No, this video does not show a friendly fire incident by the Iranian navy

On May 10 Iran's navy tested an anti-ship missile in Gulf of Oman, but something went wrong and the missile hit a support vessel, killing 19 sailors and wounding 15 more. Video supposedly showing the incident was widely shared on Arab-language social media and broadcast on the Al Arabiya network. But the video in fact shows an exercise by the Norwegian navy in 2013.

During a drill in Iranian territorial waters between the ports of Jask and Chabahar, the Iranian frigate Jamaran fired a missile that hit a support ship named Konarak that was ferrying targets into position for the firing exercise. Iranian state media posted videos and photos of the aftermath of the incident.

But another video was widely shared on Telegram and Twitter, with users claiming it showed the moment Jamaran fired the missile and the moment the support vessel was hit and exploded.

Video shows Norwegian exercise from 2013

The video is not related to Iran, and is not recent. It in fact shows a drill by the Norwegian navy to test a new anti-ship missile. The drill took place near Andøya island in Norway in 2013 and the video was published on YouTube on June 5, 2013. The vessel seen exploding was the Trondheim, a decommissioned frigate that was used as the target.

This video posted on YouTube on June 5, 2013 by shows a missile test by the Norwegian navy. The target was the decommissioned frigate Trondheim. 

The video was shared first on Iranian ultraconservative pages on Telegram and Twitter on May 11, with a caption saying: “Video of the moment Konarak was hit by a missile.” It later spread to Arabic language Twitter accounts and Arabic-language media, including Al Arabiya. The Dubai-based channel shared the video saying it showed the Iranian incident, garnering more than 600,000 views on Facebook and 60,000 on YouTube.

Article by Ershad Alijani