An image (here, here and here) of a road from a vehicle’s mirror, showing a loaded lorry, has gone viral on social media, claiming that it depicts road-mobile ballistic missile launchers being moved inside Iran, with the missile force allegedly at full readiness across all regions. The post also suggests that Iran has announced it will bomb Israel immediately if attacked. Let’s verify the authenticity of this claim.
Claim: Visual of a missile launcher-loaded truck suggests Iran is preparing to attack Israel.
Fact: This is an old image captured from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force moving with a missile launcher on the Tehran-Qom highway on 19 October 2023, during the time Iran was attacking U.S. military bases. This image has no connection with the recent Iran-Israel conflict. Hence, the claim is MISLEADING.
To verify the viral claim, we conducted a reverse image search and found a report on Michal and Peter webpage from 20 October 2023. The report shared the viral image and stated that the Iranian military had begun a significant movement of tactical ballistic missiles and surface-to-air missiles toward the Iraqi border. It appears that Iran is preparing to target U.S. military bases in Iraq and northern Syria.
In further research, we found an X handle named “Iran Observer” that uploaded the same image, explaining it as showing the movements of long-range ballistic missile launchers belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force on the Tehran-Qom highway.
Additionally, we found a report stating that on Wednesday, 18 October 2023, Iran attacked a U.S. military base in Iraq with drones. One attack caused minor injuries to some troops, although the U.S. military intercepted the armed drone.
To sum up, an old image of a missile launcher-loaded lorry is falsely shared as related to the recent Iran-Israel conflict.
