Fact check: Viral video does not show Iran's attack on US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain

Viral compilation contains multiple unrelated, AI-generated clips, originating from different years and events

Multiple pro-Iranian users, based on their past posts, have been sharing a video on social media platform X since Sunday, claiming that it shows Iran’s attack on the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. However, the video is a combination of older and unrelated clips.

US and Israeli forces launched a war against Iran on February 28. On June 22, the US and Iran agreed on a roadmap towards reaching a final peace deal in 60 days after hours-long negotiations in the Swiss resort of Burgenstock.

Iran hit a cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on June 25, with both the US and Iran accusing the other of breaking an interim ceasefire that was agreed to on June 17.

Iran also launched missiles and drones at US military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain on Sunday, shortly after US President Donald Trump threatened that the Islamic republic would cease to exist if it did not honour the agreement to end the war.

How it started

On Sunday, a pro-Iranian account, based on its past posts, shared a video on X allegedly showing Iran’s attack on the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, with the following caption: “The Fifth Fleet in Bahrain has been completely erased by Iran. Let America go and threaten again! This time, no bargaining, so it has become an eye for an eye.”

The post gained 1.7 million views.

Another user shared the same clip with the following caption: “The clip everyone’s sharing right now: Claims that Iran completely destroyed the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.”

The post gained 2.1m views.

Another X account shared the same video with the following caption: “Breaking: Claims report that the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain was completely destroyed during an Iranian attack.”

It gained 1.5m views.

A pro-Iranian account posted the same clip with a similar claim, accumulating 203,700 views.

Similarly, the same image was also shared by other users on X, as can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here; collectively gaining 194,000 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 recent developments surrounding the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran.

A keyword search was conducted to verify whether any credible Bahraini, American, or international media outlets had reported that Iran had destroyed the United States Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain along with the viral video compilation. However, no such reports or footage matching the viral video were found.

A reverse image search conducted to trace the origin of the viral video compilation revealed that it consists of multiple unrelated clips that predate the viral claim.

The first clip was traced to a social media post published on March 3 by an Instagram account “paralelverse_net” that consistently posts AI-generated content. The user in the caption of the video stated that the video was AI-generated and created for entertainment purposes only, confirming that it does not depict a real military attack.

 

 

 

 

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The second viral clip dates back to August 2018, posted by Saudi Arabia News on its X account and shows missiles passing through the sky over a football field, launched by Yemen’s Houthis towards Jazan, Saudi Arabia.

فيديو ..
.
عندما تتحدث القوة .. عدد من الشباب في صامطة يمارسون لعبة كرة القدم في حين أن أبطال الدفاع الجوي يُفشلون صواريخ حوثية إيرانية .
.#السعودية #الأمن #الحوثيين #إيران
. pic.twitter.com/8YzSH0H6pd

— أخبار السعودية (@SaudiNews50) August 2, 2018

The third viral clip was traced to March 2026, posted by Australian outlet Ticker News on Facebook, and shows Tomahawk cruise missiles flying over a commercial cargo vessel in the Middle East.

https://www.facebook.com/weareticker/videos/crew-members-aboard-a-commercial-ship-filmed-several-tomahawk-cruise-missiles-fl/781559361683573/

Further searches yielded the same footage shared by Al Jazeera on March 5 on Facebook, stating that crew members aboard a merchant vessel captured two missiles, believed to be US Tomahawk cruise missiles, flying overhead towards targets inside Iran. This indicates that the video predates the current viral claim and has been recirculated out of context.

https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera/videos/video-shows-cruise-missiles-flying-over-merchant-vessel-in-middle-east/1649866182820859/

These findings indicate that the viral compilation contains unrelated and old footage, including AI-generated content, that has been falsely depicted as showing Iran destroying the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.

Fact-check status: False

The claim that a viral video shows Iran’s attack on the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain is false.

The viral compilation contains multiple unrelated and AI-generated clips, originating from different years and events.

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