Fact Check: Video of Iran lawmakers burning US flag inside parliament is from 2018
As the tension between Iran and Israel mounts with each passing day, the United States has also signalled that it may enter the fray. President Donald Trump stated that the US military "may or may not" join Israeli forces to attack Iran. In the midst of all this, several images and a video, allegedly from the Iranian Parliament, have been circulating on social media.advertisementThese visuals show Iranian lawmakers burning a US flag inside Parliament. "Breaking: In Iranian Parliament, MPs burn the American flag while chanting 'Death to America,' and threaten to use a nuclear bomb against the American homeland," said posts featuring these photos and the video.
India Today Fact Check found that the video is more than seven years old and is unrelated to the present conflict.OUR PROBEUsing Google Lens, we found the same clip uploaded to the YouTube channel of Bloomberg News on May 9, 2018. The video was titled: 'Death to America: Iranian lawmakers burn US flag to protest Trump's nuclear deal exit.' The video report mentioned that the protest took place inside the Iranian Parliament, a day after Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal. Reportedly, the placard featuring the US flag that Iranian lawmakers burnt was a representation of their nuclear agreement with America.advertisementWe found a longer version of the same clip on the Associated Press's official YouTube channel, where the phrase 'Death to America' appeared in Persian beneath the flag. Outlets like the BBC and CNN also reported this incident. Nowhere, however, did any report mention Iranian lawmakers threatening to use a nuclear bomb against the American homeland, as claimed in the viral posts. On May 8, 2018, during his first presidential tenure, Donald Trump pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA. This deal was signed in July 2015 during Barack Obama's presidency. Trump called this deal "deeply flawed," arguing that it gave Iran sanctions relief without permanently dismantling its nuclear capabilities.Therefore, it's clear that the video making the rounds right now is seven years old and not related to the present conflict by any means.Tune InMust Watch
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