Claim: Prof Isa Ali Pantami weeps over the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader
Source: Social media (X)
Verdict: False
Researched by Alfa Shaban
The Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed on February 28, 2026, on the first day of the Israel-US attack on Iran. Days later, a viral video on X and Facebook claimed a former Nigerian minister publicly shed tears over the killing of the Ayatollah.
The video, widely shared on social media platforms, showed Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami (the Digital Economy Minister under the Buhari administration) removing his spectacles and taking tissues to wipe his tears while delivering a sermon in a mosque.
The video featured an imposed text saying: “Buhari former minister Isa Pantami on the supreme leader of Iran.” The vertical video also had two images of the late Ayatollah at the bottom, along with an image of a war plane and a video inset of bombings.
The video that caught the attention of FactSpace West Africa was circulated on March 9, and attracted about 100,000 views, 337 comments, 348 reposts and 287 likes. Other X accounts shared the video here, here, and here.
This report will verify whether Pantami has recently reacted to the killing of the Ayatollah.
Fact-check
While most comments under the viral post called out the minister for doing far less for Nigerians who have been killed and continue to face security challenges, one query to Grok, the xAI platform seeking authenticity of the video, gave us a clue to the possible recycling of an old video.
“The clip of Pantami tearing up at the mic is old footage from ~2023, during a tafsir sermon at Annur Mosque in Bauchi. Recent edits added Khamenei photos, strike explosions, jets, and the Israel-Iran map overlay to falsely tie it to the Feb 28 death. Raw video predates the event by years,” the Grok query read.
We went in search of the old footage.
Using advanced search on YouTube, we found a video compilation of the former Minister, who is also a respected Islamic cleric, responding to questions during his Ramadan lectures in April 2023.
He stops speaking to briefly weep between the 40:27-second and 40:59-second of the over one-hour video. His tears were triggered by the sorrowful nature of the question, which borders on a heedless father’s mistreatment of his four daughters. It is totally unrelated to the killing of the Iranian Supreme Leader.
FactSpace West Africa observed the following:
- The viral video is a zoomed-in version of the original footage
- The soundtrack in the original footage is maintained, and Pantami’s sobs were heard
- The viral video has also been inverted, and the image significantly brightened
- The main microphone is present in both images, and the design on Pantami’s agbada is the same.
American politician wades in, Pantami counsels The Guardian Nigeria
An American politician commented on the viral video with a mocking post targeting the former minister, following which a local news portal, The Guardian Nigeria, ran a story with the headline: “Trump bombing Iran is farmer-herder conflict, Mike Arnold mocks Pantami.”
Pantami subsequently posted a message to the media house on X, demanding that they be more professional in their work. His post read in part: “As a respected national newspaper, The Guardian is expected to verify the authenticity of statements before reporting them. The work of a professional journalist is to investigate and verify, not just report lies and unverified information.”
Verdict
The claim that Pantami wept over the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is false, and the video being circulated dates back to 2023.
