In June 2025, amid the escalation of the Iran-Israeli conflict, several videos went viral on social networks in which US military personnel show their lunches prepared from delicacies. Internet users saw this as a sign that the American contingent would soon be sent to Iran. We checked how reasonable such assumptions are.

The videos spread on the RuNet on June 19. The authors of the publications in the captions for these videos indicate that there is supposedly an unofficial tradition in the American army: the “richer” the lunch in the canteen, the closer the military personnel are to be sent to a combat zone or the start of a new war. Notes on this topic have been published Lenta.ru, "Russian newspaper", "Komsomolskaya Pravda", "Constantinople", Life.ru and other media. Telegram channels also published videos with similar comments “Live broadcast • news"(886,000 views at the time of writing the analysis), "Operation Z: military correspondents of the Russian spring"(512,000), "Insider UA"(484,000), "Dvach"(469,000), Nexta Live (208,000), "Uncle Slava"(189,000), "Truthfulness"(175,000), "Knockout" (169,000), "Rhymes and punches"(166,000), etc.

On the night of June 13-14, Israel started military operation against Iran, attacking it with missiles and drones. Under attack hit nuclear facilities, airports and military bases. They were killed, according to different estimates, about 20 senior Iranian military leaders, as well as scientists and engineers who worked on the nuclear program. In response, Iran began shelling Israel. During the exchange of blows that lasted several days, both countries suffered civilians And civilian objects. Since June 13, military operations in Iran have killed at least 430 people, in Israel - 29 people.

Since the beginning of the escalation of the Iran-Israeli conflict, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly statedthat Tehran must give up nuclear weapons. At the same time, the politician answered all questions about the direct participation of the US Army in the conflict vague. However, on the night of June 21-22, Trump reported on the social network Truth Social that the US Air Force attacked three nuclear facilities in Iran, and called the attack a remarkable success. Soon Tehran struck back on the American military base in Qatar (according to media reports, he is largely wore symbolic character). On the night of June 24, Trump announcedthat Israel and Iran, through US mediation, agreed to a ceasefire.

In total, several videos are being circulated, which, as Internet users write, show luxurious dinners for the American military in anticipation of their departure to Iran. All of these videos feature men or women in army uniforms showing themselves being served delicacies such as steak and lobster. Some soldiers simply film themselves having lunch, while others accompany the videos with captions like “World War III?” The authors of viral publications with a selection of such videos called this phenomenon a deployment meal, which can be translated as “a dish before the deployment of troops.”

Judging by publications on the websites of American military units, sometimes military personnel really arrange dinners like these are usually timed for the holidays. They usually serve surf and turf, that is, dishes based on a combination of seafood and meat. Moreover, the website of the US Marine Corps notes that this is how military personnel are fed not only in the United States, but also during combat missions in other countries.

Nevertheless, the authors of viral publications claim that luxurious meals began to be served in the canteens of the American army precisely after Israel’s attack on Iran, and this marks the imminent dispatch of military personnel to the combat zone. They post several videos to prove their theory. In one, men and women in military uniforms dine at a table in what appears to be an army base. The author of the video films a table on which steaks, lobsters and cans of Dr. soda are visible. Pepper. At the very beginning of the video, the author says: “The birthday package includes steak and lobster,” after which he asks his co-workers how they liked their lunch. One of them ironically replies that they are probably going to war.

Viral video. Source: social networks

“Verified” managed to find the original source of this video. For the first time published on TikTok by user @melly.fits on February 2, 2025, that is, almost six months before the start of the Israeli operation against Iran. It is unlikely that this so-called pre-battle dinner took place so far in advance. Judging by how actively the author continued lay out videos on TikTok after this video, neither he nor his colleagues were redeployed to the combat zone in the Middle East.

A similar situation concerns other videos distributed by Telegram channels. It shows one soldier filming another as he eats lobster for lunch. The caption for the video reads: “We’re getting deployed aren’t we?” (“We are being transferred, aren’t we?” - English). Although the video was only widely circulated in June of this year, this is the first time published on TikTok a year ago - June 25, 2024 on the user page @gabster.

Another viral video shows a service member reviewing the lunch she was served on the day the video was filmed. She says the US Army deducts $450 a month from her pay for three meals a day, and shows a container of food: steak, lobster, asparagus, caprese salad, garlic bread, baked potato, shrimp cocktail, fruit salad and several types of dessert.

Viral video. Source: social networks

This video, unlike the previous ones, was actually published recently. User @retiredhotcheetogirly posted video on his TikTok profile on June 14, 2025. The author publishes many videos about the American army, at least 39 of which are devoted to the nutrition of military personnel. Last such video it turned out June 16. Although the other commercials do not feature steaks or lobsters, the rest of the diet differs slightly. Moreover, at the very beginning of the viral video, the girl says: “This is what I received on the day the army was founded.” So the steak and lobster featured in the video is a festive dinner in honor of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the US Army, which noted June 14.

Several other viral videos were also posted this year, but with controversial captions like “We were served lobster, ribs, steak and mac and cheese. Oh yes, this is that time." Two such videos, like the previous ones, first appeared on June 19 on TikTok: one was posted by a user @doriancrossll, other - @datboimaxfr. Although the authors do not specify when exactly the video was filmed, both are still continue post videos. This allows us to conclude that they were unlikely to be sent to a hot spot.

In the English-language segment of social networks, videos in which American military personnel are served delicacies, with captions that they are fattened this way before being sent to a combat zone, have become actively spread On June 16, they gained particular popularity in X. At the same time, videos filmed several months ago were often accompanied by misleading captions about the renewed Iran-Israeli conflict. Similar publications recruited hundreds of thousands of views. Then the servicemen themselves, as in the case of the last two videos, began posting reviews of their own meals with ironic captions like “I guess we're going to war.”

Thus, the diet of American military personnel may indeed include steaks and baked lobsters, but such dishes are usually served during the holidays, and not before being sent to a combat zone. Some of the videos that went viral in June of this year, accompanied by captions claiming that menus in US army canteens had changed after Israel's attack on Iran, were actually recorded long before the operation began. Other videos show celebratory dinners in honor of the 250th anniversary of the US Army, which was celebrated on June 14. Finally, some military personnel began jokingly publishing videos about being sent to war after ordinary Internet users began discussing this topic.

Cover photo: Unsplash/Clay Banks