Imam Musa Sadr’s Family Protests BBC’s Use of AI Footage

Date: 03 September 2025 - 21:53

News ID: ۱۴۳۱۷۹

TEHRAN – The family of prominent Shia cleric Imam Musa al-Sadr has issued a statement responding to a BBC documentary titled “The Mystery of Musa al-Sadr,” which aired recently and included claims about the cleric’s possible fate.

The family said in a statement that they cooperated fully with the BBC production team, providing images, documents, and other material related to the case of Imam Sadr and his two companions, who disappeared in Libya in 1978.

Judge Hassan Shami, secretary of the official committee investigating the case, also participated in the program to clarify outstanding questions.

However, the family expressed concern over a segment of the documentary in which the BBC used artificial intelligence (AI) to compare a blurry hospital image from western Tripoli in 2011 with photographs of Imam Sadr. The documentary suggested the image might be of the missing cleric.

The family said this comparison was made without their knowledge or consent. “From the very first moment we saw the footage, we were astonished,” the statement said, pointing to clear differences in facial structure, hair color, and other features that they said ruled out the image as being that of Imam Sadr.

To address further questions, Judge Shami, representing both the family and the official committee, was about to appear on BBC Arabic to provide additional clarifications.

Imam Musa al-Sadr and his two companions vanished after traveling to Libya on August 31, 1978. Their fate remains unknown.