Mass protests erupted across Iran on December 28, 2025, initially driven by worsening economic hardship and inflation.
What began as demonstrations over living costs quickly broadened into widespread anti-government unrest with calls to end clerical rule. The state’s crackdown has been extremely violent, with verified figures showing thousands of deaths, at least 3,700–5,000 people killed and some reports suggesting even higher tolls amid a near-total internet blackout and mass arrests.
In the above context, a video is widely being shared on social media in which a police vehicle is seen firing at people.
The video is shared with a caption suggesting that it shows a police vehicle firing at the protestors in Iran.
A social media user shared the video and wrote, “Protests for freedom from the hijab are taking place in Iran, and they are being met with a hail of bullets.” (Translated from Hindi)
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The video is old and from Syria.
On a Google reverse image search, we found that the same video was shared by a Facebook page on January 10, with a caption suggesting that the video was from Aleppo, a city in Syria.
The video was also shared by a YouTube channel on January 10, 2026, with a caption that reads, “A civilian drives his car amidst the clashes in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood in Aleppo.”
Moreover, we found FRANCE24 reporter Wassim Nasr shared this video on his X handle on January 10, highlighting the irony of everyday life continuing in a war-torn area. He wrote (translated from French to English), “Even the presence of a ZU-23 in Syria’s city of Aleppo cannot stop traffic.” A ZU-23 is an anti-aircraft gun usually mounted on a pickup truck.
Using this information, we searched with relevant keywords and found a report by Al Jazeera. According to the report published on January 8, 2025, intense fighting between Syrian government forces and Kurdish-led SDF fighters in northern Aleppo has forced thousands of civilians to flee their homes. Residents carried belongings and evacuated through humanitarian corridors as shelling and clashes erupted in predominantly Kurdish neighbourhoods like Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh, marking one of the fiercest episodes of violence in the city this year.
A hyperlocal Facebook page of Syria, Al-Amara News, also shared the video on January 10, with a caption suggesting that the video is from Aleppo.
While we could not find any more information about the exact location and the underlying incident, we could ascertain that the viral video is not from Iran.