Fact Check: Don't be fooled by this video claiming to show Iran downing Israeli fighter jets
Footage authentically showed Iranian forces downing Israeli F-35 fighter jets.
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Context:
The footage circulated online weeks before Israel launched attacks on Iran on June 13, 2025. Versions of the footage seen before June 13 included the words "sim" or "simulation" in their title or caption, indicating the footage was not authentic.
In mid-June 2025, after Israel launched deadly attacks on Iran, a video (archived) circulated online claiming to show Iranian forces shooting down Israeli F-35 fighter jets.
(X user @Johny_boy_143)
The claim circulated on X (archived), Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived) and TikTok (archived).
According to the Iranian Army, the country's armed forces downed (archived) two Israeli fighter jets on June 13 and another (archived) on June 14. The condition of the pilots of the June 13 planes was unknown (archived), the army said. The Iranian Army arrested (archived) the pilot of the June 14 plane, according to the army's Telegram channel.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) international spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, however, called (archived) reports that Iran downed two Israeli army jets "Fake News" on June 14.
Though it remained unconfirmed at the time of this writing whether Iran had shot down any Israeli fighter jets — and, if so, whether these were F-35 aircraft — it was clear that this specific footage was miscaptioned and did not show the alleged downing.
The footage circulated (archived) as early as May 18, 2025, nearly a month before Israel launched attacks on Iran. Additionally, versions of the footage from May and early June included the word "sim" or "simulation" in the title or caption, indicating the footage was not authentic. Though the origin of the footage remained uncertain at the time of this writing, it was clear from the early postings it did not show Israeli fighter jets on June 13 or 14.
The IDF referred us to Shoshani's X post when asked about the reported loss of Israeli fighter jets and declined to comment on what type of planes the Israeli Air Force used. According to Lockheed Martin, which produces the F-35, Israel was the first foreign nation to purchase the planes in 2010. We reached out to the government of Iran for authentic evidence of the downed jets and the reportedly arrested pilot and await a reply.
A spokesperson for Eagle Dynamics, whose Digital Combat Simulator World (DCS World) program users credited as the origin of the miscaptioned footage, said via email that its simulator could create "very realistic aerial combat scenes." However, the spokesperson said, Eagle Dynamics could not confirm whether the circulating footage came from DCS World.
According to video captions, the footage showed the fictional/simulated downing of two Russian-made Sukhoi Su-57 fighter jets. An aircraft with the same white/dark markings as seen in Russian pictures of the Su-57 can be seen at 00:45 in the footage. The F-35, by contrast, is delivered from the factory uniformly gray, a color that the Israeli Air Force largely kept, according to Lockheed Martin's website.
@aja_media. "🔹 #فوری | لحظاتی پیش یک جنگنده دیگر دشمن در آسمان غرب کشور هدف قرار گرفت، خلبان ایجکت کرده است." Telegram, 14 June 2025, https://t.me/aja_media/4850.
---. "اصابت موشک‌های پدافند ارتش به دومین جنگنده نیز تایید می‌شود." Telegram, 13 June 2025, https://t.me/aja_media/4843.
---. "خلبان جنگنده مذکور دقایقی پیش توسط تکاوران نیروی زمینی ارتش دستگیر شد!" Telegram, 14 June 2025, https://t.me/aja_media/4851.
---. "سرنوشت خلبانان این دو جنگنده ، همچنان نامعلوم است و یگان‌های عملیات ویژه ارتش مشغول عملیات جست‌‌وجو و به اسارت گرفتن این خلبانان هستند." Telegram, 13 June 2025, https://t.me/aja_media/4847.
Digital Combat Simulator | DCS World | Combat Simulator. https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/. Accessed 16 June 2025.
"Live Updates: Israeli Military Warns Residents in Part of Iran's Capital to Evacuate." AP News, https://apnews.com/live/israel-iran-attacks-updates. Accessed 16 June 2025.
Lockheed Martin. About the F-35. https://www.f35.com/f35/about.html. Accessed 16 June 2025.
@LTC_Shoshani. "Fake News Detector: Iran Didn't Shoot down Any Israeli Fighter Jets. They Are Trying to Create a Fake Victory Narrative and It's Not Going Very Well." X, 14 June 2025, https://x.com/LTC_Shoshani/status/1933856406106784068.
Martin, Lockheed. Israel. https://www.f35.com/f35/global-enterprise/israel.html. Accessed 16 June 2025.
Matamiliterngapak. "Kompleksitas Simulasi Militer: Su-57 vs. Sistem Rudal SAM." YouTube, 18 May 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xgcp91QUZ-M&t=36s.
"Russia's 5th-Generation Fighter Jet Named as Su-57." TASS, https://tass.com/defense/960000. Accessed 16 June 2025.
"Russia's Su-57 Outshines US Fifth-Generation Fighters, Says Expert." TASS, https://tass.com/defense/1352447. Accessed 16 June 2025.
"Timeline of Tensions and Hostilities between Israel and Iran." AP News, 13 June 2025, https://apnews.com/article/israel-iran-timeline-tensions-conflict-66764c2843d62757d83e4a486946bcb8.
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