Two separate photographs of former U.S. President Barack Obama and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were digitally combined into a single image to make it appear as if Obama was bowing before Khamenei. It was captured by AFP photographer Atta Kenare and shows Khamenei looking toward Ahmadinejad while former Iranian presidents, Mohammad Khatami and Ali Akbar Hashami Rafsanjani, are seen sitting next to Khamenei. The image of Obama bowing has been taken from an official White House photograph from May 8, 2009. Years later, Obama reconnected with the boy and posted a video about the encounter on Instagram (archived) on May 27, 2022. The image of Obama bowing to Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei is edited to combine two unrelated photographs.

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Persons: Barack Obama, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Obama, Khamenei, ”, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Atta Kenare, Ahmadinejad, Mohammad Khatami, Ali Akbar Hashami Rafsanjani, Jacob Philadelphia, Read Organizations: Iran's, Twitter, Facebook, AFP, White House, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Iran’s, Tehran