CLAIM:
Viral video shows US bombing of Iran’s Bandar Abbas port city
RATING JUSTIFICATION:
The iVerify Pakistan team investigated this content and determined that it is misleading.
To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan conducted a keyword search and a reverse image search to trace the original video.
Multiple users, including journalists and Indian propaganda accounts, shared a video on social media platform X on May 8, 2026, claiming it showed aerial strikes by the United States on the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas. However, the footage is from March 25 and shows a US airstrike at Qazvin city in Iran.
US and Israeli forces launched the war against Iran on February 28, 2026, 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 remain unresolved.
On May 7, 2026, the US military carried out strikes on Iran’s Qeshm port and Bandar Abbas. The strikes took place as the US awaited Iran’s response to a proposal that would halt fighting between the two countries but leave the most contentious issues, such as Iran’s nuclear programme, unresolved for now.
Iran described the flare-up as an “exchange of fire” between Iranian armed forces and the “enemy”, adding that its armed forces “immediately responded” by attacking US military vessels and inflicting “significant damage”.
On the other hand, Trump confirmed that three US naval destroyers in the strait were attacked, but were not damaged. He further stated that “great damage” was done to the Iranian attackers.
The ceasefire and the US blockade of Iran remain in place, the US president added.
HOW IT STARTED
On May 8, a UK-based account with a history of posting right-wing content shared a video on X showing a missile strike as fighter jets could be heard in the background.
“First footage of a massive explosion after a US strike on Bandar Abbas, Iran. The US hit regime assets following IRGC attacks on American warships that escalated the Strait of Hormuz crisis. God bless America. Free Iran,” reads the caption.
The post gained more than 255,000 views.
Fox News host and conservative American podcaster Mark Levin also shared the video with the caption: “More!”
His post gained more than 93,000 views.
An Indian propaganda account known to have spread disinformation in the past shared the same video with the following caption: “Just in: Just a while ago, several huge explosions were heard in Bandar Abbas, port city of Iran.”
His post received more than 62,000 views.
A self-proclaimed activist interested in Lebanese and Arab affairs, as per their bio, shared the same video in a split-screen format alongside footage of a missile being fired by what appears to be an American ship.
The caption translates: “War has returned. The madness of American barges in the Strait of Hormuz.”
His post gained 51,000 views.
The same video was shared by various other users with similar claims, as can be seen here, here, here, here, here, and here, collectively gaining 88,298 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 crisis in the Middle East.
A reverse image search conducted to corroborate whether any mainstream international or Iranian media outlets had covered such a video in relation to the attacks yielded no results.
Instead, the same video was found to be shared on March 25, 2026, by Indian news outlet Republic World on its YouTube page, where the text on the video says: “Major strikes on Alborz Industrial City in Iran’s Qazvin.”
The same video was also shared by Arabic news outlet Al-Estiklal on its YouTube account, with the following caption: “US B-52 bombers strike weapons depots in the city of Qazvin, northwestern Iran.”
The same footage was also shared in a news package by a Bulgarian television channel, Bulgaria On Air, on March 31, 2026.
The video matches the opening visuals of the viral clip.
FACT-CHECK STATUS: MISLEADING
The claim that a viral video shows a US airstrike at Bandar Abbas in Iran is misleading.
Although a US strike did take place at Bandar Abbas, according to multiple news reports, the video in question is old and from another city in Iran.
EVIDENCE AND REFERENCES
March 25, 2026, Republic World YouTube short:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2_7F8eUIujE
March 25, 2026, Al Estiklal YouTube video
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bzc0P2pM6C8
March 31, 2026, Bulgaria On Air new article:
https://www.bgonair.bg/a/4-world/414388-tramp-e-gotov-za-kray-na-voynata-v-blizkiya-iztok-tsenata-na-petrola-rekordna