Iranian news agency embarrasses itself with fake video on X website

An Iranian news agency wanted to use a video to show how effective the attack on Israel was. But what you get most from him is sarcasm.

A faint explosion, then a fireball rises in the distance. The night is lit by countless fires. The air is thick with smoke and smog. People cry, sirens cry. All this can be seen in a video published by the Iranian Tasnim news agency on the SMS service X. It aims to show the extent of the devastation caused by the Iranian attack on Israel and was also shown on Iranian state television.

The problem: The city engulfed by fire and chaos in the recordings is not actually in Israel, but rather Valparaiso in Chile, more than 13,000 kilometers away. The video was filmed at the beginning of February, while Chile was experiencing devastating forest fires. Read more here. The fact that the people in the video are speaking Spanish to each other makes it clear that this is not a city in Israel.

Many users noticed the use of the wrong video and commented on it in the news agency's post. Many users initially assumed the video would show a fire in Texas, as it was already circulating at the beginning of March and was claimed to be footage from Texas.

The official Israeli X account then shared a statement saying the video was fake. Other anti-Israel accounts also posted the video on social media. The Iranian regime's actual attack was significantly less effective. According to the Israeli army, 99% of all shells were intercepted. Read more about the Israeli defense system here.

The IRNA post is still online, but the video has been replaced.