Post circulating in Ethiopia makes misleading claims about Middle East frictions

Tensions in the Middle East region have increased after Iran launched unprecedented attacks on Israel, prompting similar strikes from Israel days later. Fearing worse to come, world leaders have urged restraint. A post published on Facebook claims the United Nations called Iran’s missile barrage “self-defence”, adding the US purportedly threatened to cease its support of Israel in the event of a military response. However, these claims are misleading: the UN told AFP Fact Check it has not endorsed the military tactics of either Iran or Israel and that Secretary-General António Guterres was citing a letter from Iran when he used the phrase “self defence”. The US State Department also rejected the claim. 

The Facebook post was described as a “breaking news” item on April 15, 2024 in Afaan Oromoo – one of the major languages in Ethiopia.

Shared more than 200 times, the post includes a list of six statements related to Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel two days earlier, and the aftermath.

“America has warned that any retaliatory action by Israel is unacceptable,” reads one of the claims. “If Israel retaliates, America will stop supporting it.”

Another claim is that the UN views Iran’s actions as justifiable.

“The United Nations also said Iran’s attack is a matter of self-defence”, reads the post.

The post contains photos of US President Joe Biden, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the US national security communications advisor John Kirby.

Increasing tensions 

Iran launched more than 300 cruise missiles, drones and ballistic missiles at Israel on April 13, 2024 in retaliation for a deadly air strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria on April 1, 2024 (archived here). Nearly all the projectiles were intercepted.

Israel responded with a missile attack against Iran on April 19, 2024, raising fears of an all-out war in the Middle East (archived here).

The US, Israel’s most important ally, along with the UK, announced extensive sanctions against Iran’s military drone programme (archived here). Iran also warned it would respond with tougher measures “at the slightest act against Iran’s interests”.

On April 22, 2024, the EU announced that the bloc agreed in principle to expand its existing sanctions against Iran’s drone programme. Iran described the decision as “regrettable” (archived here).

However, AFP Fact Check found that the Ethiopian post mixes a combination of facts and misleading claims related to events in the Middle East.

UN and US 

Contacted by AFP Fact Check, the UN denied portraying Iran’s attack as an act of self-defence.

“The secretary-general has condemned and called out all acts of retaliation,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman to Guterres.

“The references in his security council speech on Sunday, he was quoting the letters sent to him by both Israel and Iran, stating their position. He was not endorsing either position.”

A review of  Guterres’s statement made on April 14, 2024 confirmed that the reference to “self defence” was made while he was quoting a letter from Iranian ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani who was justifying his country’s aggression toward Israel (archived here).

“[The Iranian ambassador] stated that the action was taken – and I quote – ‘in the exercise of Iran’s inherent right to self-defence as outlined in Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, and in response to the Israeli recurring military aggressions, particularly its armed attack on 1 April 2024 against Iranian diplomatic premises,” read Guterres.

While states have the “inherent rights of self-defence” in response to an armed attack under the UN Charter VII article 51 (archived here), they are obliged to immediately report to the UN about the measures taken.

Similarly, the US State Department rejected the claim that it warned Israel it would withdraw its support in the event of retaliation.

“The United States made no such comment,” a State Department official told AFP Fact Check, echoing what the US embassy in Addis Ababa said.

Biden promised Israel “ironclad support” in a speech on April 10, 2024, a few days before Iran’s missile attack (archived here). The US helped in taking down almost all the projectiles launched by Iran (archived here).

Moreover, AFP reported that the US approved $13 billion in new military assistance to Israel a day after it retaliated against Iran (archived here).

AFP Fact Check has debunked similar misleading claims that used unrelated videos and photos to falsely link them to Iran’s attack on Israel, including here, here and here.