In a coordinated effort, Iranian state media and supporters of the Islamic Republic have launched a disinformation campaign regarding the damages of the attack.
The campaign aims to project an image of Iranian military dominance by portraying the attack as a resounding success, stoke fear among the Israeli population through exaggerated reports of damage and casualties, and fabricate international backing for Iran's actions.
For example, the state-run newspaper Iran posted a video on social media platform X, claiming it showed Iranian missiles hitting Israel's Negev Airbase. However, fact-checking efforts revealed the footage to be unrelated, depicting a fire incident from months ago in the United States.
The daily falsely reported that Israel's Nevatim Airbase was rendered inoperable. Countering this claim, the Israeli military released a video of an F-35 landing at the base after the attack, demonstrating its continued functionality.
Further exposing the disinformation tactics, fact-checkers debunked a video circulated by "Jamejam," affiliated with Iranian state broadcaster IRIB. The video, purporting to show Iranian missiles passing Israel’s Iron Dome defense system, was actually footage of a Ukrainian attack on Russian ships at Sevastopol port earlier in the year.
