Edited video used to show Iranian president touching Hindu religious leader’s feet
A video has been circulating on Facebook with the claim that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian touched the feet of a Hindu religious leader and bowed after the BRICS summit. However, a Dismislab fact-check found that the circulated video is edited. In fact, the Iranian president had bent down to pick up a paper that had fallen from his hand. At the same time, the religious leader can also be seen bending down.
On September 13, a 33-second video was posted from a Facebook profile named “Tapoban T V” with the caption, “After the BRICS conference, the President of Iran, Masoud Pejeshkian, touched the feet of Hindu religious leader Jagadguru Satishacharya Maharaj and paid his respects..” At the 2:19 minute mark of the video, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian can be seen bending down. Hindu religious leader Jagadguru Satishacharya was standing beside him. Until the publication of this report, the video had been viewed 24,000 times and shared more than 150 times.
The same video was also posted with the same headline from another page named “Tapoban tv Online.” Until the publication of this report, the video had been viewed 23,000 times and shared about 80 times.
The video was also found posted from multiple Facebook profiles (1, 2). A page also posted a photo with the same claim.
Using relevant keywords, Dismislab found a 55-second video published on September 13 on the X account of “Ismat TV.” At the beginning of the video, both Masoud Pezeshkian and Jagadguru Satishacharya can be seen bending down to pick up something from the floor. However, the video circulating on Facebook has been edited to remove the scene of Satishacharya bending down and shows only Pezeshkian’s movement.
For further verification, Dismislab found a fact-check report by Indian news outlet India Today. Citing Jain monk Acharya Lokesh Muni, who was present in the video, the report said that Pezeshkian did not touch Satishacharya’s feet. According to Lokesh Muni, a letter he had given Pezeshkian fell from his hand, and the Iranian president bent down to pick it up.
India Today also spoke to Maulana Taqi Haider Naqvi of the Iran Culture House in New Delhi, who was present at the event. He also denied the claim that Pezeshkian touched the religious leader’s feet and provided a statement from the Iranian Embassy. The statement said the president bent down to pick up a letter that had fallen from the hand of a religious leader.
In connection with the incident, Indian news outlet The Siasat Daily also reported, citing sources at the Iranian Embassy, that Pezeshkian had bent down to pick up a letter that had accidentally fallen to the floor.
