Does a viral video show footage of the downing of an Israeli aircraft released by Iran? No, that's not true: The video originated on a TikTok channel posting gameplay footage from the online game DCS World. It was not released by Iranian authorities.
The video appeared in a post on X (archived here) published on July 3, 2025 with a caption that read:
Iran releases additional footage of the downing of Israeli aircraft.
This is the video in question:
Iran releases additional footage of the downing of Israeli aircraft. pic.twitter.com/lZpPa2t4uU
-- daniel 📟✌️ (@LionsOfZion_ORG) July 3, 2025
However, the exact same footage appeared on TikTok on June 30, 2025 (archived here) with a description that read:
Stinger Missile Tank 🔥 Fire Missile To Shoot Su-25 In Dcs World #dcs #dcsworld #dogfight #flightsimulator #Military #army #Aircraft
@dogfight.zone Stinger Missile Tank 🔥 Fire Missile To Shoot Su-25 In Dcs World #dcs #dcsworld #dogfight #flightsimulator #Military #army #Aircraft ♬ original sound - Muhammad Awais
"DCS World" is a reference to the online video game "Digital Combat Simulator World" published by Eagle Dynamics.
The "dogfight.zone" channel on TikTok (archived here) has published dozens and dozens of similar gameplay footage clips in the past.
