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Missiles launched from Iran towards Israel are seen in the West Bank city of Nablus on Oct. 1, 2024. (AP) Missiles launched from Iran towards Israel are seen in the West Bank city of Nablus on Oct. 1, 2024. (AP)

Missiles launched from Iran towards Israel are seen in the West Bank city of Nablus on Oct. 1, 2024. (AP)

Sofia Ahmed
By Sofia Ahmed October 3, 2024

No, this video does not show Iran missile attack

If Your Time is short

  • This video has been circulating online since at least November 2023. 

  • The clip includes images of missiles, vehicles and landscapes similar to ones in the video game "Wargame: Red Dragon." 

  • An electrical and computer engineering professor told PolitiFact the video had telltale signs of being computer-generated.

After Iran launched nearly 200 missiles toward Israel on Oct. 1, some social media users have posted what they say is footage of the attack. 

"Iranian state TV just ran this," one X user wrote Oct. 1, along with a video of hundreds of missiles soaring through the sky. Other users shared the video on X, also claiming it shows an Iranian missile attack.

Screenshot from X

But the video predates Iran’s Oct. 1 missile attack. It has been circulating on the internet since at least Nov. 13, 2023. On one X post, a community note says the footage is from the video game "Wargame: Red Dragon." Community notes let users add context to potentially misleading tweets.

Featured Fact-check

A PolitiFact review of YouTube videos of "Wargame: Red Dragon" shows that the video game has missiles, vehicles and landscapes similar to the ones in the clip.

Hafiz Malik, an electrical and computer engineering professor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, told PolitiFact that the video had telltale signs of being computer generated, including that the explosions did not cause leaves on the trees to move and that projectiles disappeared into the scene.

We searched Google but found no news of Iranian state television broadcasting the video. A "Wargame: Red Dragon" video game developer did not immediately respond to PolitiFact’s questions about the video.

We rate the claim that a video shows an Iranian missile attack Pants on Fire!

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

Our Sources

X post (archived), Oct. 1, 2024

X post, Oct. 2, 2024

X post, Oct. 2, 2024

Phone interview, Hafiz Malik, electrical and computer engineering professor, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Oct. 3, 2024

TikTok post, Nov. 13, 2023

YouTube, Wargame red dragon Artillery goes boom boom Highlight, Jan. 26, 2021 

YouTube, Wargame Red Dragon - Patriot spam vs SEAD aircraft, Jan. 25, 2015

YouTube, Wargame Red Dragon - Epic Patriot Spam, Jan. 24, 2015 

The New York Times, Iran Launches About 180 Ballistic Missiles at Israel, Oct. 1, 2024

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More by Sofia Ahmed

No, this video does not show Iran missile attack

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