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Disinfo: PS752: Iranian elites attempt to betray Iraq, Syria, Palestine and their own people

Summary

PS-752 had 15 different lights, steady and strobe, some very high power, and all illuminated when it was hit at 8,000 feet. It could have been identified by the naked eye as a civilian plane, even from a dozen km away.

The “accident” story is a lie. And whoever tells it, whoever they may be, is lying. For whatever reason. And you know, I know, from long years of experience, that the most common reason you lie, or I lie, or anybody else lies, is because either we have done something wrong, or we are trying to trick somebody. Not always, but almost always. What other reason could there be? What could the righteous reasons be for telling a lie to your nation, and to the world? There may well be some. Or not. [—] Iranian elites may have made a deal to submit to U.S. pressure and hegemony, and betray Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and above all, their own country.

Disproof

Conspiracy theory about the downing of the Ukrainian flight PS 752.

Iran has recognised that its military forces unintentionally shot down the passenger jet. On January 11, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani wrote on Twitter: “Armed Forces’ internal investigation has concluded that regrettably, missiles fired due to human error caused the horrific crash of the Ukrainian plane & death of 176 innocent people.”

Earlier, intelligence services of Canada and the United States informed that the Ukrainian plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile minutes after departure from the Tehran airport.

Find here the EU statement regarding the incident.

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publication/media

fort-russ.com (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue180
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 14/01/2020
  • Language/target audience: English
  • Country: Iran
  • Keywords: Conspiracy theory, PS752

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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Ukraine’s heroes are all anti-Semites

in Ukraine, a Jew can be both President, Prime Minister or Member of the Parliament. But the everyday, popular anti-Semitism is still a core element of the Ukrainian identity. Ukraine does as a matter of fact not have any heroes (apart from the Soviet ones Ukraine is now denouncing) who weren’t anti-Semites.

January 15, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about antisemitism in Ukraine.

The National Minorities Monitoring Group of Ukraine informs that there have been no acts of anti-Semitic violence in Ukraine and relatively small anti-Semitic vandalism in the last two years. The Group’s monitoring has found that “there is no antisemitic violence in Ukraine and that Ukrainian Jews are not confronted with direct physical danger.” "However, some anti-Semitic vandalism occurs, such as the desecration of graves, synagogues and memorials to victims of the Holocaust. In 2018, there were 12 such cases, which is half of the previous year". In general, the Group concludes that the number of vandalism cases has decreased over recent years.

PS752: The Iranian air-defence might have believed the aircraft was hijacked

The [air-defence] system operator [—] considered the plane a ‘military threat’ because it may have been hijacked for a 9/11-style attack, got under control via a cyber-attack and/or used as a cover for a pinpoint missile strike.

January 15, 2020
Disproof

Conspiracy theory about the downing of the Ukrainian flight PS 752.

Iran has recognised that its military forces unintentionally shot down the passenger jet. On January 11, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani wrote on Twitter: “Armed Forces’ internal investigation has concluded that regrettably, missiles fired due to human error caused the horrific crash of the Ukrainian plane & death of 176 innocent people.”

British MP tells Ukraine to forget about Crimea

A British Conservative MP told Ukraine to forget about Crimea. In the future, Ukraine will have to accept the loss of the Crimean peninsula, which in 2014 joined the Russian Federation as a result of the will of the Crimean people, Richard Belfell, a member of the Conservative Party at the British Parliament, told journalists. Speaking about how it would be possible to solve once and for all the problem of Russian ownership of Crimea, the MP said that a referendum repeated under UN supervision may be a solution. Belfell said that he was there 10 or 15 years ago, when it was part of Ukraine, and almost everyone that he met there at the time complained that the peninsula belonged to Ukraine and that he didn’t think that a desire to be part of the country had ever been present in Crimea.

January 15, 2020
Disproof

These allegations are false. There is no member of the British Parliament called Richard Belfell, or any similar name. A Google search of the name produces only five results, all of them reproducing the original story in Spanish. The whole story is invented.

This is part of a recurrent Russian narrative to boost the legitimacy of the illegal seizure of Crimea by the Russian Federation. You can see other examples of disinformation on this topic, such as that the ‘reunification’ was made in compliance with international law, the alleged legality and democratic character of the referendum, that this was forced by a coup in Kiev, that it saved Crimea from becoming a US colony, the recognition of the annexation by the UN or countries like Hungary, or its final acceptance by the EU.