Donald Trump shares AI video of Iran’s Kharg Island ‘being blown to smithereens’

US President Donald Trump has shared what appears to be an AI-generated video depicting Iran’s Kharg Island being blown up.

The video, posted on Trump’s Truth Social account, shows what appears to be the view from a military aircraft as structures on the island are detonated. Trump accompanied the video with the words: “Kharg Island being blown to smithereens!!!”

Kharg Island, located about 25 kilometres off Iran’s coast, is the country’s primary oil export terminal and handles around 90 per cent of its oil exports. The post came hours after the US struck two Iranian launchers for the first time in weeks, with several people reportedly killed and injured.

The strikes took place on Iran’s Larak Island on Sunday, August 30, according to a US official. They were the first known US strikes on Iran since late July. The latest attacks mark a further escalation in the conflict, which began after the US and Israel carried out joint strikes on several key Iranian sites on February 28.

Iran subsequently retaliated by striking US allies in the Middle East and closing the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil previously passed. Global oil markets have remained volatile since the conflict began, with any confirmed attack on Kharg Island potentially adding further pressure to energy markets.

Earlier on Sunday, August 30, a multinational coalition overseen by the US Navy said commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained at “reduced levels.”