Debunked: how Iranian TV tried to fool the world ... using footage of hysterical Louis Tomlinson fans
Iranian state TV shared a fake video of “Israelis panicking” after a military strike on Saturday night, only for it to later be exposed as footage of enthusiastic fans of Louis Tomlinson, the One Direction pop star, in Argentina.
The propaganda blunder emerged when the clip – shared by the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network (IRINN) on X, formerly Twitter – was compared with footage taken last week near a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where the pop star greeted fans.
It is one of several fake videos circulated by Iranian news organisations since the missile and drone attack on Israel last weekend.
The caption on the “panic” post shared by IRINN on X read: “Israelis are in full panic after missiles hit Israel.”
Fans near the Four Seasons Hotel
However, after the video had been widely shared on social media, a fact-checker for the BBC’s media monitoring service said: “In fact, it shows Louis Tomlinson fans near the Four Seasons Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last week.”
Delfina Daponte, a public relations manager for the hotel, also confirmed to the AFP news agency that the video showed “our property located in Buenos Aires, Argentina”.
“These are fans waiting for a celebrity at the hotel two weekends ago,” added Ms Daponte. “Nothing to do with Israel.”
Tomlinson, 32, who has embarked on a solo career since One Direction split up in 2016, is due to perform a concert in Buenos Aires on May 18 as part of his world tour.
The Doncaster-born singer was seen in social media posts signing autographs, posing for photos and interacting with fans during a visit to the Argentinian capital last week.
Israel claimed to have shot down 99 per cent of the 300 drones and missiles fired on its territory by Iran on April 13.
IRINN has also shared another video purportedly showing the fiery aftermath of a missile strike on the Nevatim air base in the Negev desert in southern Israel. However, this footage was also debunked by a BBC media monitor who said it was actually showing a forest fire in Chile in February.
The Nevatim base was hit by a missile that evaded Israeli air defences in the April 13 attack but the impact was minor, according to US officials, damaging a C-130 cargo plane, an out-of-use runway and empty storage facilities.
Another video posted by state-owned broadcaster Iran Press appears to portray Palestinians celebrating the attack on Israel at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.
The footage was initially published on April 6 when worshippers were marking the final Friday of Ramadan, more than a week before the attack.
Similarly, an IRINN news package on the impact of the attacks in Israel included a dramatic shot of an exploding car.
Analysis from the Telegraph Video team suggests this is a fake visual, added from a different unconnected incident.
Such manipulation of news videos does not appear to be entirely confined to Iran sources, however.
A report by BBC Verify states that the Israel Defense Forces posted a video showing the impact of Iran’s attacks which includes “one old clip from nearly 10 years ago of a Russian Grad rocket launcher”.
