Viral image of PM Shehbaz mimicking Imran Khan’s gestures in UNGA speech

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team reviewed this content and determined that it is false.

To reach this conclusion, the team compared the image with the video of the speech delivered by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during the General Debate of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 26, 2025.

Posts from multiple users, including PTI supporters, on social media platform X since Sept 27, 2025, shared an image of PM Shehbaz seemingly making the same gestures made by former premier Imran Khan during his UNGA speech in September 2019. However, the image is AI-generated.

PM Shehbaz addressed the 80th session of the UNGA in New York on Sept 26. In his speech, he touched upon Pakistan’s position on global challenges such as climate change, poverty reduction, and regional stability, while also emphasising the need for equitable economic reforms within international financial institutions.

HOW IT STARTED

On Sept 27, former anchor Imran Riaz Khan posted a collage on X comparing PM Shehbaz’s alleged hand gestures in his UNGA speech with those of PTI founder Imran Khan during his speech at UNGA in 2019, implying the former was mimicking the latter.

The post gained 384,700 views, 5,900 reposts and 21,000 likes.

Former anchor Moeed Pirzada also reshared the same picture with the following caption: “What a great note! Smart observation!”

The post gained 73,700 views and 6,900 likes.

The image with a similar claim was also shared by former anchor Sabir Shakir, gaining 31,800 views.

The image was also shared by former National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Khan Suri on his Facebook page, gaining over 18,000 combined likes. He also shared the same post on social media platform Threads.

The collage with similar claims was shared by PTI leader Aamir Mughal and other PTI supporters on X as can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here, collectively gaining over 68,000 views.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its high virality and keen public interest in the matter.

A keyword search yielded PM Shehbaz’s UNGA speech uploaded by the United Nations on its official YouTube channel.

Reviewing the complete speech shows that he did not make the gestures as in the viral image.

Comparing the viral image with the official images of PM Shehbaz’s UNGA address shared by the government’s Press Information Department shows that in the viral image, the prime minister’s coat does not display the national flag’s badge, which he clearly wore during his actual speech.

Furthermore, the buttons in the viral image are also misaligned and differently positioned compared to the official images.

Analysing the image through verification tools for potential tampering and AI-generation shows that aiornot flagged the image as likely a deepfake, Decoy.ai flagged it as 100 per cent AI-generated, while Deepfake-Detect also flagged it as 94pc AI-generated.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim that a viral image shows PM Shehbaz copying the gestures of PTI founder Imran Khan at the UNGA is false.

The viral image is AI-generated.

Evidence and References

Sept 26, 2025, UN YouTube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUjOjCCLlfU

Sept 26, 2025, Press Information Department photo archives:
https://pid.gov.pk/site/photo_filter/2025-09-26