Footage from Greece Falsely Linked to Iran’s Recent Protests

Amid recent protests in Iran, social media users have circulated a video claiming to show large crowds moving through fires and debris in Tehran.

Misbar investigated the circulating video and found the claim to be misleading. The footage was recorded in November 2025, prior to the outbreak of riots in Iran on December 28, 2025.

Old Video Shows Crowds Amid Fires and Debris in Tehran

Misbar’s team found that the video was originally posted on a Greek Instagram account named Marios Vamvakaris on November 2, 2025, without proper context.

After reviewing reports of riots in Greece in November, Misbar found coverage of violent clashes between youths and police following a major anti-system rap concert. The team identified a video published on YouTube on November 2, 2025, filmed in Thessaloniki, showing Molotov cocktail attacks on police forces. The footage matches the video used in the claim, although it was recorded from a different angle.

Violent clashes erupted in Thessaloniki between masked youths and police following a large anti-system rap concert by artist Lex, which attracted more than 40,000 attendees and was among the largest rap events ever held in Greece.

In the early hours of Sunday, November 2, groups of hooded individuals confronted police units, throwing Molotov cocktails. Security forces responded with extensive use of tear gas, creating dangerous conditions in the area.

Tear gas canisters and incendiary devices affected motorists and bystanders attempting to leave, while several vehicles were set on fire as clashes spread across nearby streets.

Police said 18 people were detained, including one individual arrested on drug-related charges. The arrests followed violence that broke out shortly after midnight, after the concert ended.

Iran Reports Security Force Casualties Amid Intensifying Economic Crisis Protests

Iranian state media reported that dozens of security personnel have been killed amid nationwide protests driven by an ongoing economic crisis, as the speaker of parliament warned the United States and Israel of possible retaliation if Iran is attacked.

State television said on Sunday that 30 police and security force members were killed in Isfahan province, while six others died in Kermanshah in western Iran during the latest unrest. The semi-official Tasnim news agency put the nationwide death toll among security personnel at 109.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society also reported that one of its staff members was killed when a relief facility in Gorgan, the capital of Golestan province, came under attack. Separately, state media said a mosque was set ablaze in Mashhad in eastern Iran on Saturday night.

These reports emerged as authorities intensified efforts to suppress what are described as the largest protests in years, fueled by public anger over rising prices, inflation, and deteriorating living conditions. The Interior Ministry said the unrest was gradually subsiding, while the attorney general warned that participants in the violence could face capital punishment.

Ali Larijani, a senior security official, accused some demonstrators of engaging in acts resembling those carried out by ISIL, including killing and burning people. Hassan Ahmadian, a Tehran University academic, told Al Jazeera that protests which began two weeks earlier turned violent on Thursday, describing it as one of the most alarming days in Iran in recent years, including in the capital.

President Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking in an interview broadcast by state television, addressed economic reforms and public demands. He accused the United States and Israel of attempting to incite chaos in Iran and urged citizens to distance themselves from what he described as “rioters and terrorists.”

Human rights organizations have called for restraint amid reports of deaths and mass arrests. The Norway-based group Iran Human Rights said at least 51 protesters, including nine children, were killed by security forces and that hundreds more were injured. Opposition activists claim the overall death toll is higher and includes dozens of protesters.

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