Fact Check: Iranian airstrike on Dubai? No, old footage goes viral

Hyderabad: On February 28, explosions rocked Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah as waves of Iranian missiles targeted the UAE, authorities said. Drone debris also sparked a fire at the iconic Burj Al Arab, heightening fears of a wider regional escalation.

After the attack, a video surfaced on social media claiming to show Iranian airstrikes on Dubai. The video depicts a series of airstrikes hitting a city.

One user shared the video on X and wrote, “Dubai’s getting smoked by Iran ~ everything’s hitting.” (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false. An old video reportedly showing an Iranian attack on Israel was falsely linked to the recent Iranian attacks on Dubai.

Analysis of the video

A reverse image search on the keyframes of the viral clip revealed that the video dates to October 3, 2024. The video was published on YouTube from a channel named ‘Live from the Cockpit’ with the title - Tel Aviv video shows moment of Iranian missile attack #israel #iran #telaviv #warzone.

On further research, we found that the video was shared on Facebook on October 2, 2024. The caption of the Facebook post read, “TeL Aviv”.

The video was also shared on X on October 10, 2024, from a handle named Iran ‘Military Monitor’.

2024 Iranian attacks on Israel

According to a BBC report dated October 2, 2024, Iran launched more than 180 missiles towards Israel. Iranian state television claimed that 200 missiles were fired. The large-scale barrage was carried out on the evening of October 1, 2024.

Based on the evidence, we can confirm that the viral video dates to at least October 2024 and is unrelated to the ongoing conflict between the UAE and Iran. The video could be from the Iranian airstrikes carried out on Israel on October 1, 2024. However, we could not independently verify its origin.

Therefore, Newsmeter concludes that the viral claim is false.