A Facebook (FB) page falsely claimed that Russia will support Iran in case the United States (U.S.) attacks the Islamic nation in support of Israel.
“BREAKING: Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared that RUSSIA will SUPPORT IRAN if the United States attacks Iran’s soil in support of Israel,” the post’s caption read.
Not true. In a phone call with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi dated April 16, Putin “expressed hope that all parties involved in the conflict will show restraint and will not allow a new round of confrontation that may be fraught with consequences for the entire region.”
The erroneous claim has spread across Filipino FB users, some of whom expressed support by saying Alhamdulillah (Praise be to God).
On April 14, Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling for all parties involved in the conflict to exercise restraint.
“We are extremely concerned about the escalation of tension in the region… therefore, of course, we are in favor of seeing all disagreements settled only politically and diplomatically,” Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a day later.
U.S. President Joe Biden said that the U.S. will not participate in any Israeli counter-attacks against Iran, senior U.S. officials said.
FB page Arab Vines (created on Feb. 12, 2016) made the post, which garnered over 9,348 interactions.
The claim appeared two days after Iran launched drones and missiles against Israel in response to a suspected Israeli strike on the Iranian Consulate in Damascus, Syria.
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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.)
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