Several users and journalists on the social media platform X have since Tuesday shared a video claiming to show Pakistani Ambassador Asim Iftikhar calling Israel to a UN Security Council meeting amid the ongoing situation in the Middle East. However, the clip is old from September 2025.
Pakistan stepped into the role of a mediator in the US-Israel war with Iran, successfully brokering a critical ceasefire between the warring sides on April 8, 2026. The South Asian country also hosted the first round of talks between Washington and Tehran on April 11-12. April, which ended endlessly.
During this time, Pakistan has consistently called for peace in the UNSC while criticizing Israel’s aggressive actions in Gaza, Iran and Lebanon.
How it started
A day ago, a Turkish user on X shared a video showing Ambassador Ahmad speaking at the UNSC
“The Pakistani ambassador, showing Israel his seat in the UN General Assembly, said the following: ‘Israel is an occupier and a brigand playing the victim card, violating UN resolutions and practicing state terrorism in Gaza and even on Palestinian lands,'” reads the caption, which garnered 499,100 views.
In the clip, the Pakistani envoy can be heard delivering a sharp rebuke to his Israeli counterpart, highlighting Tel Aviv’s aggression in Gaza and other Palestinian territories.
The post did not mention when the session was from or any other specific details about it.
American political commentator Jackson Hinke shared the video with the same caption. His post received 365,000 views and amassed 26,000 likes.
Shireen Mazari, the former human rights minister, also shared the same clip with the following caption: “An excellent response from Pakistan delivered without histrionics in a logical, understated but powerful statement. Teaches rogue entity Israel a few lessons.”
Her post garnered 32,400 views.
Journalist Matiullah Jan also shared the clip with the caption: “Israel’s Iron Dome didn’t see this coming from Pakistan.”
His post accumulated 1.1 million views.
Another journalist, Tariq Mateen, also shared the video in a similar context.
“Respect! Nothing but respect for Janab Asim Iftikhar sahab. Hi Khawaja Asif sahab, that’s how it’s done,” read the caption of the post, which attracted 73,000 views.
Subsequently, other X users, including journalists and Indian users, also shared the claim and the video, as seen here, here, here, here, here, herehere and here; overall achieved 537,700 views.
Digital media output Pakistan Connect posted the same clip with the following caption on Instagram: “Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, strongly criticized Israel at the UN, calling its actions a violation of international law and the UN Charter. He said it was unacceptable for an aggressor and occupying power to abuse its own claims against others and abuse its own claims against others. That such behavior undermines the sanctity of the UN Security Council.”
The post received 19,000 views.
Method
A fact check was launched to establish the truth of the claim due to its high virality and great public interest in the Middle East war and Pakistan’s key role in the mediation effort.
A keyword search to confirm the incident did not turn up any recent news reports from credible mainstream international or Pakistani media.
Instead, a reverse image search returned a YouTube video dated September 15, 2025, shared by Pakistan’s Mission to the UN titled: “Pakistan hits back: Rejects Israel’s unrelated smears during Qatar debate”.
On September 9, 2025, Israel targeted Hamas leaders in attack on Qatar’s capital, murder five Hamas members and a Qatari security officer. The attack attracted widespread international coverage condemnationincluding from Gulf monarchies allied with the United States, Israel’s main backer.
A comparison of the YouTube video and the viral clip revealed that the latter shows the first 5:37 minutes of the original speech.
In his speech, after 5:52 minutes, the Pakistani ambassador reads the UN Security Council resolution as “members of the Security Council express their condemnation of the recent attack on Doha, a key broker’s territory, on September 9”, and at no point mentions the US-Israeli war against Iran, showing that the session was not related to the Middle East.
During the meeting, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon invoked the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan to justify Israel’s actions in Doha, prompting a response from the Pakistani envoy who called the comparison “unacceptable” and called out Tel Aviv for diverting attention from its own violations of international law.
The same UNSC session was also covered Dawn and Capital TV on their YouTube channels in September 2025, in connection with the attacks in Qatar.
Furthermore, a keyword search yielded a news report Dawn dated September 12, 2025 with the headline: “Pakistan, Israel trade barbs at UNSC over Doha attack.”
The report confirmed that the heated exchange between Pakistan and Israel’s ambassadors took place on September 12, 2025 and is not related to the current conflict between Israel and Iran.
Fact Check Status: Misleading
The claim that a viral video shows Pakistani Ambassador Asim Iftikhar attacking an Israeli envoy at a UN Security Council meeting is misleading.
The viral video is old, from September 2025, and is not related to the current Middle East conflict.
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This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan – a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.
