Stand up for the facts!
Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.
I would like to contribute
In this photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, Revolutionary Guard members carry the flag-draped coffin of President Ebrahim Raisi during a funeral ceremony for him and his companions who were killed in a helicopter crash. (AP)
If Your Time is short
- Some photos trending recently on X are from an April 22, 2020, plane crash in Iran, not the recent 2024 crash that killed the country's president.
News of the helicopter crash that killed Iran’s president and foreign minister May 19 sparked a flurry of images on social media. But some of the photos gaining attention do not show the actual scene on the ground.
One viral May 20 post on X claimed to show the wreckage of the plane that came down in northwest Iran near the border with Azerbaijan, framing it as "breaking news." The post includes three photos of a crash and a video of rescuers holding a stretcher.
"Breaking news🚨: Many bodies of those died in Iran President Raisi helicopter crash have been burnt and cannot be identified," the X post claimed, using all capital letters.
The video in the post is real footage from the May 19 crash released by the Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran’s official news agency. But two of the three photos were taken from a separate Iranian crash that happened four years ago.
One image shows the tail of a crashed plane embossed with the Iranian flag and the number 1136. Another photo shows several rescue workers at the crash site; one rescuer wears a white mask and looks into the camera.
Featured Fact-check
The photos are from an April 22, 2020, plane crash in Iran. That plane was traveling from Bisheh Kolah, Mazandaran province, to the capital Tehran, according to the Iranian Red Crescent, a humanitarian relief organization, in an X post.
Iranian news outlet Rokna reported on the crash April 22, 2020. (We converted the article’s Persian calendar date of 1399/02/3 to the Gregorian calendar used in many parts of the world.) The state-owned Mehr News Agency also reported about the crash on the same date and said the aircraft was a "training plane" owned by Iranian police.
Ghoncheh Habibiazad, a BBC journalist who monitors Iranian media, said the state-affiliated Fars News Agency published a third photo in the post that shows uniformed officers surrounding a blue aircraft’s tail.
The photos from 2020 do not accurately show the crash that killed Iran President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian. We rate the out-of-context photos in the X post False.
Our Sources
International Committee of the Red Cross, The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, accessed May 20, 2024
Mehr News Agency, Iran’s police ‘training’ plane crashes in Mazandaran prov., Apr 22, 2020
Iran Chamber Society, Iranian Calendar Converter, accessed May 20, 2024
NBC News, Red Crescent workers carry covered body on a stretcher, May 20, 2024
Rokna, The first images of the crash of the police plane in the Swan Motel, April 22, 2020
Iran News Update, Iran Protests During Persian Calendar Year 1399 (March 2020–2021), Mar. 25, 2021
Newschecker, Old Images Falsely Linked To Chopper Crash Killing Iranian President Raisi, May 20, 2024
NewsMeter, Fact Check: Pics from 2020 falsely linked to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi chopper crash, May 20, 2024
X post, Iranian Red Crescent Society, (archived link), Apr. 22, 2020
X post, (archived link), May 20, 2024
X post, Islamic Republic News Agency (archived link), May 20, 2024
X post (archived link), May 19, 2024
Browse the Truth-O-Meter
More by Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu
Crash photos on X are from 2020 plane mishap, not 2024 helicopter crash that killed Iran president
Support independent fact-checking.
Become a member!
In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.