Tehran billboards mocking Trump are made with AI, studio head says
Version 2: Seoul Shinmun also carried the same theme, but no new facts about the billboards or their production emerged.
In short
Anti-US propaganda billboards mocking US President Donald Trump have appeared increasingly often on Tehran streets in recent months, according to an AFP report carried by Yonhap. The studio behind some of them, Kanneh-ye Tarahan, operates under one of Iran's largest state media conglomerates, and its head Mostafa Kaffaei said a team of up to about eight people uses “several AI engines including ChatGPT and Nano Banana” and can finish a poster in days. Korea Economic Daily and Seoul Shinmun ran headlines on the same theme.
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Anti-US propaganda billboards mocking US President Donald Trump have appeared increasingly often on Tehran streets in recent months, according to an AFP report carried by Yonhap. The report profiles one of the studios that produces them, Kanneh-ye Tarahan, whose name means “house of designers”, and says it operates under one of Iran's largest state media conglomerates and runs its own media monitoring team. Large billboards, it adds, are a means the Iranian government uses to spread messages widely. [ 1 ]
Studio head Mostafa Kaffaei, 32, described how the work is done. “When news breaks, the team moves,” he said, describing a process of generating ideas and briefing graphic designers. He said a team of up to about eight people can finish a poster in just a few days when production is rushed, and that “speed has become the top priority”. Most of the work is done in Photoshop, he said, adding that the team is highly capable with artificial intelligence and uses “several AI engines including ChatGPT and Nano Banana”. [ 1 ]
Among the posters the studio made, displayed at busy locations including Valiasr Square, is one related to the Strait of Hormuz that depicts the waterway sewing and gagging Trump's mouth, with the caption “at the breaking point”. Another studio's billboard shows Trump trapped in a magic box holding Coca-Cola and a hamburger, captioned “disappears in the blink of an eye!”, which the report says satirises his move from a NATO summit in Türkiye in July via a catering truck. Other posters include a parody of Nirvana's “Nevermind” album cover showing Trump grasping a one-dollar bill underwater under the words “great victory! Strait of Hormuz”, an Iranian soldier stepping on a US drone, and a caption reading “the armies of Satan will drown in the Persian Gulf”. Billboards in the city also praise former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who the report says was killed in airstrikes on the first day of the war, and Hassan Nasrallah, who died in 2024. [ 1 ]
Asked why Trump features so often, Kaffaei said it is because Trump is a “media personality”, adding that “whenever he acts in that space we respond in the same way”. He compared what he described as Trump's media campaign to a battlefield situation of “constantly firing at us”, saying the studio watches the opponent closely and responds accordingly. He said the billboards help many people with little interest in politics understand “the overall context of what is happening domestically”. [ 1 ]
Korea Economic Daily headlined the same theme, reporting that AI is used to mock Trump in Iran and referring to a team of eight producing work in days, while the article text available on its feed dealt with unrelated Trump items on tariffs, Alaska and European diesel reserves. Seoul Shinmun also published a headline on the same theme, describing a Trump with his mouth sewn shut and Tehran murals mocking the US with AI. Neither Korean outlet added details beyond the theme. [ 2 , 3 ]
Why it matters
The report describes large billboards as a channel the Iranian government uses to spread messages widely, and the studio's account shows AI tools being folded into that work and shortening production times. It also shows Trump remaining a recurring subject of Iranian state-linked messaging, with the studio framing its output as a response to what it calls a US media campaign. The documents give no data on the number of billboards, their cost or their audiences.
Key facts
- Anti-US propaganda billboards mocking Trump have been increasingly visible on Tehran streets in recent months, according to an AFP report carried by Yonhap. [ 1 ]
- The studio Kanneh-ye Tarahan, whose name means “house of designers”, produces such billboards and operates under one of Iran's largest state media conglomerates, according to Yonhap. [ 1 ]
- Studio head Mostafa Kaffaei, 32, said a team of up to about eight people can complete a poster in just a few days when work is urgent, and that “speed has become the top priority”. [ 1 ]
- Kaffaei said most work is done in Photoshop and that the team uses “several AI engines including ChatGPT and Nano Banana”. [ 1 ]
- One billboard shows the Strait of Hormuz sewing and gagging Trump's mouth, with the caption “at the breaking point”, and was displayed at busy locations including Valiasr Square. [ 1 ]
- A billboard by another studio shows Trump trapped in a magic box holding Coca-Cola and a hamburger, captioned “disappears in the blink of an eye!”, satirising his July move from a NATO summit in Türkiye via a catering truck. [ 1 ]
- Kaffaei said Trump appears often because he is a “media personality”, adding that “whenever he acts in that space we respond in the same way”. [ 1 ]
- Korea Economic Daily and Seoul Shinmun ran headlines on the same theme, citing AI use in Iran and a Trump with his mouth sewn shut. [ 2 , 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Billboards mocking US President Donald Trump have appeared in Tehran, and AI tools are used in their production, according to an AFP report carried by Yonhap. [ 1 ]
- A team of up to about eight people can complete a poster in just a few days. [ 1 ]
- The studio Kanneh-ye Tarahan operates under one of Iran's largest state media conglomerates, according to the Yonhap report. [ 1 ]
- Studio head Mostafa Kaffaei said the team uses ChatGPT and Nano Banana among several AI engines and does most of its work in Photoshop. [ 1 ]
Still unclear
- What Korea Economic Daily reported beyond its headline. The article text available on its feed dealt with unrelated Trump items on tariffs, Alaska and European diesel reserves.
- What Seoul Shinmun reported beyond its headline. Only the headline was available, with no article text or feed summary.
- How many such billboards exist, what they cost and how many people see them. The documents describe individual posters and say large billboards are used by the Iranian government to spread messages, but give no figures.
- Whether the studio works on direct government commissions and who approves the designs. The article says the studio operates under a state media conglomerate and has a dedicated media monitoring team, but does not describe the commissioning process.
- The July NATO summit episode satirised in one billboard. It is described only as the subject of a poster; the documents give no further detail about the incident.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Yonhap publishes an AFP-based report on the Tehran studio producing anti-US billboards mocking Trump with the help of AI tools. [ 1 ]
- Korea Economic Daily publishes a headline on the same theme; its available article text covers unrelated Trump stories. [ 2 ]
- Seoul Shinmun publishes a headline describing a Trump with his mouth sewn shut and Tehran murals mocking the US with AI. [ 3 ]