CLAIMS THAT AN Iranian soccer player was expelled from the United States for making a gun gesture with his hands while playing a World Cup match are wrong.

That player, Mohammad Mohebi, played for Iran against Belgium on 21 June, days after the claim first appeared online. There is no evidence that the claim was true.

“BREAKING NEWS,” a number of social media posts from 17 June began. “Iranian forward Mohammad Mohebi has been deported by DHS following his gun gesture celebration after scoring in Iran’s 2-2 draw against New Zealand at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.”

One of these posts on Instagram continued: “This triggered outrage in the USA who demanded that FIFA should open an investigation amid an already politically charged tournament. Mohebi claimed it was simply a thank-you to fans. DHS had other plans, as the player has been deported.”

These posts were accompanied by a photo appearing to show Mohebi doing a “finger guns” gesture toward the camera.

However, there are no news reports to back up this claim, nor any posts on the social media accounts of the DHS, Fifa, of Mohebi himself to corroborate this story.

Further, although Mohebi did do a similar gesture at a 15 June match against New Zealand, the photo of the “finger guns” gesture appears to be AI-generated.

Using a tool provided by the AI company OpenAI a “SynthID” was found on the image. The SynthID is an invisible, digital watermark purposely added by some AI image generators so that their creations can be readily identified.

More damningly for the claims of expulsion, Mohebi has played a World Cup match since the story first circulated.

On 21 June, Iran played against Belgium at the Los Angeles stadium. Mohebi played the first 66 minutes of the match before he was taken off field in what was to be a 0-0 draw.

Mohebi has since posted about that match on his social media accounts, though has made no mention of being deported.

Iran have complained about the treatment they have received from the US authorities during the World Cup, including tough conditions on the amount of time they can spend in the country for their matches, as well as visas being refused for support staff.

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