Fact Check: Clip shows 2015 China explosions, not 2025 Iranian attacks on Israel
Footage of two nighttime explosions in the northeastern Chinese city of Tianjin in 2015 has been falsely described by social media users as showing an Iranian strike on the port of Haifa, Israel, during aerial battles between the two regional rivals.
Israel began attacking Iran on June 13, saying it aimed to prevent the country from developing nuclear weapons. Iran has since retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israel, and says its nuclear programme is peaceful.
"BREAKING: The blast at Haifa Port is set to be remembered in history as one of Iran's most lethal and strategically devastating strikes," a June 14 X post, opens new tab with 1.6 million views captioned the 48-second clip, which shows a large fireball followed by two explosions. On the night of June 15 an Iranian missile barrage struck a residential street in Haifa, which the national emergency services said injured nine people.
On June 16, Israel's Haifa-based Bazan Group said it closed its power station in Haifa Bay after it was significantly damaged by an Iranian attack on June 15, opens new tab, resulting in the death of three employees.
Some Facebook posts, opens new tab falsely described the video as showing Tel Aviv, which has also been hit by Iranian strikes since June 13.
However, the video was filmed in 2015 and shows explosions in Tianjin's industrial zone.
The BBC posted the same video to YouTube, opens new tab and its website, opens new tab on August 14, 2015.
Reuters reported that two enormous explosions on August 12, 2015, ripped through an industrial area in the port city where toxic gas and chemicals were stored, killing 173 people, opens new tab.
Miscaptioned. The clip shows explosions in an industrial area of China's northeastern city of Tianjin in 2015.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work.
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