What was claimed
A video compilation shows fireworks being set off in Tehran in Iran to celebrate “the greatest victory”, following the announcement of a ceasefire with Israel.
Our verdict
Most of the clips in the compilation actually show scenes from Nagaoka Firework Festival in Japan. We could not see any reports of major fireworks displays celebrating the ceasefire in Iran.
A video compilation showing firework displays is being shared on social media with claims it shows celebrations in Tehran, Iran, after a ceasefire was agreed following its recent conflict with Israel. But most of these clips actually show scenes in Japan several years ago.
The compilation consists of several different clips, one of which appears to feature more than once, and it has been shared with the caption: “Tehran Now… The Iranian capital is celebrating the greatest victory. If you support Iran against Israel, please tap like and share the video”.
In fact, the clip showing a series of small explosions (44-50 seconds) followed by a large one (one minute 6 seconds onwards) also appears at the end of a longer YouTube video that was shared on 2 August 2022 with the caption: “Nagaoka Fireworks”. Nagaoka is a city on the north coast of Japan.
The first clip in the Facebook post, which appears again very briefly at 43s, is also almost identical to a section of the YouTube footage.
We matched the long structure spanning most of the length of these clips, and illuminated in green in the final shot, to the Chosei Bridge in Nagaoka. This bridge can also be seen in many other photos of Nagaoka’s annual firework festival commemorating an extensive US air raid on the city in August 1945. Another YouTube clip shows the same sequence of fireworks as in the final clip of the compilation, but more magnified, with the bridge clearly visible too.
Indeed parts of this bridge can be seen in almost all of the clips in the compilation, including at the bottom right of the second clip starting at 17 seconds.
While we’ve not been able to geolocate the clip starting at 51 seconds, we’ve not seen any credible reports of major fireworks displays at gatherings across Iran celebrating the ceasefire or the strikes against Israel. The ceasefire was agreed on 24 June following 12 days of missile exchanges between the two countries.
You can find more of our work countering misinformation relating to the Israel-Iran conflict on our website, including many other examples of miscaptioned images and videos. Our guide offers tips on how to verify videos before you share them.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because all but one of the clips in the compilation show scenes of Nagoaka in Japan, not Tehran.
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