Claim: A video shows an Iranian retaliatory strike on a US base in Saudi Arabia when the war broke out on 28 February.
Fact: The video is old and unrelated to the current conflict. It appeared online in July 2024, with posts linking it to a massive fire at Hodeidah port in Yemen after Israeli strikes.
On 28 February, a Facebook user posted a video apparently showing a US base in Saudi Arabia attacked by Iran.
The caption of the post says: “Iran destroyed the US airbase in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. However, Iran did launch missiles at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in retaliation for US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. The attack code named Operation Fateh Khaiber.”
US-Israel war with Iran
The US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, targeting multiple sites on 28 February. The strikes killed former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other Iranian officials and military figures. Mojtaba Khamenei replaced his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Iran’s supreme leader.
In response, Iran launched multiple strikes on Israel and Gulf states, including Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait and others, some of which host US bases in the region. The war has entered its third week, with no end in sight. Since the war began, Iran also closed the Strait of Hormuz — an important maritime passageway through which approximately 20% of the world’s oil supply transits — disrupting the global oil supply. Oil prices have soared since the closure of the passageway.
At least 1,351 people have been killed in Iran as of 16 March, including approximately 207 children, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). Notably, a strike on a girl’s school in Minab, Iran, killed 168 people, most of them children, on 28 February.
Growing evidence and investigations by Bellingcat, CNN, The New York Times suggest that the US is responsible for targeting an area where an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) base is located, adjacent to a girl’s school in Minab, Iran. The video released by Mehr News Agency on 8 March, and reviewed by the aforementioned news organisations revealed smoke was rising from the school already and targeted around the same time, when a US Tomahawk missile struck the IRGC facility.
At least 13 US service members have also been killed. BBC, citing Israeli authorities, reported that “14 people – all civilians – had been killed by missile fire since the start of the war.”
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched keyframes from the video and found that it is unrelated to the ongoing war.
An X handle posted this same video (archive) on 20 July 2024 with the following caption: “The Hudaydah Port, Yemen is under attack and hundreds of civilians have been killed.”
Left: Video circulating online. Right: Same video on X from 20 July 2024.
A YouTube channel AIC HDTV also posted a video with the title [translated from Arabic into English], “New footage of Israeli airstrikes on the port of #Hodeidah” on 20 July 2024. The scenes in this clip also match the video being fact-checked, confirming that it is unrelated to the ongoing war.
At the time, Israel conducted airstrikes on Hodeidah, the port city of Yemen, a day after an attack by the Houthi group on Tel Aviv.
Moreover, footage of the same incident available on Shutterstock’s website, which shows various scenes of the massive fire, matches the video being fact-checked at 0:45.
An Indian news platform NEWS9 Live also published a video montage on the fire following Israeli airstrikes on Hodeidah. At timestamp 0:45, the scene matches a keyframe from the video in the claim, confirming that it is old.
It is pertinent to note that drones were intercepted, and debris caused a fire at the Ras Tanura oil refinery in Saudi Arabia on 2 March. An Iranian attack on the Prince Sultan airbase, which houses US military assets reportedly occurred since the war began on 28 February, according to a New York Times report. It included analysis of satellite imagery from the attack, and quoted the IRGC as saying that they had targeted the base.
Furthermore, reports of damages from Iranian attacks or attempted missile strikes that were intercepted targeting Prince Sultan airbase in Saudi Arabia have continued to emerge.
Therefore, this article only fact-checks the video, and not the claim about Iran attacking a US airbase in Saudi Arabia.
Virality
The post was shared on Instagram here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
On Facebook, it appeared here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
On X, the footage appeared here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The video does not show any recent strike by Iran on a US base in Saudi Arabia. It is old and appeared online in July 2024, with posts and online platforms linking it to a fire following Israeli airstrikes on Hodeidah port in Yemen.
Background image in cover photo: Anadolu Agency
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com