An image circulating online purportedly shows Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman Al Saud kissing Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s hand. The image was shared following a meeting in Iran on October 26, involving senior security officials from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye and the Iranian president.
The claim is false. The image has been digitally altered.
Claim
On October 26, a user on X (formerly Twitter) shared a photograph allegedly showing Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman Al Saud bending down to kiss Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s hand.
The post has garnered more than 71,000 views and 3,000 likes to date.
The same image was also shared by other users on X, including in this post and this post.
Fact
The circulating image has been digitally altered. The original photograph, published in July 2026, shows Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Elkhereiji shaking hands with Pezeshkian. It does not show the Saudi defence minister kissing the Iranian president’s hand.
A reverse image search on Google led to an Arab News report published on July 3, about the funeral of Iran’s late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The report included the original photograph of the Saudi delegation sent to offer condolences.
Geo Fact Check also analysed the circulating image using Hive Moderation, an AI-detection tool. The tool returned an aggregated score of 91.3%, indicating that the image was likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content.
Verdict: The circulating image has been digitally altered. The original photograph shows Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Elkhereiji shaking hands with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, not Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman Al Saud kissing the Iranian president’s hand.
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