Claim: A video shows parliamentarians in Iran setting the American flag on fire and chanting “death to America” amid the recent Israel-Iran war.
Fact: The claim is false as the video is not from 2025. The incident happened back in 2018 and has nothing to do with the recent tensions between US and Iran or the Israel-Iran escalations.
On 19 June 2025, a Facebook user posted a video (archive) with the Urdu caption:
ایرانی پارلیمنٹ کے اندر امریکہ کی جھنڈے کو آگ لگادی گئی ہے
Translation: [American flag set on fire inside Iranian parliament].
Another video’s caption reads:
“#BREAKING: In Iranian Parliament, MPs burn the American flag while chanting “Death to America,” and threaten to use a nuclear bomb against the American homeland.
I think Iran is an American problem.”
Israel’s Attack on Iran
On 13 June 2025, Israel launched a large-scale aerial offensive targeting more than 100 sites across Iran, including high-value nuclear facilities and military command centers. According to The Guardian, nearly 200 Israeli jets took part in the operation. Israel targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities, including the Natanz nuclear facility, a central hub of Iran’s uranium enrichment program, and the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center.
At least six Iranian nuclear scientists were also killed in the strikes, including Fereydoon Abbasi-Davani, a former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, a prominent academic leader. Senior military figures also suffered heavy casualties; those killed included Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards Chief Hossein Salami, and IRGC Aerospace Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
As of 24 June, the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education reported that at least 610 people were killed and 4,764 were injured. However, independent verification of the number of casualties in Iran as well as Israel remains limited. Due to restricted access and ongoing attacks, the full extent of the destruction is yet to be assessed.
Iran’s Retaliation and Regional Tensions
On the same day as Israel’s attack, Iran responded by launching more than 100 drones toward Israeli territory. Several drones were intercepted over Jordan and Iraq, while others triggered air raid sirens across Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities.
The Times of Israel reported that at least 28 people have been killed and over 3000 wounded during these retaliatory strikes as of 24 June 2025.
Cancelled Nuclear Talks and US Escalation
The Iran-Israel conflict began days before US-Iran nuclear talks were scheduled to take place in Muscat, Oman, on 15 June. They were abruptly cancelled on 14 June, following Israel’s attack and the shifting diplomatic climate, Reuters reported.
While initially distancing itself from the strikes, the US quickly changed its stance. President Donald Trump praised the attack as “excellent” and called for Iran’s “unconditional surrender”. On 17 June, he urged Iranian citizens to evacuate Tehran and warned that the US knew where Iran’s Supreme Leader was hiding “but would not strike for now.”
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, responded firmly on 18 June, rejecting Trump’s demands and warning that any further strikes on Iranian territory would result in “serious, irreparable consequences”, as reported by The Times.
Ceasefire Announcement and Current Situation
The conflict had entered its second week when the US officially entered the war on 21 June after striking three main nuclear sites in Iran. US President Donald Trump warned that Tehran would face more devastating attacks if it did not agree to peace.
On 24 June, Trump announced a two-phase ceasefire between Israel and Iran after Iran’s retaliatory attacks on US bases in Qatar and Iraq. However, hours later, reports emerged that Israel and Iran continued to exchange attacks. Trump censured both countries for violating the agreement, “but reserved his harshest condemnation for Israel”. While addressing the media, the US President added that “Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I’ve never seen before.”
Fact or Fiction?
To investigate the claim, Soch Fact Check conducted a reverse-image search on Google Lens. The results led to an NBC News article published on 10 May 2018. The article, titled “Iranians fear the future after Trump exits Iran nuclear deal”, discusses the Iranian government’s reaction to then-President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear agreement which was implemented in 2015 during Obama’s presidential era. The embedded NBC video shows Iranian officials burning a paper-made US flag and chanting “death to America”, and shows the same incident as the video in the claim.
Another article by The Sun also reported on the same incident on 9 May 2018 and reads that it took place in Tehran after the US withdrawal announcement. The Iranian speaker, Ali Larijani taunted Trump, questioning his “mental capacity” to deal with issues.
We also noticed that the viral video has a “Radio free Europe” logo on the top-left corner of the frame. Taking cues from this, Soch Fact Check conducted an advanced search on Google with keywords “Death to America, Iran parliament 2018, Radio Liberty”. The results then led to the original video published on 9 May 2018 by Radio Liberty.
The article is headlined, “Iranian Lawmakers Burn U.S. Flag In Parliament”. The same video as that of the viral post is featured on the website and the article states that Iranian lawmakers burned the US national flag while chanting “death to America” in the parliament in Tehran. The incident took place on 9 May 2018 and happened after President Donald Trump announced withdrawing from the multilateral nuclear monitoring deal with Iran, the article added. It also mentions that the speaker, Ali Larijani said Iran could take “nuclear actions” after the withdrawal.
Virality
On Facebook, the video garnered 12,000 views and 1000 likes on the Urdu language post and 281k views, 2,100 likes and 562 comments on the other post with an English caption. It was also shared here, here, and here.
The false claim was also posted here and here on X.
Conclusion: The video showing Iranian lawmakers burning the US flag and chanting “death to America” in the parliament in Tehran is from 2018. It has nothing to do with recent tensions between US and Iran or the Israel-Iran escalations.
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Background image in cover photo: Getty Images
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