Fact Check: An old image from Tahran-Qom highway falsely linked with ongoing conflict between Iran-Israel. Here’s the truth

On social media, an image showing a road from a vehicle’s mirror has gone viral. While sharing the image users wrote “Road-mobile ballistic missile launchers are being moved around inside Iran – the missile force is at 100% readiness in all regions. Iran announced that it would bomb Israel immediately if Israel made the mistake of attacking them”.

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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 the image dated back to 2023. We found multiple media reports carrying the same image. The report by ‘arshehonline’ dated 16 Oct 2023  with the headline: “Night movement of Iranian ballistic missile launchers” also depicted the same image.

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Furthermore, we also found a media report from ‘Khabarfarsi’ published on 16 Oct 2023 stating a similar fact.

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Moreover, a tweet from ‘Iran Obsverver’ from 20 Oct 2023 also featured the same image with the caption “Movements of long-range ballistic missile launchers of the IRGC Aerospace Force on the Tehran – Qom highway”.

Movements of long-range ballistic missile launchers of the IRGC Aerospace Force on the Tehran – Qom highway pic.twitter.com/IcoKzXpgoR

— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) October 19, 2023

Conclusion

It is evident from the DFRAC’s fact check that the viral image is from Tehran-Qom highway and dates back to 2023, not from ongoing conflict between Iran-Israel. Therefore, the claim of social media users is misleading.