Claim: A video shows an Israeli air base in Negev being attacked by Iran.
Fact: The video predates Iran’s recent retaliatory strike on Israel. It actually made rounds on social media in February 2024 and likely shows wildfires in Chile.
Iran-Israel conflict
On 13 April 2024, Iran launched an unprecedented attack on Israel in retaliation to a suspected Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, which took place on 1 April. Marking a significant escalation in tensions between the two countries, Iran’s first direct attack on Israel involved over 300 projectiles, including drones and ballistic missiles, targetting the Nevatim air base in southern Israel. Despite the scale of the assault, the Israeli military says over 99% of the projectiles were intercepted by their aerial defence systems and their allies.
The Iranian Student News Agency reported that Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi stated on 16 April that his country would retaliate against any actions that threaten its interests. This statement comes following Israel’s warning of a response to Tehran’s recent drone and missile attack over the weekend.
Fact or Fiction?
On 14 April 2024, X (formerly Twitter) user John Spectator (@johnspectator) shared (archive) a video claiming that it shows Iran’s Khyber missile successfully hitting the Israeli air base in Negev.
Soch Fact Check found the claim to be misleading. A keyword search led us to a post by Cazadores de Fake News (@cazamosfakenews), which states that the viral video claiming to show the impact of Iran’s retaliatory attack against Israel is old. Shared by HispanTV, a channel operated by Iran’s state-controlled broadcaster and some Venezuelan outlets, the video in question corresponds to a fire in Achupallas (Viña del Mar), Chile, and has been circulating on social media since February, according to the post.
Dating back to February, this post on X also features the same video. Soch Fact Check identified this based on key indicators and the caption, which suggest that it shows a fire in Achupallas, Viñs del Mar. According to Wikipedia, Achupallas is a neighborhood located in the city of Viña del Mar in the Valparaíso Region of Chile.
To confirm the veracity of the incident, Soch Fact Check searched Google with the key phrase , “FIRE Achupallas, Viñs del Mar February 2024”. This led us to an article by The Guardian from February 2024 which reports on the wildfires in Chile.
The wildfires were also reported on by Reuters, AFP and Associated Press at the time.
However, Soch Fact Check could not find the exact video on any credible news platforms or confirm if the video was indeed filmed in Chile. Nonetheless, we ascertained that the footage predates the Iran-Israel escalation and is unrelated to the recent retaliatory attacks.
Virality:
The video was found here, here, here, here and here on X.
On Facebook, it was posted here, here, here, here and here.
It was shared here on TikTok.
It was also posted on YouTube here and here.
Conclusion: A video claiming to show Iran’s attack on an Israeli air base has nothing to do with the recent escalation between the two countries. The original video likely shows wildfires in Chile from February 2024.
Background image in cover photo: Taylor Brandon
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