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| - Mohammad Hossein Mokhtari received the Order of Pius, one of the Vatican's highest diplomatic distinctions, on May 12, 2026.
Pope Leo XIV — the Vatican's head of state — was not personally present at the ceremony but conferred the order through his aide Archbishop Paolo Rudelli.
In May 2026, a claim (archived) circulated online that Pope Leo XIV presented Iran's Ambassador Mohammad Hossein Mokhtari with the Vatican's highest diplomatic honor.
One X user who shared the claim wrote:
NEW:🇮🇷🇻🇦Pope Leo XIV presented Iran's ambassador to the Vatican, Ayatollah Hossein Mokhtari, with the highest diplomatic honor of the Vatican, the 'Order of Pius'
The medal was awarded for Iran's extraordinary contributions to peace and interfaith cooperation between Christians and Muslims.
The claim also spread on Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived) and Threads (archived). Snopes readers also contacted us to ask about the alleged honor.
The claim was mostly true. Mokhtari, who is Iran's ambassador to the Holy See, did receive the Order of Pius, an order founded by Pope Pius IX and bestowed by the pope, on May 12.
The Order of Pius (also known as the Order of Piano) is a papal order that state-run news outlet Vatican News reported is one of the Pope's highest distinctions for diplomatic service. Vatican News reported that 13 ambassadors who had completed at least two years of service to the Holy See received the order on May 12.
Mokhtari has served as Iran's ambassador to the Vatican since December 2023 and could be seen standing second from the left in a photo published by Vatican News.
Though Iranian news outlets shared the news alongside photos of Mokhtari and Pope Leo XIV, the Vatican's photos from the event did not show that Leo was present at the ceremony. Rather, Leo conferred the order through Archbishop Paolo Rudelli, whom the Vatican's photos showed handing Mokhtari his order. (Leo appointed Rudelli substitute for general affairs at the Secretariat of State, seen as roughly to a chief of staff.)
Snopes contacted the Holy See press office to ask it to confirm the authenticity of a certificate circulating in news stories about Mokhtari's order and await a reply.
Beware of AI or outdated images of Mokhtari and Leo
Iranian news sites shared the news about Mokhtari's order alongside suspected fake or outdated images of Mokhtari and Leo.
One of these images (archived), which appeared to show Mokhtari and Leo shaking hands in the Paul VI Audience Hall where the Pope holds public audiences and delivers speeches, appeared to have been generated by artificial intelligence.
A person holding a cellphone standing directly behind Mokhtari appeared to have two different colored hands and was missing their fifth finger on their right hand. Mokhtari's hand, which Leo held, appeared to lack knuckles or separation between the fingers. Poorly rendered hands are a classic sign of AI use in photos.
(IRNA, accessed via Facebook, illustrated by Snopes)
IRNA News Agency, Iran's state-controlled news agency, shared the suspected AI generated image of Mokhtari and Leo alongside news of Mokthari's Order of Pius.
Another image that circulated online in May 2026 also showed Mokhtari and Leo shaking hands. IRNA had previously reported (archived) that the image showed Mokthari and Leo at an event for accredited ambassadors at the Holy See on May 17, 2025. That image could be authentic, as a photo from the trusted photo agency Getty Images showed Mokhtari was present at the event on that date (second from the left in the fifth row back). The photo did not show Mokhtari and Leo in May 2026.
Mokhtari among many ambassadors to receive order
According to a document about knighthoods in the Holy See published by the Italian presidency's Department of Protocol, Pius IX founded the Order of Pius in 1847. The order originally formed a college of knights who obeyed the orders of the Holy See (Page 15).
The order granted the recipient nobility that could be passed down through generations or that was bestowed on just one person, depending on the class of order. Because the Holy See canceled titles of nobility in 1939, recipients of the Order of Pius received only insignia.
Pope Pius XII later added a class to the order. There are currently four classes of the Order of Pius.
According to illustrations in the Department of Protocol's document (Page 18) and a photo of Mokhtari's insignia, the Iranian ambassador became a Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of Pius on May 12, 2026, the second-highest class of the order.
In sum, while Mokhtari did receive an Order of Pius in May 2026, there was no evidence Leo personally bestowed it upon him or was present at the ceremony. There was also no evidence that the order symbolized anything other than recognition of Mokhtari and 12 other diplomats' service to the Holy See's government.
Other recipients of the Order of Pius include Callista Gingrich, whom U.S. President Donald Trump appointed as the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See during his first term. Trump's current ambassador to the Holy See, Brain Burch, has not yet served two years and therefore is not eligible for an Order of Pius.
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