A video posted on Facebook falsely claimed that Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander-in-chief Gen. Hossein Salami was killed during Israel’s airstrikes on Iran’s main nuclear site.
Posted on June 23 by FB page GOOD News Philippines, the video’s caption read:
“ISRAEL SUMALAKAY SA IRAN NUCLEAR SITE, PINAKAMATAAS NA HENERAL NG IRAN NASAWI SA ISRAEL AIRSTRIKE.” (Israel attacks Iran nuclear site, highest general of Iran died in Israel airstrike)
Salami was killed along with other military personnel and civilians in the June 13 airstrike on a base in the capital Tehran, not in the main Iranian nuclear site in Natanz where airstrikes also resulted in fatalities, including at least 14 nuclear scientists.
Iran’s nuclear program and the scientists responsible for assembling the deadly weapons were the primary targets of Israel’s Operation Rising Lion.The unprecedented attack hit the nuclear site and military bases in Tehran.
The erroneous video used footage of the Israeli Defense Forces preparing their fighter jets for the strikes in Iran which were uploaded on the X account of an Israeli correspondent on June 13.
Clips from other videos were used in the footage, including an edited version of a 2023 Associated Press video on Natanz encircling the areas where Israel attacked, Salami’s message to United States President Donald Trump on America’s involvement in the conflict, and a screenshot of a June 13 CNN report on the general’s death.
It mostly contained Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement on the supposed success of the initial attacks.
In the comment section, some Filipino netizens pointed out the video’s bias towards Israel. Several expressed sympathy for Israel, even saying that Iran deserved the attacks.
FB page GOOD News Philippines’ (created on September 23, 2019) video garnered around 72,600 views, 3,575 reactions, 192 comments and 169 shares. The page has around 15,000 likes and 412,701 followers.
Editor’s note: This fact check was produced with the help of a journalism student of the University of the Philippines Diliman as part of their internship at VERA Files
