Fact Check: Israel preparing for nuclear attack on Iran? No, video shows SpaceX Starship

Hyderabad: After the US military struck Iran’s nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan using B-2 stealth bombers and massive bunker-buster bombs, a video began circulating on social media which shows a missile-like structure standing upright, seemingly moving on the road, with several people gathered around, watching and filming it.

The Hindi text overlaid on the video claims that Israel is preparing for a nuclear strike on Iran, adding: “War is the second option for peace.” An X user shared the video with the caption, “Israel is going to launch a nuclear attack on Iran! #Israel.” (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false, as the video shows a SpaceX Starship.

A reverse image search of the keyframes from the video led us to the same footage posted on Facebook on June 16. The post stated that it shows “Starship 36 heading to the launch pad ahead of test number 10.”

Taking a cue from this, we conducted a keyword search and found a livestream of Starship 36 being transported on a giant wheeled transporter, posted on the Spaceflight YouTube channel on June 15. The Starship in the livestream closely matched the one seen in the viral video.

According to the channel, the video shows SpaceX rolling out Ship 36 to Masseys for engine testing ahead of Starship Flight 10.

Was the Starship 36 engine test successful?

According to a report published by The Guardian on June 16, Starship 36 suffered a ‘catastrophic failure and exploded’ during a static fire test at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Cameron County, Texas. On the same day, Space.com reported that SpaceX’s newest Starship vehicle ‘went up in smoke.’

The company was conducting a static fire test of the Starship upper stage at its South Texas facility on the night of June 18, in preparation for the rocket’s upcoming 10th flight test.

Is Israel preparing for a nuclear attack on Iran?