Video showing US attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities

Rating Justification

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 original video.

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 video is not recent and dates back to September 2024, when a Ukrainian drone strike destroyed an ammunition depot in Russia.

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 Indian user on X shared a video claiming it showed a US attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The footage featured a massive explosion at night, with towering flames and a large plume of smoke rising into the sky.

The caption read: “Video footage of the US attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities has emerged. The intensity and accuracy of the attack clearly shows that it was a highly planned action. Everyone is now waiting for Iran’s response. The situation has become extremely tense.”

The post garnered over 1.2 million views.

The post did not mention which of the three sites was show in the video.

The same video, with similar claims, was circulated by other users on X, with individual posts receiving over 1.5m, 200,000, and 12,000 views, respectively.

The claim was also widely shared by other users as can be seen here, here, 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 led to a news report published by US news outlet CNN on September 18, 2024, titled “Ukraine claims to have destroyed large Russian ammunition depot in overnight drone attack.”

The report included a video featuring identical visuals to those seen in the viral clip.

According to the news report, a Ukrainian drone strike targeted a major Russian weapons depot in the city of Toropets, located in the Tver region. The depot, reportedly used to store Iskander and Tochka-U missile systems along with other ammunition, was operated by Russia’s defence ministry. The overnight attack caused a massive explosion and fire, prompting evacuations and raising concerns about Russia’s missile capabilities. Ukraine described the strike as part of a deliberate effort to reduce Russia’s military strength.

The same video was also featured in a news report by British outlet Metro on September 19, 2024, titled: “Putin’s ‘impenetrable’ arms depot taken out in huge mushroom cloud blast”.

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 September 2024, when a Ukrainian drone strike destroyed an ammunition depot in Russia.

Evidence and References

September 18, 2024, CNN news story:
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/18/europe/ukraine-russian-weapons-depot-drone-attack-intl

September 19, 2024, Metro news story:
https://metro.co.uk/2024/09/19/putins-impenetrable-arms-depot-taken-huge-mushroom-cloud-blast-21634408/