Claim: Putin stated Russia would assist Iran if the US attacked
An April 13 Facebook put up (direct hyperlink, archived hyperlink) exhibits a photograph of Russian President Vladimir Putin shaking arms with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a screenshot of a social media put up. .
“Breaking information: Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared that Russia will assist Iran if the United States helps Israel and assaults mainland Iran,” stated commentator Jackson, who beforehand promoted pro-Russian causes. Hinkle’s put up on X (previously Twitter) reads: View.
The Facebook put up was shared greater than 400 occasions in a single week. The same model on Instagram garnered hundreds of likes earlier than being eliminated.
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Our ranking: False
According to a number of consultants, President Putin by no means stated that. The put up was shared three days earlier than his first public touch upon the assault. In Putin’s feedback, he didn’t point out supporting Iran towards retaliation from the United States.
“The backside line is that President Putin did not say that.”
X-Post reported that Iran launched an assault towards Israel on April 13, together with a wave of drones and missiles, and that on April 1, seven Iranian army officers have been concerned in a suspected Israeli airstrike on the Iranian embassy in Syria. This was executed in response to the demise of an individual. A coalition of fighter jets and naval property led the assault and intercepted quite a few drones and missiles.
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However, that declare is fake. Multiple consultants advised USA TODAY that President Putin didn’t decide to Russian assist for Iran if the United States retaliated towards the Iranian assault.
“The backside line is that Putin by no means stated that,” stated Nicole Grajewski, a fellow on the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who research Russia and Iran.
The intelligence workforce at Nisos, an organization that screens on-line misinformation, additionally discovered no proof to assist this declare. A declaration of such nature by President Putin would have had a big impact worldwide and would have been reported in lots of media retailers, however the authentic media didn’t report it. Russian state media additionally didn’t point out the matter, however a report on the claims ready by Nisos researchers for USA TODAY says that the media “all the time promptly reported on President Putin’s statements.” “I’m doing it.”
Kyle Walter, director of analysis at Logical, a disinformation monitoring know-how firm, additionally advised USA TODAY that there’s “nothing to counsel that President Putin made this declare.”
The declare seems to have originated from a pro-Iran account on Telegram on April 13, after which unfold to X, Grajewski stated.
“It is just not uncommon for the Iranian Telegram channel to manufacture articles about international locations’ assist for Iran,” she stated.
To date, Putin’s solely public touch upon the assault got here three days after he learn out his April 16 cellphone dialog with Raisi, which sparked the X put up.
According to a Kremlin account of the dialog, Putin referred to as for “clever restraint” and the prevention of “new conflicts that might have dire penalties for the complete area.” Iran’s model of the studying differs in that Putin characterizes the assault as one of the best ways to punish Israel, in line with Iranian state media stories.
“This is typical of Iran’s tendency to magnify bilateral relations,” Grajewski stated.
But neither model included any point out of Russia’s assist for Iran if the United States retaliated. It was not talked about within the Russian Foreign Ministry assertion.
Iran’s assault on Israel has been the topic of great misinformation on social media. USA TODAY debunked false claims that Iranian rockets didn’t hit Israel and, in contrast, that Israel’s Nevatim Air Base was “fully destroyed” within the assault.
USA TODAY reached out to Hinkle and the Facebook and Instagram customers who shared the put up, however didn’t instantly obtain a response.
Reed Stories additionally debunked this declare.
Our fact-checking sources:
Nicole Glazyewski, April 19, Email Exchange with the United States Today Kyle Walter, April 19, Email Exchange with the United States Today Nisos, April 19, Putin Iran USA TODAY Report Russian President, April sixteenth, phone dialog with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi Federation of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, April 14th, Foreign Ministry assertion associated to assaults on Israeli territory Reuters, April sixteenth, President Putin speaks on the Middle East , instructed to withdraw from devastating battle, Islamic Republic News Agency, April 16, Russian president praises Iran’s response to Zionist aggression
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