French news network, France 24 were the first to recognise the mistake stating that the video was not, in fact, a crack Hezbollah sniper killing several IS militants. Their article noted that Iran’s news networks were:
France 24 also stated that Mizan News, which is closely associated with the Iranian army, added details that the “alleged Hezbollah commandos were using the Arash, a 20-calibre anti-material rifle made in Iran.”
It is clear from the footage that the video is a fake as it is easy to spot the tell-tale signs of MoH’s HUD and the ‘Headshot’ symbols that pop up when you snipe an enemy in the game. The only thing that was changed from the game footage was the contrast.
This is not the first time something like this has happened either. In 2015, an Egyptian news agency utilised Apache: Air Assault gameplay to show the effectiveness of Russia’s air power against IS militia.