After Israel launched airstrikes on Iran last Saturday, an image of a massive fire was widely circulated on social media, purportedly showing an explosion caused by the strikes. However, as the image was widely shared, we discovered it was missing context. The image depicts a fire at Iran’s oil refinery that occurred over three years ago.
SOCIAL MEDIA CLAIM
An image of a fireball explosion was widely circulated on social media, claiming to show a blast in Tehran following Israeli airstrikes on Iran last weekend.
Below is a snapshot of the X (formerly Twitter) post on October 26, 2024: “Breaking: Initial reports from Iran that large explosions were heard in Tehran and additional explosions in Karaj. There have also been reports of explosions in Irag simultaneously and at Imam Khomeini Airport in Iran.”
The same image was shared not only by users on social media platforms but also circulated by media outlets.
Below is a snapshot of the image published by Business Today in its report on Israel’s airstrikes on Iran last Saturday.
The same image was also uploaded on social media by a Khmer-speaking user just hours after Israel launched airstrikes on Iran last Saturday.
FACT CHECK
Fact Crescendo started debunking the claim by conducting a reverse image search, which led us to discover factual information about the image below.
By running the Google Reverse Image Search, we discovered that the image was widely published by reliable media outlets in June 2021.
According to a Times of Israel report, the image depicts a massive fire that occurred at an oil refinery in Tehran on June 2, 2021.
Below is a snapshot of the report which was published by the Israeli media outlet over three years ago.
Times of Israel | Archived Link
The massive fire at Iran’s oil refinery was also covered by other media outlets, including the Globe and Mail and the U.K.-based media Standard.
As reported, a massive fire broke out at Iran’s oil refinery on the morning of June 02, 2021, during a summer heatwave with temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius.
Israel launched airstrikes against Iran on October 26, 2024, in response to Iran’s earlier barrage of nearly 200 missiles targeting Israel.
Reports indicated that Israeli airstrikes targeted military bases Ilam, Khuzestan, and Tehran, with Iran acknowledging only minor damage.
CONCLUSION
Fact Crescendo found out the circulated image is missing context. It does not show the explosion from Israeli airstrikes on Saturday. Instead, it is a massive fire at Iran’s oil refinery that occurred over three years ago.
Title:Old Image Misrepresented as Israeli Airstrike Explosion in Iran
Fact Check By: Jay UdomResult: Missing Context
