Fact Check: Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei’s banner targeted with bombs? No, video is from 2022
A video showing a protest where people were seen throwing explosives at Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s banner is going viral amid the ongoing internal strife.
By - K Sherly Sharon
Claim:The video shows protestors throwing explosives at Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamene’s banner amid ongoing protests.
Fact:The viral claim is misleading. The viral clip is from November 3, 2022, showing protests in Iran’s Fuladshahr.
Hyderabad: As mass anti-government protests rage in the Islamic Republic of Iran against the economic crisis, soaring inflation and depreciation in the national currency, a video of a protest is going viral on social media.
The 29-second video shows a gathering of people. Then someone throws what appears to be an explosive at a banner of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The video is being circulated with the claim that it shows the ongoing protests in the Islamic Republic.
Sharing the video on X, a user wrote, “Good morning from Iran.” (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading. The video is old and unrelated to the current protests in Iran.
Using a reverse image search, we found the viral video shared on X by Iran International English on November 4, 2022. The caption read, “A video obtained by @IranIntl shows Iranian protesters in Fuladshahr, Isfahan, throwing what appears to be an explosive at a banner of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.”
The X video only contains a 14-second of the viral video. We found a longer version shared on Facebook by Al Hadath on the same day with the caption, “Protesters vandalise a picture of Khamenei in the Iranian city of Fuladshahr.” (Translated from Arabic)
We also found an Asharq-Al-Awasat report from November 4, 2022, which used a screenshot from the viral video.
The image caption reads, “This image grab from a UGC video posted on November 3, 2022, reportedly shows protesters throwing a small explosive device at a banner depicting Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as a large crowd enters the district of Fuladshahr near the central city of Isfahan. (Photo by UGC/AFP)”
Therefore, it is clear that the viral clip is from November 3, 2022, showing protests in Iran’s Fuladshahr. NewsMeter concludes that the viral claim is false.
