A devastating photo of a man waving and grinning before being hanged has gone viral. It is purported that the man, a Sunni Muslim, was publicly hanged as a result of a Facebook post that attacked Shia Muslims in Iran.

Verified accounts on twitter, including @SonOfBharat7 added “I posted a Facebook post and was hanged at the crossroads ordered #Iran helicopter today President Ibrahim Raisi died in the crash The deceased was none other than a Sunni Muslim” on May 20, 2024. The tweet has received an about 167.9k views on X.

Facebook पोस्ट की तो चौराहे पे लटका दिया

आदेश दिया था #Iran के आज हेलीकाप्टर
क्रैश में मारे गए राष्ट्रपति इब्राहिम रइसी ने

मरने वाला कोई और नहीं बल्कि सुन्नी मुस्लिम था

उसकी गलती मात्र इतनी थी कि उसने शियाओं की एक प्रथा पे ऊँगली उठा दी थी✍️ pic.twitter.com/1VFh3qzAGL

— Deepak Sharma (@SonOfBharat7) May 20, 2024

Several other accounts, including @jpsin1, @AzzatAlsaalem, @kamaalrkhan, @ImtiazMadmood made the same claim that the individual, a Sunni Muslim, was publicly hanged as a result of a Facebook post that was directed towards Shia Muslims in Iran. The archive can be read from above.

What is the Actual Truth About this Incident? : Fact

This man is, in reality, Majid Kavousifar, one of the two found guilty in 2005 of killing a top judge in Iran. Public executions of Majid Kavousifar and his nephew Hossein Kavousifar took place in 2007. Post on Facebook had nothing to do with anything, and he was a killer. So, the claim that the man (a Sunni Muslim) was publicly hanged as a result of a Facebook post criticizing Shia Muslims in Iran is not true at all. We visited gettyimages, which posted the picture with the caption “Iranian Majid Kavousifar bids farewell to his relatives before being hanged in public in central Tehran 02 August 2007. Two men convicted of murdering a top Iranian judge in 2005 were hanged in public in central Tehran, the first such public executions in the Iranian capital in five years. The men were executed for the murder of Hassan Moghaddas, a hardline deputy prosecutor and head of the “guidance” court in Tehran, who was shot dead by two men as he getting into his car in August 2005. AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI (Photo credit should read BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP via Getty Images)”. Further, we also visited news24, which posted about this on August 2, 2007 with the heading “Iran publicly hangs killers”. Two men convicted of murdering an Iranian judge were hung from a crane in Tehran in front of many people, the first public executions in the capital in five years. As their balaclava-wearing hangmen kicked away the wooden stools on which Majid Kavousifar and his nephew Hossein Kavousifar stood, they were executed to cries of “Allahu Akbar!” (God is Greatest!).Several thousand onlookers gathered behind a cordon of police and iron railings to witness the execution, held in the exact location of the murder of Hassan Moghaddas in August 2005 in the middle of a busy business district.

D-Intent’s Fact-Checking Results:

1993
ANALYSIS: Misleading

FACT: A sensitive image that features a man smiling and waving before being hanged has been shared, claiming that this man(Sunni Muslim) was hanged publicly because of a Facebook post targeting the Shia Muslims in Iran. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/sy9Lb9tKgP

— D-Intent Data (@dintentdata) May 20, 2024

Intent:

Political influencers are circulating images of public execution from Iran with misleading claims to set their narrative over the death of Iranian president in the helicopter crash. A sensitive image that features a man smiling and waving before being hanged has been shared, claiming that this man(Sunni Muslim) was hanged publicly because of a Facebook post targeting the Shia Muslims in Iran. This man’s name is Majid Kavousifar, and he was one of the two found guilty in 2005 of killing a top Iranian judge. In 2007, Majid Kavousifar and his nephew Hossein Kavousifar were put to death in public. He was a killer and had nothing to do with the Facebook post.

Conclusion:

Claim : A post on Facebook that allegedly targeted Shia Muslims in Iran led to the public hanging of a man, a Sunni Muslim, as seen in a disturbing image that shows him smiling and waving before he is executed.

Fact : The fact is that this man is Majid Kavousifar, one of the two convicted of murdering an Iranian top judge in 2005. Majid Kavousifar and his nephew Hossein Kavousifar were executed publicly in 2007. Nothing to do with Facebook post and he was a murderer.

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