Old, Unrelated Videos Falsely Claim To Show Israel And Iran Preparing To Launch Powerful Missiles Against Each Other

A couple of videos are going viral on social media platforms, claiming to show both Iran and Israel transporting powerful missiles to be launched against each other. The archived versions of the posts can be seen here and here.

Claim 1

A 14-second video claiming to show Israel transporting a nuclear weapon to be launched against Iran.

Fact

Newschecker ran a reverse image search on the keyframes, which led us to the same video shared on Facebook by SpaceX en Français on June 16. “Starship 36 heads to the firing stand ahead of test number 10,” read the post, translated from French.

A relevant keyword search led us to this video, which was streamed live by Nasa Spaceflight on Youtube on June 15, 2025, stating, “SpaceX is rolling out Ship 36 to Massey’s [Texas] for engine testing ahead of Starship Flight 10.” We can clearly see that the “weapon” seen in the viral clip is the same SpaceX Starship 36 rocket.

A comparison of a screengrab from the viral video (left) with a handout picture of SpaceX’s Starship rocket (right).

Newschecker also learnt that one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starships had recently exploded during a routine test in Texas in a setback to the billionaire’s dream of turning humanity into an interplanetary species. “The Starship 36 underwent “catastrophic failure and exploded” at the Starbase launch facility shortly after 11pm on Wednesday (0400 GMT Thursday), a Facebook post by the Cameron County authorities said,” read a Guardian report, dated June 19, 2025, adding that at 123m, Starship is the world’s largest and most powerful rocket and central to Musk’s long-term vision of colonising Mars. Similar reports can be seen here and here, further confirming that the viral video does not show a weapon nor is it from Israel.

Claim 2

A 30-second video claiming to show Iran bringing out its most dangerous missile from a tunnel.

Fact

Newschecker ran a reverse image search of the keyframes, which led us to a longer and clearer version of the video on Youtube, dated December 13, 2018, well before the conflict between Iran and Israel that began on June 13, 2025. According to the video’s description, it shows a slurry hopper for a natural gas station being transported from Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan. We learnt that a slurry hopper is a container designed to hold and mix a slurry – a mixture of a solid material and a liquid, which is typically used in industrial settings, like construction or mining, to prepare and distribute slurries for further processing or transportation. 

We then came across this French AFP Fact Check report, dated November 3, 2022, debunking the then viral claim that the video shows a truck carrying a Russian nuclear missile. “This video does not show the transport of a nuclear missile but of a part destined for an oil refinery in Uzbekistan,” report, sharing a similar video.  The logistics department of the Turkish company Çaba & Misnak, whose logo is seen on the truck, reportedly told AFP, “Çaba & Misnak was founded in 1996 and has never participated in any military projects. The video you sent is of equipment from an oil refinery in Uzbekistan. Its name is CATALYST SLURRY HOPPER and it weighed 510 tons. It is not military equipment and is not part of any military project.”

Also Read: Middle East Crisis: Viral Video Of King Charles’ Comments On Donald Trump, Iran Is AI Manipulated

Sources
Facebook post, SpaceX en Français, June 16, 2025
Youtube video, Nasa Spaceflight, June 15, 2025
Youtube video, December 13, 2018
AFP report, November 3, 2022