Full Breakdown
Iran’s Propaganda War: Violent Billboards and AI-Generated Images
8/16/2026, 3:13:40 AM
Intensified Billboard Campaign in Tehran
State-sponsored billboards have become a prominent feature of Tehran’s streets, displaying graphic anti-U.S. imagery such as President Donald Trump lying in a casket, the White House engulfed in flames, and a distorted American flag with skulls and bombs. According to the reports, the messaging grew more overtly violent after an airstrike that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the conflict launched by the United States and Israel. Within weeks, a billboard near Enghelab Square replaced a benign portrait of Khamenei with a casket-bound Trump, accompanied by handwritten text referencing the death of Iranian sailors on the warship Iris Dena and a death threat toward Trump. A subsequent billboard showed Trump being strangled by multiple hands with the English caption “Revenge is inevitable.”
Background of the Six-Month Conflict
The war began with a U.S.–Israel airstrike that targeted Iranian assets, prompting a series of retaliatory actions and a sustained propaganda effort. Anti-American slogans have been a fixture of Iranian public messaging since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, including a long-standing mural that replaces the Stars and Stripes with skulls and bombs and bears the slogan “Down With The U.S.A.” The current wave of billboards builds on that tradition while employing newer visual tactics.
Human Cost Reported So Far
- U.S. casualties: U.S. Central Command reported on July 18 that 17 U.S. service members have died since the war’s onset.
- Iranian casualties: On April 20, Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency quoted Abbas Masjedi, head of Iran’s Forensic Medicine Organization, as stating that 3,375 people had been killed in the conflict.
Propaganda Tactics and AI Involvement
The newer billboard images appear to be generated with artificial intelligence, including a depiction of the White House on fire accompanied by the Persian phrase “blood for blood.” Iranian media company Explosive Media has produced dozens of AI-enhanced videos—often described as “slopaganda”—that mock Trump and his administration. The company told NBC News that it operates independently of the Iranian government and that the state does not dictate its video content. Conversely, President Trump has circulated his own AI-generated images portraying Iranian ships and energy infrastructure being destroyed by U.S. forces.
Official Statements & Responses
Iranian officials have not issued a formal response to the billboard campaign, but the state’s continued use of aggressive visual rhetoric signals an intent to sustain public pressure against the United States. The United States has not publicly addressed the specific billboards, focusing instead on operational objectives in the broader conflict.
