Viral video does not show US attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities but Dec 2024 Israeli attack on Syria’s Tartus

The iVerify Pakistan team reviewed this content and determined that it is false.

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan conducted a reverse image search to find the actual event.

Posts from multiple users on social media platform X since June 22, 2025, were sharing a video, claiming it showed the United States attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. However, the clip actually shows Israel bombing Syria in December 2024.

A US airstrike on June 22, codenamed “Operation Midnight Hammer”, targeted and “totally obliterated” Iran’s primary nuclear enrichment facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, President Donald Trump announced. Iran has condemned the strikes as a “barbaric violation” of international law and warned of “everlasting consequences”, including potential unilateral action such as closing the Strait of Hormuz.

HOW IT STARTED

On June 22, an X user shared an 8-second clip showing a massive explosion lighting up the night sky in the distance, with a bright fireball and smoke rising above a landscape.

The post’s caption said, “Major escalation: The US has launched airstrikes on Iran’s top nuclear facilities, including Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. This marks a turning point in the regional conflict, with the US directly targeting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure for the first time.”

The post received over 493,000 views.

The same clip was shared by several other X users, as seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here collectively accumulating over 200,000 views.

The above posts mainly claimed that the video was from the attack on the Fordow nuclear site.

The same clip was found on Instagram which can be seen here, here and here.

Similarly, the clip was widely shared on Facebook too as can be seen here and here.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its high virality and keen public interest amid in the US involvement in the the Iran-Israel conflict.

A reverse image search yielded an X post from December 16, 2024, featuring the same video.

It was captioned: “Breaking: Israeli airstrike on Tartus, Syria.”

A keyword search for “Israel” and “Tartus, Syria” led to multiple news reports about Israel’s aggression in Syria in December 2024.

According to the reports, Israel launched airstrikes on Tartus in northwestern Syria, triggering massive explosions that were so powerful they registered as a 3.0 magnitude earthquake on nearby seismic sensors. The Israeli military stated that these strikes were aimed at preventing military infrastructure and equipment that were formerly under the control of the Assad regime from falling into the hands of rebel groups following the regime’s collapse.

The viral clip was also featured in a news bulletin from German state broadcaster DW News titled “Reports: Israel strikes missile storage sites in Syria’s Tartus region,” aired on December 16, 2024.

The viral clip appears at the 2:09-minute mark in the broadcast. Sky News Australia also aired the same footage.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim that a viral video shows a US attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities is false.

The video is not recent and dates back to December 2024, when Israel conducted attacks in Syria’s Tartus region.