Daily Express FABRICATED story that Iran just threatened to nuke Isreal.
Mistaken interpretation of social media post not a plausible excuse for spreading misinformation.
The Daily Express has come under sharp criticism for publishing a sensationalized and misleading report that falsely portrays Iran as issuing a direct nuclear threat against Israel.
The article, titled “Iran threatens to nuke Israel with chilling image showing missile obliterating Tel Aviv,” appeared on Express.co.uk on March 6, 2026, authored by reporter Rebecca Robinson.
The article was written in a highly alarmist tone. Robinson essentially claimed that IRGC signed on to deceased Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Twitter/X.com account and posted that Iran was going to nuke Israel. But that is not what happened.
In reality, the social media post was an AI generated depicting one of IRGC’s Khorramshahr-4 missile. The social media post said:
The Zionist regime has made a big mistake, and its consequences will make the regime desperate, by God’s grace. Martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution June 13, 2025 KHAMENEI.IR
Robins mischaracterized the image in her Daily Express article:
Iran has shared a chilling image of a nuclear missile striking an Israeli city, which appears to be Tel Aviv. In a post on X, the account peviously beloging to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni warned that “Khorramshahr is ahead”, in refrence to the ballistic missile named after the Iranian city.
No Evidence of a Nuclear Threat
The Khorramshahr-4 (خرمشهر) missile depicted in the image was not implemented to be a nuclear missile. This fourth version of is a conventional medium-range ballistic misile (MRBM) with an estimated range of 2,000 km while carrying a 1,500 kg warhead. Once it is out of the atmosphere, the missile’s specialized navigation system can stay on course without relying on terminal guidance systems that can be jammed such as cameras, radar, or infrared. The missile reportedly reaches speeds of Mach 16.
While the Khorramshahr-4 is not a nuclear designated a nuclear missile, it could likely be made nuclear capable. All four versions of the missile are theoretically capable of carrying a nuclear payload. And Iran has four other types of missiles that can deliver a nuclear warhead including the Sejjil, Emad, Ghadr, and Shahab-3.
Before Rebecca Robinson published her article, IRGC had fired four Khorramshahr-4 missile at Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport and the Lod Airbase in Tel Aviv. The missiles disrupted airport operations. IRGC fire mored more missiles at Haifa and Tel Aviv. Before all that, IRGC fired one in June 2025 for the purpose of reliating and defending Iran from the U.S.’s strikes.
That Robinson thinks this missile is a nuclear weapon is mind boggling. It has never been used for that purpose. There is nothing in the social media post that the missile has a nuclear war head.
There are no markings on the missile that reflect it is carrying a nuclear payload. The top of the nose cone does not have smaller, sharp, heat-shielded cones as is typical on a nuclear warhead..
Iran does not have a nuclear weapon
Experts consistently agree: Iran does not currently possess a nuclear weapon. The country does not have necessary fissile material nor the ability to build a functional nuclear warhead.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and similar sources continue to find no confirmation that Iran possesses a functional nuclear weapon or is actively pursuing one in a structured program.
As of early March 2026, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has stated there is “no evidence of Iran building a nuclear bomb,” though concerns persist over its enriched uranium stockpiles and limited inspector access. No credible sources indicate Iran has issued an explicit nuclear threat in this context.
In mid-2025, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency assessed that Iran would need probably less than one week to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a single nuclear device. Around that time, Iran's stockpile of 60 percent enriched uranium was estimated at roughly 440 kg.
That’s when the U.S. struck three Iranian nuclear sites. Donald Trump said the they had “completely and fully obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program.
But eight months later, here we are again. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the world on the first day of the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran. Netanyahu criticized IRGC:
. . . everyone understands that this murderous terrorist regime must never be allowed to arm itself with nuclear weapons that would enable it to threaten our existence and the peace of all humanity. We have gone to battle to change this situation fundamentally, to put an end to the threat.
How Misinformation Spread
The Daily Express article quickly amplified unverified claims. It was picked up by aggregators like the Drudge Report, which ran it under headlines such as “IRAN THREAT TO NUKE TEL AVIV,” reaching a wide audience and fueling fears during an already tense period of U.S.-Israel-Iran hostilities.
Analysts and fact-checkers have described the piece as inflammatory misinformation, noting it risks unnecessarily heightening regional tensions by conflating conventional missile rhetoric with nuclear aggression.
About the Reporter and Lack of Response
Rebecca Robinson, a news reporter for the Daily Express covering world events (including frequent pieces on the Russia-Ukraine war, U.S./UK politics, and Middle East developments), has a modest X presence (@beccarobinson26). She did not respond to requests for comment on her sourcing, image analysis, or the potential consequences of the framing.
This incident highlights broader issues with rapid, click-driven reporting on high-stakes geopolitical topics, where visual propaganda from state-affiliated accounts is easily misinterpreted without careful verification.