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Old video resurfaces with false claim of Iranian warning to Israeli citizens

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Claim: An X user with the handle (@Chude_) posted a video claiming that Iran has warned all Israeli citizens to leave immediately, stating that “the region may become uninhabitable in the coming days.” The post further suggested that the Israelis had begun evacuating parts of Tehran, Iran’s capital.

Old video resurfaces with false claim of Iranian warning to Israeli citizens

Verdict: False! The video is unrelated to any Iranian broadcast and was misrepresented. It depicts an unrelated event from 2023 involving Hamas rocket attacks in Israel and has no connection to Iran or any evacuation order involving Tehran.

Full Text

On June 17, 2025, the account @Chude_ shared a video clip claiming to show a televised warning from Iran’s military to Israeli civilians, urging them to flee as the region was allegedly becoming uninhabitable. 

The tweet attributed the statement to a supposed Iranian Armed Forces spokesperson, Col Reza Sayyad, and connected it to claimed Israeli evacuation orders in Tehran, Iran’s capital city.

“Iran is warning all Israelis citizens to leave immediately—saying the region may become ‘uninhabitable in the coming days.’ In a televised statement, Iranian Armed Forces spokesperson Col. Reza Sayyad urged civilians to flee, claiming underground shelters won’t protect them from what’s coming. This follows Israel’s own evacuation orders for parts of Tehran,” the tweet reads.

Though the post has since been deleted, an archived version reveals that it gained significant traction before its removal, garnering 598,400 views, 411 comments, 639 reposts, 1,500 likes, and 480 saves.

The footage circulated at a time when tensions were high in the Middle East. In June 2025, Iran and Israel were engaged in a new wave of hostilities involving drone strikes, missile attacks, and threats over nuclear facilities. 

The conflict dominates headlines globally and creates a fertile ground for misinformation, hence the need to verify this. 

Verification

A detailed analysis of the clip reveals that the footage has been taken entirely out of context. 

DUBAWA investigated and found that the video was originally published on Nov 10, 2023, by an X user,خبرني Khaberni (@khaberni).

The video has Arabic text, which, after translation, was found to mean: “Mass escape of Ashkelon residents ahead of Abu Ubayada’s deadline — 5 o’clock, Al-Aqsa Flood.”

Abu Ubayada is the spokesperson for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, and is known for issuing public threats and strategic warnings during military escalations. 

His name in the caption signals that the video refers to a specific threat issued by Hamas during the early phase of the war, not any statement from Iranian officials.

The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel during a Jewish holiday. Militants crossed into southern Israel by land, air, and sea, while thousands of rockets were fired from Gaza. The attack killed more than 1,200 people and led to the capture of around 250 hostages. 

In response, Israel declared war and launched a massive military campaign involving airstrikes, ground operations, and a total blockade of Gaza.

The scene in the video shows residents at an airport scrambling for safety ahead of the deadline for the Hamas attack on their city. 

The footage aligns with a report titled “Hamas attacks Israel’s Ashkelon city with rocket fire after warning residents to leave”. The report was published on Oct. 10, 2023. In that report, Hamas warned residents of the Israeli city of Ashkelon to evacuate the area in response to Israel’s ongoing attacks on Gaza. The warning was issued by Abu Ubayda, who instructed civilians to leave by 5 p.m. 

The video does not mention Iran, and there is no indication of a televised statement by a spokesperson named Col Reza Sayyad, as claimed in the tweet. Furthermore, the video contains no visual or audio cues linking it to Iranian media, nor any on-screen text or translation that could support the claim made in the tweet. 

During its verification process, DUBAWA found that the official spokesperson of the Iran Armed Forces in 2023 was Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi. There is no public record of any individual named Colonel Reza Sayyad holding that position during that period.

The earliest available references to Col. Reza Sayyad as a spokesperson for Iran’s armed forces appeared in 2025, amid rising tensions between Iran and Israel. 

Additionally, there is no credible evidence to support the claim that Israel issued any form of evacuation orders for Tehran.

Conclusion

The video shared by @Chude_ does not depict any Iranian warning to Israeli citizens, nor does it involve any evacuation orders from Israel concerning Tehran. 

The footage was taken from a 2023 Hamas attack in Ashkelon and has been misrepresented to create the illusion of a new and escalating threat. 

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