These Videos Do Not Show Baghdad’s US Embassy Recent Attack
The Claim
These three videos show the US C-RAM anti-rocket system intercepting missiles fired at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on August 30, 2022.
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Emerging story
Three videos purporting to show the US C-RAM anti-rocket system intercepting missiles fired at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on August 30, 2022, have been making the rounds amid recent tensions in Iraq.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar thoroughly examined the circulating clips and found them to be misleading.
Misbar found the three videos to be outdated after conducting a thorough reverse image search using Google and TinEye.
Rockets Fired at US Embassy in Baghdad
The videos were released on January 13, 2022, after rockets were fired at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and the C-RAM anti-rocket system intercepted the missiles.
On January 13, 2022, a rocket struck the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, injuring a woman and a child, according to a statement released by the Iraqi military. This was one of the few incidents in which Iraqis were injured.
Iraqi military officials told Reuters that two or three Katyusha rockets were fired at the embassy during the attack. At least two of the rockets were intercepted by the embassy's rocket defense system.
The U.S. blamed these attacks on Iranian-linked groups. The US Embassy in Baghdad declared in a statement that its compound had been attacked by "terrorist groups attempting to undermine Iraq's security, sovereignty, and international relations."
Tensions Escalate in Iraq
Muqtada Al-Sadr, the leader of Iraq's Sadrist movement, announced his official retirement from politics in a message posted on his Twitter account on August 29. Furthermore, all organizations affiliated with the Sadrist party would be closed down, with the exception of al-Marqad al-Sharif, the al-Sharif Museum, and al-Sadr heritage.
According to a Facebook post by Hassan Al-Athary, the leader of the Sadrist parliamentary party, Al-Sadr has begun a hunger strike "until the violence and use of weapons" ends.
Conflicts erupted across Iraq as a result of the retirement announcement between the Sadrist Movement supporters and Iraqi security forces.
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