A billboard in central Tel Aviv announcing the opening of an Iranian embassy that met with disbelief and curiosity turned out to be a hoax, organizers of the eye-catching stunt have revealed.
“Opening here soon – Embassy of Iran in Israel,” proclaimed the five-storey tall sign emblazoned with the Iranian and Israeli flags this week.
Posts on Facebook suggested that the billboard could be an art installation or a private “peace” campaign by Israelis who had immigrated home to the Jewish state from Iran.
But the truth was revealed as a massive publicity stunt in a statement Thursday from the makers of a new Israeli film comedy about a nuclear conflict between Tehran and Israel.
“Mystery solved!,” it said, announcing “the upcoming launch of (director) Dror Shaul’s new film ‘Atomic Falafel’ an atomic comedy.”
Opening locally on September 10, its producer Avraham Pirchi calls it “a satirical comedy mocking ultra-militarism.”
The film is to center around an Israeli and an Iranian girl who prevent nuclear war, with the filmmakers calling the movie “pro-peace and optimistic.”
Iran severed diplomatic relations with Israel in the wake of the 1979 Islamic revolution, which overthrew Iran’s pro-Western shah and installed a theocratic regime that does not recognize Israel.
The filmmakers’ “optimism” comes despite Iran’s repeated threats to destroy Israel; just this Tuesday Iranian Parliament Speaker’s Adviser for International Affairs Hossein Sheikholeslam reiterated that despite last month’s nuclear deal, the annihilation of Israel remains Iran’s main goal.
“Our positions against the usurper Zionist regime have not changed at all; Israel should be annihilated and this is our ultimate slogan,” Sheikholeslam said.