CLAIM

Viral interview clip of Imran Khan’s sons saying they will actively enter politics if their father is killed

RATING JUSTIFICATION

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

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan conducted a reverse image search to trace the original source and analysed the clip using AI-detection tools to assess the authenticity of the video.

Multiple people and accounts across several social media platforms shared an interview clip on December 17, 2025, that allegedly showed Kasim Khan, son of PTI founder Imran Khan, saying he and his brother would actively enter politics if their father were killed. However, the video is doctored through AI.

Imran has remained incarcerated for over two years since August 2023 due to ongoing legal proceedings, despite several acquittals and suspended sentences. In January 2025, he was handed a 14-year prison sentence in a corruption case linked to the Al-Qadir University Project Trust.

A United Nations’ special rapporteur warned on Dec 12 that he is being held in conditions that could amount to inhuman or degrading treatment, calling on Pakistani authorities to comply with international norms and standards.

The PTI on Dec 13 expressed grave concern over the report, saying it exposed Imran’s “degrading treatment” during his incarceration and amounted to a “blatant violation” of international law and fundamental human rights.

HOW IT STARTED

On Dec 17, an interview clip of Imran’s sons with Sky News journalist Yalda Hakim was shared on X by an account that appears to be pro-PTI, based on its past posts and profile photo. The caption of the post read: “Suleiman Khan’s announcement: I have heard that my father might be murdered. If that happens, then we two brothers have decided that we will go to Pakistan and start politics.”

However, the son that is actually shown speaking is Kasim.

The post was viewed by more than 72,000 users.

The transcript of the clip is provided below:

Yalda Hakim: “If you do see him, what are you likely to say? Do you think that you would say, look, you’ve spent this time in prison, you’ve done your time, you know, perhaps look at cutting a deal?”

Kasim Khan: “I have heard that they may kill our father. If that happens, we have both decided that we will go back to Pakistan and start active politics to avenge what they did to him.”

The same interview clip was also shared by the official X account and the official Facebook page of PTI’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter.

The caption on PTI KP’s Facebook page stated: “I have heard that my father may be killed. If (God forbid) that happens, both my brother and I have decided that we will go to Pakistan and begin active politics to take revenge for our father.”

The caption concluded with the hashtag #FreeImranKhan.

This post received over 115,000 views and 7,300 reactions.

The official X account of PTI Gilgit-Baltistan also shared the same clip with a similar caption.

Additionally, the same clip was shared by several other users on X, including PTI supporters, as can be seen here, here, here, here, here and here.

The same clip was also shared by PTI supporters on TikTok, as can be seen here, here, and here, collectively gaining over 16,000 views.

The clip was also shared by a PML-N supporter, who posted it with the caption: “Breaking news: Imran Khan’s sons have announced their entry into Pakistani politics.”

Some users in the comments of the posts contested the clip, saying it was AI-generated and fake.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and keen public interest in matters concerning the PTI, Imran and his sons.

Analysing the video using forensic tool Deepfake Total to check for any potential signs of manipulation through AI showed that it flagged the clip’s audio as being 35.3 per cent fake.

A reverse-image search was conducted to trace the complete interview and corroborate the actual remarks by the sons, yielding a YouTube video uploaded by Sky News on December 17, 2025, on its official channel.

The video was titled: “‘He’s being held in a death cell’: Imran Khan’s sons fear for ex-PM’s life”.

Imran’s sons can be seen in the interview speaking about how their father had been kept in solitary confinement for two years in awful conditions and has been in jail since August 2023 after being convicted in a string of cases that were politically driven following his ousting in a 2022 parliamentary vote. However, at no point does the original interview contain any remarks made by Kasim about joining active politics to avenge their father.

The question in the viral video starts at the 4:53-minute mark of the interview. The transcription of the actual response by Kasim is provided below:

“What you have to understand is, it’s his life. It’s literally his passion and his goal. He calls it his life purpose to help Pakistan rid itself of corruption and so if he just took a deal and came over to us and lived in England, I know there would be this kind of burning desire and this aching that he’s left his country for dead and he’d be depressed, to be honest, I know he would. This is his goal. As much as we’d love to have our father watching all of our cricket matches or football matches over here, he has a far greater purpose. So you can only respect it.”

Furthermore, a keyword search to check reporting from mainstream credible news outlets on the interview also yielded a Dec 17, 2025, Dawn report titled: “Imran’s sons planning to visit Pakistan in January, say ex-premier being held in ‘death cell’”

The article does not, at any point, mention that Kasim made any remarks about joining active politics in Pakistan.

Additionally, neither PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram nor Kasim and Suleiman’s mother, Jemima Khan, or the main PTI account shared the same viral clip.

Instead, it was found that the PTI’s main account had reposted an X post calling out the viral clip as being fake.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim that a viral interview clip shows Imran Khan’s sons saying they will actively enter politics if their father is killed is false.

The clip is doctored and has been dubbed over through AI-generated audio.

EVIDENCE AND REFERENCES

Dec 17, 2025, Sky News YouTube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdeMJl9OGWo

Dec 17, 2025, Dawn news article:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1961637/imrans-sons-planning-to-visit-pakistan-in-january-say-ex-premier-being-held-in-death-cell