Fact check: Viral video of missile attack is not linked to Mideast tensions, shows 2024 Ukraine strike on Russia

Multiple users, including seemingly pro-Iranian accounts, were sharing a video on X since May 7, 2026, with conflicting claims that it shows US attacks on Iran and Tehran’s strikes in Dubai. However, the clip is from March 23, 2024, and shows the Ukrainian attack on the Russian Black Sea fleet.

Claim

Viral video shows missile strikes on Dubai, Iran amid ongoing Mideast tensions

Rating justification

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

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan conducted a keyword search and a reverse image search to trace the original video.

Multiple users, including seemingly pro-Iranian accounts, were sharing a video on X since May 7, 2026, with conflicting claims that it shows US attacks on Iran and Tehran’s strikes in Dubai. However, the clip is from March 23, 2024, and shows the Ukrainian attack on the Russian Black Sea fleet.

US and Israeli forces launched the war against Iran on February 28, after which the Islamic republic closed the Strait of Hormuz — a vital route for oil and gas exports — while American forces later launched a blockade of Iranian ports. President Donald Trump has indefinitely extended what was initially a two-week ceasefire, but the conflict, and its widespread economic fallout, remains unresolved.

On May 4, the UAE said it was targeted by Iranian strikes, including one on its vital Fujairah energy hub that wounded three Indians. It confirmed its air defence systems had engaged a total of 12 ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles, and four drones launched from Iran.

Meanwhile, on May 5, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) refuted the claim, saying that the country’s forces “have not carried out any missile or drone operations against the UAE in recent days”.

The statement continued: “If any action had been taken, we would have announced it firmly and clearly. Therefore, the report of that country’s Ministry of Defence is absolutely denied and is devoid of any truth.”

How it started

On May 7, a pro-Iranian user, based on past posts, shared a clip on X, claiming that it shows Iran’s attack on Dubai, with the following caption: “Breaking Now: UAE having ‘Glasshouse’ throws stones. Iran responds to Dubai in an unbelievable way after the UAE’s adventures in striking Qeshm.”

The post gained 204,350 views.

Another pro-Iranian user shared the same clip with the following caption: “Urgent now: Iran responds to Dubai in an unbelievable way”. The post attracted 70,000 views.

Another user shared the same clip in a similar context with the following caption: “Iran responds to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in an incredible way, reignites the Middle East with a new player in the war who might get the beating of their life for destabilising the Middle East and being a servant of the US and Israel, let’s go Iran with everything.”

The post accumulated 35,100 views.

Subsequently, other X users also shared the same video with similar claims, as can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here; collectively gaining 60,000 views.

The same clip was also shared by other users, but with the claim that it shows a US attack on Iran.

In a post on May 7, one X user, who appears to be pro-Iranian, shared the video with the caption: “Fox News: About a senior American official. The US Army carried out airstrikes on Bandar Abbas port and Qeshm Island. O God, burn the criminal regime in Iran and protect the innocents”.

The post accumulated 92,200 views.

The same video with a similar claim was also shared by several other X users, as can be seen here and here; collectively gaining 88,000 views.

Methodology

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its high virality and keen public interest in the ongoing Middle East tensions.

A keyword search was conducted to corroborate whether any such video was covered by any credible mainstream, international, Gulf, or Iranian media outlets, but yielded no results.

When a reverse image search was conducted, the results yielded a YouTube video shared by British news outlet The Telegraph on March 24, 2024, with the title: “Huge explosions rock Sevastopol after Ukrainian missile attack.”

The visuals in the viral clip match those in The Guardian’s video up to the 0:22-second mark.

According to the description of the video, the Ukrainian military stated that it had hit two Russian warships and other facilities of the Russian navy in the Black Sea.

The incident was also covered by On Demand News, a local UK media outlet, with the same context, on March 24, 2024.

A keyword search yielded a news report by Ukraine TV channel Freedom, dated March 24, 2024, with the headline: “Large landing ships and a communications centre were hit: the Ukrainian Armed Forces confirmed successful combat operations against Russian Black Sea Fleet facilities in Sevastopol.”

The news report featured the same visuals from the viral video, but from a slightly different angle, showing the same blast and tower.

As per the news report, about ten explosions were heard in Sevastopol on March 23, 2024. The strikes targeted Kozacha Bay, where the permanent base of Russia’s 810th Marine Brigade is located.

The same visuals were also featured in a news report by Zona News, a Russian media outlet, and Ukrainian business and social news outlet Prom Politinform, with the same context.

Fact-check status: False

The claim that a viral video shows strikes in Dubai, Iran amid the ongoing Mideast conflict is false.

The clip shows Ukraine’s attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet on March 23, 2024.

This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.