As well as ships, @leguape.bsky.social and I have been watching planes.
Here's what we can say about F-22s flying out of Lakenheath, to Israel, as US forces amass around Iran.
On the BBC Verify live page, yesterday: www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c7...
Composite image of screengrab from social media video (top) showing USS Gerald R Ford emerging from Souda Bay, filmed from the west, and screengrab from Google Maps satellite image (bottom), oriented east and tilted.
We first saw the Ford leaving Souda Bay in a video emerging around 8.20am GMT, which we could geolocate by the rise in the land behind it, and the outstretched bay in the foreground.
USS Gerald R Ford, the largest aircraft carrier in the world, has left the Greek Island of Crete and appears to be heading towards the Middle East. Video filmed from a beach near Souda Bay where the US warship had been for several days shows the Ford sailing north-east into the Mediterranean this morning. BBC Verify’s analysis indicates that, if it travels at a cruising speed of about 20 knots, the vessel will take about a day to reach the eastern Mediterranean near Israel’s coast. Justin Crump, CEO of risk and intelligence firm Sibylline, told BBC Verify the Ford could remain in the eastern Mediterranean to "backstop operations" over Syria, Iraq and Israel. But that it is also possible the Ford’s carrier strike group could travel through the Suez Canal in Egypt and enter the Red Sea. Separately, we have also identified the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and six other warships in satellite imagery taken on Wednesday, 25 February, about 200 km (125 miles) off Oman’s coast.
The world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, was seen leaving port, Souda Bay, Crete, heading to the Aegean Sea, and potentially on to the east Mediterranean Sea as part of US build-up around Iran.
With @leguape.bsky.social for the BBC Verify Live Page: www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c7...
Composite image showing (left) Yaqoob Mohammadi returned home, Sunday 22 February 2026; (right top) view of street where Mohammadi was taken; (right bottom) view of courtyard where Mohammadi was taken, Saturday 21 February 2026. Elements matching between the two have been highlighted.
The next morning, however, Mohammadi was returned to his home.
The crowd cheered, and Mohammadi thanked them for 'standing up' for him.
We could see this happening on the same street from which he was taken.
Screengrab of social media video showing crowd at home of Yaqoob Mohammadi, above screengrab of satellite image from Google Maps of the same location. A tree, a corner and a section of seating at a sports pitch have been highlighted on both.
In a video posted after sunset, we saw a crowd gathered at Mohammadi's home, claimed to be people supporting him.
As well as the angle of the junction, trees again came into play, but the giveaway was the exposed stand at the sports pitch nearby. Which helped us verify the earlier arrest location.
The flatbed is like those used in the police-paramilitary convoy seen in northern Iran in Jan: www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cy...
The armoured vehicle is similar to the one used at Abdanan Cemetery last week: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Vali Asr Square was another location we've seen recent protests.
Two screengrabs from a social media video taken at Vali Asr Square, Abdanan, Ilam, Iran, with masked people, people in riot helmets, a flatbed truck and an armoured vehicle highlighted.
Screengrab from Google Maps showing Vali Asr Square, Abdanan, Ilam, Iran. A pin has been dropped to the west of the square and a yellow line illustrates a turn to the south exit.
At sunset, going by the low light on the background building, another video showed people in similar black masks (red) to Mohammadi's home, people in riot helmets (orange), plus a flatbed truck and an armoured vehicle.
Geolocated to Vali Asr Square, Abdanan, video POV turning from east to south.
Screengrab of social media video showing men on a dual carriageway road in Abdanan, Ilam, Iran, 21 February 2026.
Screengrab of SunCalc showing position of the sun around 5pm over a dual carriageway on the western side of central Abdanan, Ilam, Iran, on 21 February 2026.
Then there was people running from the sound of three gunshots. The shadows, which we knew would be the afternoon, put us on a north-south(ish) dual carriageway. There's only one of those in town.
About 5pm, and 500m southwest of where we saw people marching.
Screengrab of SunCalc, showing position of the sun at around 4pm in Abdanan, Ilam, Iran on 21 February 2026.
Screengrab from Google Maps showing Royal Cabinet on Emam Khomenei Street, Abdanan, Ilam, Iran and another corner 200m to the east, circled yellow.
...and the time was approximately 4pm in Abdanan.
Which would work in a timeframe for organising a protest against the claimed arrest of Mohammadi.
Composite image of two screengrabs from a social media video either side of a Google Earth image of Emam Khomenei Street, Abdanan, Iran, oriented south and tilted to best show the facades of buildings.
No. Using Google Earth and skipping back to 2024 when the angle was tilted enough to see building facades, we could find the actual turning on the other side of the street and 200m to the east.
It meant we could say the men were marching from the direction of Mohammadi's home...
Composite image: Top, screengrab from social media video showing people marching on Emam Khomenei Street, Abdanan, Iran; bottom is a screengrab from Google satellite image of the street. A line connects the shop 'Royal' in the video to the listed Royal Cabinet on the street, overlaid with question marks.
Next was a march through town. Definitely at a corner turning off Emam Khomenei Street, but Google had some of the details wrong.
Having the wrong corner would put the shadows in the wrong direction.
So, should we go with what Google Maps told us?
Two screengrabs from CCTV video posted on social media, from the courtyard of the home of Yaqoob Mohammadi, with people in masks circled in black, Mohammadi circled in blue, and a man in a white t-shirt and a man in a green t-shirt circled.
We also (later) found and verified CCTV from inside Mohammadi's courtyard. It showed masked men (black circles) taking a man (blue circle) matching Mohammadi's photo.
We also saw people dressed (green and white t-shirts) in the same clothes as we saw in the street video.
Screengrab of social media video of CCTV overlooking a street in east Abdanan, Ilam Province, Iran, 21 February 2025. The shadows point from top left to bottom right.
Screengrab from SunCalc website showing a street in eastern Abdanan, Ilam Province, Iran, showing the direction of the sun at approximately 2.30pm, 21 February 2026.
Still thinking about trees and poles, and their shadows in clear sunshine, you may get a good indicator of when something happened.
In this case, pointing top left to bottom right, about 2.30pm, local time, going by SunCalc.
Composite image of (top) screengrab from a social media video, and (bottom) Google Earth satellite image, oriented west and tilted. The trees, a pole and gate awning and a sloping roof have been matched between the two.
The order in which images emerge from Iran is often jumbled at present.
Let's start with the image above, matched to the address of local academic Yaqoob Mohammadi.
Trees are key when geolocating, look out for green marks on satellite images. When looking for poles, look for their shadows.
Screengrab from a social media video of CCTV overlooking a street in east Abdanan, Ilam Province, Iran, showing an altercation near the home of Yaqoob Mohammadi, 21 February 2026.
Proving Google wrong, an academic taken by gunmen and his applauded return. All in under 24 hours in Abdanan, Iran, away from the Tehran protests.
With @emmapengelly.bsky.social and @shayan86.bsky.social.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd...
The video here takes you through footage from Sharif University, Amirkabir University twice and the Iran University of Science and Technology: www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd...
Screengrab from a social media post showing the sun and lion flag of Iran at Sharif University, Tehran.
Several of those scenes mentioned available in this edit: www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd...
With @paulybrown.bsky.social, @emmapengelly.bsky.social and @shayan86.bsky.social
Anti-government student protests spread to more Iranian universities www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
See the thread quoted below for some how-we-know and how-you-can-too examples.
Now being summarised for the BBC Verify live page: www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd...
Almost forgot, the POV at Tehran University is 35.705444, 51.394447, looking east.
Please, go and look at these sites for yourself, compare them to the videos you've seen or I've screengrabbed here!
We can all do better to understand what we are seeing online.
With this instance, it shows how we can say 'hundreds' of people demonstrated: In the clip from Tehran University, we counted around 125 people passing the red hut in 38 seconds, in a space accounting for about a third of the march we could see in the video.
Composite image: Top, Google Earth image of Tehran University; bottom, panorama from social media video from Tehran University, 22 February 2026. Many features have been highlighted in matching colours between the two.
And a final example. Tehran University, people marching on Sunday.
Forgive the messy panorama and cluttered boxes. I hope you can make out the background red-roof hut and larger building, plus the partial-green-roof hut, zig-zag ramp and sloping corrugated roof in the foreground.
A Google Earth image from the campus of Iran University of Science and Technology, oriented SE and tilted. A pitched-roof building, trees, steps with lampposts and a building with two wings have been circled.
Verification tip: It's worth seeing if municipal buildings have Google Photos or Facebook pages to match up further details.
(This image has been oriented SE and tilted to match the panorama above.)
Panorama of screengrabs from a social media video showing a fight at Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran. A pitched-roof building, trees, two wings of one building and steps with lampposts have been circled.
Or, for example, on Sunday, when another fight was seen at Iran University of Science and Technology in Iran.
The pitched-roof, trees, steps with lampposts, distant two-wing building, were only matches for a POV at approximately 35.74059406,51.50506578.
Composite image of a Google Maps satellite image of the south side of Sharif University, Tehran, Iran. Overlaid with screengrabs from a social media video, identifying a pole (marked in red) and a car park and L-shaped building (marked in yellow).
Within this work, for instance, when we report fights between protesters and counter-protesters at Sharif University on Saturday, here's part of my contribution.
The man with the cut to his head was filmed at 35.70067551,51.35254903.
A large part of what BBC Verify and Persian do is support other News output.
This weekend has seen a fresh wave of protest in Iran, centred on the universities of Tehran.
Working with @paulybrown.bsky.social, @emmapengelly.bsky.social and @shayan86.bsky.social.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
The current US military build-up in the Middle East “appears to be preparing for direct action” against wide-ranging targets in Iran, analysts from defence intelligence firm Janes have told BBC Verify. We have been tracking the recent arrival of US aircraft and naval vessels, as reports indicate strikes on Iran are being considered by Washington. So far today we have reported: The USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier may be on its way to the Mediterranean Sea Two US Awacs command and control aircraft, which provide battlefield management, have landed in the UK Deepankar Patil and S Kannan, from the military intelligence team at Janes, told BBC Verify such preparations indicate the US is preparing for sustained operations as can be seen from the “constant flights of tanker and transport aircraft into the region”. Such operations also require “the presence of several assets capable of strikes” also being put in place, like the presence of US fighter jets in Jordan and the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier being deployed near the Gulf. We first saw the USS Abraham Lincoln in satellite imagery off the coast of Oman at the weekend. But Patil and Kannan said the vessel has likely been there for weeks, given they have observed regular reconnaissance sorties by Iranian drones over the nearby Strait of Hormuz.
From the start of the week, Janes military intelligence told BBC Verify the US could be preparing for 'direct action'.
Part of ongoing work with @leguape.bsky.social, for the live page: www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd...
A lot of this might be me, @danict89.bsky.social and @leguape.bsky.social.
Plus our longer-form video package for BBC News Channel, produced by @herdjemimah.bsky.social.
www.linkedin.com/posts/richar...
