Fact Check: Did Princess Salma of Jordan Shoot Down Iranian Drones?

New Delhi: Social media posts claiming that Princess Salma bint Abdullah, the third child of King Abdullah and Queen Rania of Jordan, shot down Iranian drones that had entered Jordanian airspace en route to Israel have gone viral. Although she is a pilot of the Royal Jordanian Air Force, the photo that is viral on social media is misleading and the claim that she participated in the operation to bring down Iranian drones has not been confirmed by any official source. 

“Princess Salma of Jordan shot down 6 Iranian drones last night,” the viral posts said, carrying a photo of the 23-year-old Princess’s photo in Jordan’s air force pilot uniform. However, the photo which is being widely shared is from 2023, as confirmed by multiple news articles from last year which carry the same image. 

After the posts went viral, X, formerly known as Twitter, added a Community Note – the platform’s feature that allows users to add context and fact-check misleading and fake posts – to one such claim. 

“A digitally altered screenshot of a media outlet has been shared claiming that Princess Salma of Jordan shot down 6 Iranian drones last night. These claims are fake and fabricated,” the Community Note read.

“The article’s original headline reads, ‘Princess Salma of Jordan leads Air Force initiative to airdrop medical supplies in Gaza’. It was published on 15 December 2023. Intent: Propagandists are circulating digitally altered news articles to set their propaganda over the escalating conflict between Israel-Iran,” it added.

In December last year, Princess Salma was part of the contingent that airlifted aid to a Gaza hospital. The Princess, who is a first lieutenant in the Royal Jordanian Air Force, dropped aid to the 41-bed Jordanian field hospital in northern Gaza. The 23-year-old became her country’s first-ever female pilot in 2020. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Kashmir Monitor staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)