A video that is being circulated on social media and shared even by Iranian news sources claiming to be the moment a new anti-ship missile being tested by the frigate Jamaran on May 11 in the Gulf of Oman hit a support ship, Konarak is found to be a fake.
The claims to show the moment the new Noor missile being tested by the Iranians hit the support ship - Konarak killing 19 Iranian sailors and severely injuring 15.
Iran was quick in its response to admit that the accident was the result of a friendly fire incident involving two Iranian naval vessels. However, several Iranian news outlets have been circulating the video of the moment the missile hit the Iranian support vessel.
It has now emerged that the video that is being distributed by a number of media outlets showing the destruction of the Iranian friendly ship, in reality, is footage from the tests of the Norwegian anti-worm rocket from Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace. The video has been in circulation since 2013.
Iran admits mistake without delay
Unlike the shooting down of the Ukrainian plane, which took Iran three days to admit, the Iranian regime this time was quick to admit its mistake.[CCTV footage shows chilling final moments of Ukraine flight 752]
According to the Iranian Navy, the new anti-ship missile was being tested by the frigate Jamaran on May 11 in the Gulf of Oman when it hit a support ship, Konarak, which was in the process of putting up targets close to the disputed Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which a fifth of the world's oil supplies is sent.
The incident is a severe blow to the prestige of the Iranian military that is still recovering from its unintentional shooting down of a Ukrainian civilian aircraft departing from Tehran on 8 January, which killed all 176 people on board.
Several footages have appeared online of injured sailors being brought to the shore. Also images of the remains of the destroyed ship are being shared.
An Iraian state media has said the Konarak was hit "after moving a practice target to its destination and not creating enough distance between itself and the target".
The incident happened near the port of Jask, state TV said. Iranian state sources quoting a local hospital spokesman initially said only one sailor had been killed and two injured severely, but the number of deaths rapidly escalated later on Monday.
