Months-old video shows Iranian drone destroyed over Israel, not by US military
- Published on February 16, 2026 at 06:43
- 2 min read
- By AFP Indonesia
After a US warplane destroyed an Iranian drone that flew near to an American aircraft carrier, a video was shared in posts falsely claiming it showed the shoot down in the Arabian Sea. The video had in fact circulated eight months earlier in posts about an Iranian drone that was downed by Israel's Iron Dome air defence system.
"US F-35 fighter jet shoots down Iranian 'Shahed 139' drone near an aircraft carrier," reads part of the Indonesian-language text on a TikTok video shared on February 5, 2026.
The video appears to show a drone flying across the sky before it is struck from above by a projectile and explodes in mid-air.
It was shared days after the US military said that an F-35C stealth fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that "aggressively" drew near to the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier on February 3 (archived link).
A large number of US warships are in the region, as US and Iranian officials hold talks about reining in Tehran's ability to make a nuclear weapon -- an ambition the Islamic republic has always denied (archived link).
Officials said the talks would continue, even after the drone was destroyed, though White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Donald Trump was keeping open the possibility of military action against Iran.
The same video was also shared in similar TikTok and Facebook posts.
"How is that possible? They said Iranian drones are the most advanced in the world," read a comment on one of the posts.
Another said: "Iran is just testing the waters."
The video, however, previously circulated in June 2025.
A reverse image search and keyword search on Google led to a similar video posted on Israel's official Spanish-language Instagram account on June 14, 2025 (archived link).
The footage -- the earliest version of the video that AFP was able to find online -- is credited to Tomer Nagli, whose account is based in Israel (archived link).
AFP reached out to Nagli for comment, but did not receive a response at time of publication.
The footage was also posted on his YouTube channel with the description, "An Iranian Shahed 136 Drone Hit By An Israeli Iron Dome" (archived link).
Superimposed text on the video says it was filmed on June 14, 2025 in Upper Galilee.
At the time, the countries were trading heavy aerial assaults following Israel's unprecedented attack on Iran on June 13 that struck military and nuclear sites, as well as residential areas (archived link).
The attack triggered a 12-day conflict in which Iran responded with drone and missile attacks on Israel, and later saw the United States join Israel in striking Iranian nuclear sites.
The conflict, the most intense and destructive confrontation between Iran and Israel to date, was brought to a halt by a ceasefire that took effect on June 24.
More than 1,000 people were killed in Iran, according to authorities. Retaliatory missile and drone attacks killed 29 people in Israel.
AFP has previously debunked other false claims related to conflicts in the Middle East.
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