VERA Files
A Facebook (FB) video falsely claimed that Iran recently declared war against the United States (U.S.). The video used a one-year-old clip of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to bolster its claim.
“Iran nagdeklara ng digmaan laban sa America ng jihad (Iran declared a jihad war against America),” the caption of a one-minute FB video claimed.
To support the incorrect claim, a Facebook user featured an April 18, 2022 video published by Indian news organization WION, where Raisi warned Israel:
“Even your slightest move is not hidden from the eyes of our intelligence, security, and armed forces. Beware that if the tiniest move is made by you (sic) against the Iranian nation, the target for our armed forces will certainly be the center of the Zionist regime.”
The erroneous video appeared three days after the U.S. launched airstrikes against two locations used by pro-Iran forces in Syria, in retaliation for drone and rocket attacks against American troops in Iraq and Syria.
Iran has not declared jihad war on the U.S. Iranian government officials only warned about the possible expansion of the war between Israel and Hamas, as they blamed the death of Palestinian children on the U.S. support of Israel.
“We said in a message that Iran is not seeking to develop war, but with the approach that the United States and the occupying Israeli regime have in the region… every possibility is conceivable and an extension of the scope of war could be inevitable,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said in a Nov. 17 interview with the Financial Times.
“Undoubtedly, the US government is the main perpetrator and partner of this crime. Israel is the illegitimate child of America. It is America that has preferred its support to the happy lives of thousands of oppressed Palestinian children,” Raisi said in a Nov. 13 X (formerly Twitter) post.
The false video, posted on Nov. 1, garnered a total of over 6,018 reactions, 1,819 comments, and 180,000 views.
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(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
