Claim
A video showing a man dying by suicide is going viral on social media with the claim that it shows an Iranian general who allegedly betrayed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was reportedly killed in the US-Israel airstrikes on February 28, 2026, by revealing his location.
According to the claim, the general later repented and killed himself during a live broadcast after reciting the shahada.
Newschecker received the video multiple times on our WhatsApp tipline (+91-9999499044), requesting to be fact-checked.
Content warning: The visuals are distressing in nature. Viewer discretion is advised
Fact
A search using relevant keywords about an Iranian general dying by suicide after betraying Khamenei did not yield any credible reports about such an incident.
A reverse image search of keyframes from the viral clip led to a post on the website Documenting Reality, dated October 18, 2024, which carried the same visuals. The post identified the man in the video as a Kurdish citizen, not an Iranian general.
Subsequent investigation led us to an X post by
Additionally, an X post by shared part of the same video and also identified the man as Zahir Amini, a resident of Baneh in Erbil, who died by suicide during an Instagram Live broadcast. According to the translated text in the graphic, Zahir owned a dental clinic in Erbil and that before dying by suicide, he criticised the southern political parties and the PKK in particular.
Screengrab from X post by @NewsRojhelatWhile we were not independently able to verify other aspects of the video, available evidence shows that it predates the recent developments involving Khamenei by more than a year, indicating that it is unrelated to the current claims circulating online.
Sources
X Post By , Dated October 15, 2024
X Post By , Dated October 15, 2024