The post emerged one day after the Iran-backed Huthi rebels claimed responsibility for a missile attack on a Greek-owned cargo ship in the Red Sea.
A source within the Greek maritime affairs ministry told AFP that the ship was a 24-crew vessel called the Zografia, which had been sailing from Vietnam to Israel.
Since November 2023, the Huthis — who have controlled much of Yemen since a civil war erupted in 2014 — have been targeting what they consider Israeli-linked shipping in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
The Huthis’ attacks and retaliatory US and British strikes have heightened fears of the Israel-Hamas war flaring across the region and disrupted trade in one of the world’s key maritime commercial routes.
The picture also appeared with a false similar claim on Facebook here and here; as well as on Telegram here, where it garnered more than 2,200 views.
It also circulated in Arabic posts on Facebook and X that falsely claimed it showed “a Yemeni attack on an American cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden.”
However, the picture has circulated in reports since 2015 about an Iranian military drill.
‘Military drill’
A reverse image search on Google, followed by a keyword search, found the same photo was distributed by AFP on its wire in 2015.
It was credited to Iran’s Fars news agency, which is affiliated with the country’s Revolutionary Guard (archived link).
The photo caption reads in part: “Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard troops attacks a naval vessel during a military drill in the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran on February 25, 2015.”
Below is a screenshot of the photo:
The same photo was also published in 2015 by CNN, alongside a description that reads: “Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard troops attack a mock-up of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz during a military drill in the Strait of Hormuz in Iran on Wednesday, February 25” (archived link).
AFP reported that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards began naval exercises on February 25, 2015 in the Strait of Hormuz, just a few hundred kilometers away from Western vessels engaged in the fight against the Islamic State group.
During the drill, Iranian state television showed an attack by “high-precision missiles” fired from the coast, and a helicopter on a replica of an “American” aircraft carrier, the report said.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo in the false post (left) and the original photo disseminated by Fars news agency (right):
AFP distributed other photos of the drill, dubbed “Great Prophet 9”, credited to Fars news agency, on the same day here, here and here.
AFP Fact Check has debunked other false claims about recent ship attacks in and around the Red Sea here, here, here, here and here.