Out-of-context videos mislead social users on Israel-Iran conflict
As Israel and Iran continue to exchange fire for the seventh consecutive day, a disinformation war is simultaneously escalating on social platforms.
Euronews' fact-checking team, Euroverify, has been analysing several viral videos emerging from Iran and Israel over recent days in order to verify their authenticity.
Our team found a significant number of old videos, unrelated to the current conflict, being falsely linked to the ongoing exchange of fire.
Many of them have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times and amplified across platforms, sowing confusion and misleading social media users.
A clip circulating widely across X, TikTok and Instagram, and seen hundreds of thousands of times, claims to show Iranians dancing as they shelter in tunnels in the capital of Tehran.
Some social media users allege they are celebrating Israeli strikes on the city.
"Iranians stuck in traffic on their way to northern Iran start singing and dancing inside a tunnel to celebrate Israeli attacks on the Islamic regime," one X user claims.
But a reverse image search using still shots from the clip shows that it was originally posted on Instagram as far back as September 2023.
Another video claims to show people fighting among themselves while sheltering at a Tel Aviv bunker.
One X post with the video has been viewed over 700,000 times.
Yet, the footage in fact shows an altercation at a Georgian court, which was first published on X on June 12, two days before Israel launched the first attacks against Iran.
On that day, a 21-year-old Georgian protester was sentenced to four years and six months in prison for "hitting police officers with a stick" during demonstrations against the ruling government last November.
Georgian media reported that following his sentencing the court building "descended into chaos" with hundreds of supporters, including the Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, present to lend their support to the accused.
Another video purports to show a crowd of Israeli citizens fleeing from a square in Tel Aviv amid Iranian strikes.
A reverse image search shows that the scene dates from April this year, when a false security alert triggered a swift evacuation of a square in Tel Aviv during a memorial day event.
While the scene does show residents fleeing an Israeli square, it pre-dates the current conflict.
Other social media users have shared a video claiming to show an explosion caused by an Iranian strike on Tel Aviv.
But the footage is astonishingly 22 years old, and shows a US strike on Iraq in 2003.
Similarly, recent footage showing an Israeli airstrike on Houthi targets in Yemen's capital Sanaa has been circulating with false claims that it shows explosions in Israel caused by Iranian attacks.
Divisions over the justification for Israel's attack on Iran last Friday are set to surface among ambassadors in Brussels on Thursday, stymying EU attempts at finding a common response to the crisis, according to sources Euronews has spoken to.
"It's definitely an issue that is being discussed - what is the extent to which this right of self-defence is acceptable," one source said.
The EU issued a statement on Saturday calling 'on all sides to abide by international law, show restraint and refrain from taking further steps which could lead to serious consequences such as potential radioactive release'.
Sources close to the discussion say a "major" part of the deliberations among member states was whether the EU should state 'Israel has a right to defend itself' in the context of its attacks against Iran.
Around 15 member states including Austria, Czechia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy and the Netherlands wanted to add the line but it was not agreed unanimously.
Several other countries felt there wasn't sufficient evidence that Israel has the right under international law to launch its offensive against Iran.
Under international law, and the UN Charter, a state may exercise its right to self-defence in case of an armed attack or imminent attack. Any necessary action should also be proportionate.
Israel says its series of strikes are pre-emptive moves to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
The issue is set to be discussed by ambassadors in Brussels on Thursday and is an agenda item for next week's EU summit of heads of state and government. Draft conclusions for that summit seen by Euronews currently contain no wording in respect of the EU Council's position on the Israel-Iran conflict.
Meanwhile, EU sources told Euronews they were "surprised" by a tweet from the Commission President announcing implicit support for Israel's attacks against Tehran.
The message from Ursula von der Leyen went further than the agreed statement of the European Council, which is the arm of the EU with the authority to conduct foreign policy.
Ursula von der Leyen tweeted 'Spoke with President Herzog concerning the escalating situation in the Middle East. I reiterated Israel's right to defend itself and protect its people'.
'There was no consensus on saying Israel has a right to defend itself but Von der Leyen said it anyway,' another diplomatic source told Euronews.
'She saw the agreed language and then made her own statement,' they said.
'It was disheartening to be honest,' said the diplomat.
'These countries like Iran – as bad as they are don't simply submit when they're attacked like this, and what comes next will be so much worse even if there is regime change in Iran,' said this source, adding: 'And then when two or three million Iranians turn up on Europe's door they'll say we can't deal with this migration crisis."
'Member states which are critical of Israel said they thought Israeli attacks on Iran were irresponsible, but a large group is on board with von der Leyen's statement," said another diplomat.
'We would say that's a question for legal scholars – there is no judgement on that yet,' the diplomat responded, when asked if their government believed the war against Iran to be within the provisions of international law.
Former International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohammad El Baradei claimed in a post on X that Israeli 'suspicion does not constitute an imminent threat', and that Israel's attack on nuclear facilities was illegal under international law.
'The president has made her position clear, her position has already been taken quite clearly by the G7 leaders statement on the developments in the region," von der Leyen's spokesperson said when asked about the difference between the official statement of the EU and that of the Commission president.
'She also communicated on social media stressing the fact that Israel has the right to defend itself and Iran is the main source of tension in the region,' said Stefan de Keersmaecker on Wednesday.
The EU regards Iran as major destabilising influence in the European continent through its military support of Russia.
Iran has been supplying Shahed drones to Russia since the start of Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to the Ukrainian army.
Meanwhile the EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has since reiterated the official EU position for a diplomatic resolution to the Israel-Iran war.
And again called on all sides to 'abide by international law, and de-escalate the situation'.
She tweeted on Wednesday that 'Israel has the right to defend itself in line with international law.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AFP
2 hours ago
- AFP
Altered Trump video spreads amid Iran-Israel war
"We need to avoid getting involved in this conflict #trump #maga #israel #iran #middleeast #wwiii," says a June 15, 2025 post sharing the video on Instagram. The clip -- also shared to X, TikTok and YouTube -- claims to show Trump saying the United States should stay out of the conflict between the two arch enemies, which began when Israel targeted Iranian military bases and nuclear sites in a June 13 attack and has seen Iran respond with barrages of missiles and drones. "I think we should skip it," Trump appears to say in the video. "I don't know. I'm just not really feeling it. World War III folks, hard pass." Image Screenshot from Instagram taken June 20, 2025 Referencing nationwide protests against his agenda, Trump supposedly continued: "We've got enough going on stateside. We've got the 'No Kings' riots set to kick off this weekend. 'No Kings.' We like kings, actually, folks. We like one king in particular, quite frankly. The king of kings, our lord and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been working to draw elevated support from Trump, but the Republican US president said June 20 that Iran had a "maximum" of two weeks to avoid possible US air strikes, indicating he could take a decision before the fortnight deadline he set a day earlier. He had spent weeks before the attack pursuing a diplomatic path towards a deal to replace the nuclear deal with Iran that he tore up in his first term in 2018. The video purporting to show him saying the United States "should skip it," meanwhile, is altered. Reverse image searches reveal the footage was lifted from a May 28, 2025 event -- more than two weeks prior to Israel's strikes on Iran (archived here). Former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, who was sworn in at the ceremony as the interim US attorney for the District of Columbia, can be seen standing behind Trump throughout. The video and transcript show the president mentioned Israel's war on the Palestinian militant group Hamas and the US efforts to reach a deal with Iran, but he did not call for the United States to stay out of a conflict between the two Middle Eastern nations (archived here and here). He was asked at one point whether he warned Netanyahu against taking any action that could disrupt his talks with Iran, but he said he was pushing to follow the diplomatic path. The president made no mention of the "No Kings" protests. The manipulated video appears to lift footage from around the 18:36 mark of the May 28 footage, based on Trump's hand movements. In that moment, the president was talking about inflation. The voice cloning detection tool in the Verification Plugin, also known as InVID-WeVerify, found that the audio on the altered version is "very likely AI-generated." Some of the earliest posts sharing the clip included disclaimers saying it was a parody generated by artificial intelligence. AFP has debunked other misinformation about the Iran-Israel war here.
France 24
3 hours ago
- France 24
Trump says two weeks is 'maximum' for Iran decision
Trump added that Iran "doesn't want to talk to Europe," dismissing the chance of success in talks between European powers and Iran in Geneva on resolving the conflict between Israel and Iran. Trump also played down the possibility of asking Israel to halt its attacks, after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran would not resume talks with the United States until Israel relented. "I'm giving them a period of time, and I would say two weeks would be the maximum," Trump told reporters when asked if he could decide to strike Iran before that. He added that the aim was to "see whether or not people come to their senses." Trump had said in a statement on Thursday that he would "make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks" because there was a "substantial chance of negotiations" with Iran. Those comments had been widely seen as opening a two-week window for negotiations to end the war between Israel and Iran, with the European powers rushing to talks with Tehran. But his latest remarks indicated that Trump could still make his decision before that if he feels that there has been no progress towards dismantling Iran's nuclear program. Trump dismissed the chances of Europe making a difference, saying the talks between Britain, France, Germany and EU diplomats and Tehran's foreign minister "didn't help." "Iran doesn't want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this," Trump told reporters as he arrived in Morristown, New Jersey. Asked if he would ask Israel to stop its attacks as Iran had asked, Trump said it was "very hard to make that request right now." "If somebody's winning, it's a little bit harder to do than if somebody's losing, but we're ready, willing and able, and we've been speaking to Iran, and we'll see what happens."
France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
Europe powers urge Iran to keep up diplomacy despite Israeli strikes
British, French, German and EU top diplomats held talks in Geneva with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, giving diplomacy a chance one week after Israel started its bombardment. "The good result today is that we leave the room with the impression that the Iranian side is ready to further discuss all the important questions," said German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul in a statement alongside his European counterparts. "It is of great importance that the United States takes part in these negotiations and the solution," he added. The statements read by all four top diplomats in their native languages after the talks expressed hope of further progress but did not make any mention of a breakthrough. Araghchi, making his first trip outside Iran since the bombardment began, said Tehran was ready to "consider diplomacy" again only once Israel's "aggression is stopped". "In this regard I made it crystal clear that Iran's defence capabilities are not negotiable," he said. "We support the continuation of discussion... and express our readiness to meet again in the near future," he said. 'Urgently find a solution' British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: "We are keen to continue ongoing discussions and negotiations with Iran, and we urge Iran to continue their talks with the United States." "This is a perilous moment, and it is hugely important that we don't see regional escalation of this conflict," he added. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said there "can be no definitive solution through military means to the Iran nuclear problem. Military operations can delay it but they cannot eliminate it". After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not rule out killing supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Barrot also warned: "It is illusory and dangerous to want to impose a regime change from the outside. It is up to the people to decide their own destiny." "We invited the Iranian minister to consider negotiations with all sides, including the United States, without awaiting the cessation of strikes, which we also hope for," he said. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas added: "Today the regional escalation benefits no-one. We must keep the discussions open." Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said earlier the Iranian delegation "emphasised that Iran has not left the negotiating table". Israel began its campaign on Friday last week saying the operation was aimed at halting Tehran from obtaining an atomic bomb, an ambition Iran denies having. Iran has in response launched strikes on Israel.
