Fact Check: Army Chief admits India shared Iranian warship location with Israel? No, it’s Ai-manipulated
A video claiming to show Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi stating that India shared the location of an Iranian Navy ship with Israel has gone viral.
By - M Ramesh Naik
Claim:The video shows General Dwivedi saying India informed Israel about the location of the Iranian warship IRIS Dena after it crossed into international waters, leading to its sinking.
Fact:False. The video is a deepfake created from a clip of General Dwivedi speaking at the Raisina Dialogue 2026 about Operation Sindoor, not about Iran or Israel.
Hyderabad: The conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran has intensified since early 2026, following airstrikes on Iranian targets that reportedly killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on February 28.
The confrontation extended to naval engagements. On March 4, a US submarine torpedoed and sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, killing at least 87 sailors. The vessel was reportedly returning from the MILAN 2026 naval exercise held in Visakhapatnam, where it had participated as a guest ship.
Amid this backdrop, a video showing General Upendra Dwivedi speaking in uniform began circulating on social media. The clip also includes images of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In the viral video, General Dwivedi appears to say (transcribed from the manipulated audio): “When the Iranian ship crossed the international waters, as Israeli strategic allies, it was our duty to inform Israel about their exact location as a part of our newer strategic deal.”
An X user shared the video (in a now deleted post) with the caption: “Indian Army Chief explains how he gave the Israelis the exact location of the Iranian Navy ship and how it was targeted, a disgusting act by Indians. Hence betrayal proved.” (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The viral video is AI-manipulated and does not show General Dwivedi making any such statement about Iran, Israel or the IRIS Dena.
Examination of the visuals
A reverse image search and comparison of keyframes from the viral clip traced the visuals to a session from the Raisina Dialogue 2026.
The original video was published by Firstpost on YouTube on March 7, titled ‘Raisina Dialogue X Firstpost: General Upendra Dwivedi on Lessons from Operation Sindoor.’
In the original discussion, General Dwivedi was speaking with Harsh V Pant of the Observer Research Foundation about India’s policy of ‘decisive deterrence’ following Operation Sindoor.
During the conversation, he spoke about India’s strategic approach to counter-terrorism, highlighting credibility, capability and the willingness to retaliate against terror actions. At no point in the original video does he mention Iran, Israel or any naval vessels.
The same footage was also shared by Firstpost on X on March 7 with identical visuals, confirming the source of the clip.
Signs of video tampering by AI
A closer analysis of the viral clip reveals several inconsistencies indicating AI-manipulation.
The lip movements do not align with the spoken words in segments mentioning ‘Iranian naval ship’ and ‘Israeli strategic allies,’ showing unnatural distortions and flickering.
The voice used in the video resembles General Dwivedi’s tone but shows subtle variations in pitch and pacing that are typical indicators of AI voice cloning.
AI detection platforms such as Hive Moderation also flagged the audio as likely AI-manipulated, indicating a high probability—over 99.6 per cent—of synthetic audio and manipulated visuals.
What did the govt say?
Further, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) Fact Check social media unit debunked the claim on March 9.
In a post on X, it clarified that the viral clip was digitally altered and being circulated by propaganda accounts. The post included a side-by-side comparison, marking the viral version as ‘Digitally Altered’ and the authentic footage as the ‘Original Video.’
🚨 Deepfake Video AlertPakistani propaganda accounts are sharing a digitally manipulated video of the Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi, making false claims that when the Iranian ship crossed the international waters, as Israeli strategic allies, it was our duty to… pic.twitter.com/itQ63pXGuF
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) March 9, 2026
The viral video does not show General Upendra Dwivedi admitting that India shared the location of an Iranian warship with Israel. It is an AI-manipulated video created from footage of his remarks at the Raisina Dialogue 2026.
Therefore, the claim is false.
