On social media, a video from a protest has gone viral. While sharing the video users claim that “Iran is kicking off. Iranian people defending themselves against the oppressive armed forces of the Islamic dictatorship in Iran”.
Moreover, several users shared this video and made similar claims. The link can be seen here, here and here
Fact Check
During the investigation, DFRAC found that this video dated back to 2022. We found a media report from ‘Independent TV’ published on 22 Sept 2022 stating that protesters ran towards a police vehicle in Amol, Iran, as demonstrations continued following the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, who was held by the country’s morality police for allegedly wearing a loose headscarf, or hijab. Police had denied mistreatment and said she died of a heart attack, but her family disputed this”.
Furthermore, we also found a similar video on YouTube channel of ‘Voice of America’ uploaded on 24 Sept 2022 with the description “Iranian protesters confronted riot police and threw objects in their direction in the city of Amol as they rally over the death of a young woman arrested by morality police”.
Additionally, we found a tweet from ‘Imposter_edits’ tweeted on 22 Sept 2022 with the caption “In Iran, protesters are overwhelming riot police protesting the death of Mahsa Amini”
Conclusion
It is evident from the DFRAC’s fact check that the viral video has been misleadingly shared on X. It dates back to 2022 and related to the case of Mahsa Amini whose death sparked widespread protest in Iran.
