90% of Iranian oil exports passed through Kharg, so an attack on its energy facilities would have consequences far beyond the military sphere.

Trump has been threatening for months to strike this particularly sensitive point of the Iranian economy. The United States already attacked numerous military targets on the island in March, although Washington then expressly assured that it had preserved its oil facilities. The president himself later threatened to reconsider that decision if Tehran prevented free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

A provocation amid the return of attacks

This weekend's montage also comes at a particularly delicate moment. The United States and Iran have resumed exchanging attacks after nearly a month without direct military confrontations, with the Strait of Hormuz once again at the center of the escalation.

The US attack that did occur targeted the Iranian island of Larak, located hundreds of kilometers east of Kharg. The US Central Command stated that its forces destroyed launchers that the Revolutionary Guard was preparing to use sea mines against navigation in Hormuz and defined the operation as "limited and precise."

Iran responded by attacking US bases in Jordan with missiles. Jordanian authorities reported the interception of the projectiles. Tehran also claimed to have launched drones against the Al Minhad base in the United Arab Emirates, although the Emirati Ministry of Defense denied that the facilities had been hit.

The tension in the area is having direct consequences on one of the planet's main energy arteries. Before the war, nearly a fifth of the world's traded oil and liquefied natural gas circulated through the Strait of Hormuz, while ship traffic has fallen sharply in recent months due to attacks, mines, and restrictions imposed in the area.

The mere fear of a new escalation was again reflected in oil markets this Monday. Kharg is precisely one of the targets that generates the most concern due to its capacity to directly hit Iranian exports and cause a new shock to the international crude supply.

The publication of the fake images has not been Trump's only incendiary statement in recent hours. The president has called Iran a "failed nation," has boasted about the effect of US economic pressure, and his Administration is preparing new secondary sanctions against entities that maintain financial relations with Tehran.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, for his part, has assured that his country does not seek to expand the war and has warned that it will respond to new US attacks. Trump has responded by further escalating the threat: "There will be a response. We are going to hit them hard."