A photo of Pakistan’s jailed former leader Imran Khan with a political ally before being ousted as Prime Minister, was shared in false reports claiming he was associated with the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. The image – viewed hundreds of thousands of times – circulated after Raisi died in a helicopter crash in northern Iran.
The misrepresented photo – which shows Khan holding the hand of a bearded man in a cream-colored robe – was featured in a TikTok video that has been viewed more than 498,000 times as of May 20, 2024.
It was covered with text written in Arabic and Urdu that translated as: “To Allah we belong, and to Him we will return. Iranian President. May Allah exalt his place in Paradise.”
The photo was shared alongside two photos of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who was declared dead on May 20 after his plane crashed into a fog-shrouded mountainside in northern Iran.
The same TikTok video was shared here. The photo of Khan and the bearded man was also shared on YouTube here and here; and Facebook here and here next to the same false claim.
Comments on posts showed that many users were being misled.
“Rest in peace,” one person wrote.
“Was (a) great leader,” said another.
Khan met Raisi when he was Prime Minister of Pakistan on the sidelines of the 21st Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Dushanbe, Tajikistan in September 2021 (archived link).
However, the image shared in social media posts shows Khan with a Pakistani politician, and not Raisi.
Pakistani Senator
A Google reverse image search showed it was previously published on Khan’s official Facebook account on July 26, 2023 (archived link).
“A visit by a delegation of Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen led by to Zaman Park Allama Raja Nasir Abbas and meeting with Chairman Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan,” read part of the caption of the post, which also included another contained a photo of the meeting.
Senator Jafari is a Khan ally and heads the Shia political party Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen Pakistan (archived link).
Zaman Park refers to Khan’s hometown in the East Pakistani city of Lahore.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the misrepresented photo (left) and the corresponding photo published on Khan’s Facebook account (right):
Identical photos were posted to Jafari’s Facebook account on July 7, 2023 (archived link).
A Pakistani high court quashed a treason conviction against Khan on June 3, 2024, months after his party was sidelined in the general election.
The conviction was one of three imposed on Khan in the run-up to February’s elections – cases he said were orchestrated to prevent his return to power.
Khan remains jailed for seven years for breaking Islamic law by marrying his wife Bushra Bibi too soon after her divorce.
He has also been found guilty of bribery over gifts he received during his premiership between 2018 and 2022.
AFP fact-checked more misinformation about Khan here.
