In mid-October 2023, amid news of an explosion at the Al-Ahly hospital in Gaza, footage of the Imam Reza mausoleum with a black flag on the dome began to spread on social networks. The captions to the photographs explained that raising this flag was a call for war and revenge. We have verified the accuracy of such messages.
Information that a black flag was raised at the mausoleum of Imam Reza in Iranian Mashhad as a call for war and revenge is being actively disseminated in many languages: Russian, English, French, Spanish And others. Total reach of such posts on X (formerly Twitter), according to assessment Reuters, - more than 20 million views. In Telegram, in Russian alone, similar publications were viewed more than 10 million times at the time of writing this analysis. The raising of the black flag on the mausoleum and its symbolic meaning were reported, in particular, by the channels “Live broadcast"(739,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), Shot (259,000), "Pozdnyakov 3.0" (258,000), "The same deer"(244,000), "Truthfulness"(218,000), "Observer"(211,000), "Uncle Slava"(207,000), "Rhymes and punches" (189,000) and "Putin on Telegram"(184,000).
Imam Reza Mausoleum is an architectural complex in the city of Mashhad, which includes, in addition to the mausoleum itself, the tombs of other revered imams, a museum, a library, a cemetery and a mosque. Imam Reza (Ali al-Rida) is a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, the eighth imam of the Twelver Shiites, the predominant direction among Shiites. He lived at the end of the 8th - beginning of the 9th century in the territory of modern Iran. Although Imam Reza is considered a martyr, the exact cause of his death has not been established. Hypotheses include sudden illness or poisoning with an unknown poison. His tomb is a popular pilgrimage site that is visited every year visits about 20 million believers.
Every year at the beginning of the month of Muharram, on the 10th of which the night is celebrated Ashura, an important religious holiday for Muslims, a black flag is raised at the mausoleum of Imam Reza as a symbol of mourning for Imam Hussein. In the Iranian media you can find publications about the raising of the black flag on the eve of Ashura in previous years:
- in 2023, July 18, a red flag (meaning the commemoration of martyrs) was replaced to black to mark the beginning of the month of Muharram;
- in 2022 the ceremony was held on July 30, the black flag waving can be seen at the 1:28 mark this video;
- in 2021, the night of Ashura fell on August 10, a similar ceremony (adjusted for coronavirus restrictions) was captured on video.
There are similar publications for 2020, 2019 And previous years. All of these messages mention that the black flag symbolizes mourning and sorrow, and not a declaration of war and revenge.
As a symbol of grief, the flag was raised on special occasions outside the month of Muharram, for example after the death of Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani as a result of a US Air Force airstrike. He headed unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, providing support for Hamas and Hezbollah. In addition to this, in anniversary After the death of important figures for Shiites (for example, the Prophet Ali), the flag is also replaced with a black one, as reported by the mosque’s account on X (formerly Twitter).
The raising of the black flag over the mosque in October 2023 will also commented official representatives of the complex on social networks:
“Mourning flag over the dome of the Imam Reza shrine.
In an unprecedented gesture and on the orders of the custodian of Astan Quds Razavi, a black flag was raised over the illuminated and clean dome of Reza's mausoleum, and tomorrow there will be no drumming. This is a response to the barbaric crimes of the usurping Zionist regime, especially the bombing of Al-Muamdani Hospital (another name for Al-Ahly Hospital - Ed.).”
Exactly about mourning meaning flag, not a call for revenge wrote And Iranian Media in materials about the recent raising of the black flag over the mausoleum.
Project BBC Verify and fact-checking division AFP agencies Based on available photographic and video evidence from various sources, they tried to establish the circumstances of what happened in the area of Al-Ahli hospital. Based on an analysis of the collected evidence, as well as the comments of the experts and analysts interviewed, our colleagues came to the conclusion that, most likely, a projectile aimed by Hamas militants in the direction of Israel fell near the hospital, but due to technical problems, it changed course shortly after launch. To a similar conclusion came and US intelligence, assessing the damage from the strike and the trajectory of the missile, the flight of which was captured on several videos. Analysts emphasize that unambiguous conclusions can be drawn only by gaining access to the fragments of the projectile.
Thus, there is no evidence, including statements by representatives of the Imam Reza Mausoleum itself or Iranian officials, that the flag on the building was raised to call for revenge. This is just a symbol of mourning; moreover, this is not the first time that a black flag has been raised over the mosque. It is usually installed every year in the month of Muharram, as well as during the declaration of national mourning.
Cover image: Instagram*
*Russian authorities think Meta Platforms Inc., which owns the social networks Facebook and Instagram, is an extremist organization; its activities in Russia are prohibited.
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