Iran

Manipulated image of burning Tel Aviv skyline circulates after Iranian strikes

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Tehran responded to Israel striking military and nuclear targets in Iran by launching hundreds of ballistic missiles into Israeli cities, but an image purporting to show buildings in Tel Aviv engulfed by fire that circulated on social media was manipulated. While an Iranian barrage hit the area depicted in the image, news footage of the bombardment only shows thick smoke rising from where the missiles struck.

"Iran hit Israel back. They invaded Tel Aviv," reads the Thai-language caption of an image shared on Facebook on June 14, 2025.

The image appears to show the city's Marganit Tower and a nearby block of flats engulfed in flames (archived here and here).

It surfaced after Israel attacked Iranian nuclear and military targets on June 13, prompting retaliatory strikes from Tehran (archived here and here).

The arch foes continued to trade missile fire before US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire on June 24 to end the conflict, which has killed 610 in Iran and 28 in Israel (archived here and here).

The announcement came just hours after Iran launched strikes against an American military base in Qatar, which Trump described as a "weak" retaliation for US strikes against Iranian nuclear sites (archived link).

Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured on June 20, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

The same image also circulated in similar Thai-language Facebook posts, as well as in English Facebook and X posts.

The circulating image, however, does not match news footage of Iranian strikes on Tel Aviv.

A reverse image search on Google led to the same image in a now-deleted Facebook post from June 14, from a user who describes himself as a Libyan programmer and designer.

The image's Arabic-language caption reads: "An image I photoshopped to boost the morale of the Arab nation went viral and was even shared by Yasser Al-Dossari."

Footage from the BBC shows the area in Tel Aviv was struck by an Iranian missile, but did not set off fires as seen in the false post (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the circulating image (left) and the BBC footage (right), with corresponding buildings highlighted by AFP

Similar footage shared by France 24 on YouTube also shows plumes of smoke rising from near the impact of the strike, and no surrounding buildings engulfed in flames (archived link).

AFP has previously debunked several other false claims related to the Iran-Israel conflict.

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