Claim: A video shows Iranian boats preventing the US warships from passing through the Strait of Hormuz in April 2026.
Fact: The video is not connected to recent events. It appeared online as early as 20 June 2022, and likely shows Iranian speedboats approaching US Navy vessels at the time.
On 12 April, a Facebook user posted a video apparently showing Iran preventing US warships from crossing the Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime route through which approximately 20% of the world’s oil supply passes. The post claimed [translated from Urdu into English]: “It has begun: Iran is not allowing two large American warships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz…”
The video was also posted by Pakistani users here and here.
The US imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf after the two sides failed to reach an agreement during peace talks held in Islamabad on 11 April.
In response, Iran warned of retaliation on the ports of the US-allied countries in the Gulf.
Peace talks held between the US and Iran in Pakistan ended without the warring sides reaching a deal.
These negotiations were held during the two-week ceasefire brokered between the countries, announced on 7 April, that brought a temporary end to the almost month-long Israel-US war with Iran.
The claim linking the video to the Strait of Hormuz went viral after the failed talks were held between the US and Iran.
Fact or Fiction?
Reverse-searching keyframes from the video reveals that it appeared online nearly four years ago, hence it is not related to the recent events.
Radio Farda’s YouTube channel features the same clip on 22 June 2022 at the beginning of the video report, titled [translated from Persian into English], “The Islamic Republic has plans for ‘Ferdow’ again!” The original report can be found on its website here. This indicated that the clip was not connected to the recent events amid the US blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.
CNN (Spanish) also featured the exact footage in its report “Video shows Iranian boats challenging US Navy ships,” on 21 June 2022.
On the left is a scene from the Facebook post shared on 12 April that matches the CNN video from 21 June 2022.
Moreover, the same scenes also appear in this longer video, “Iranian Fast Boats Harass U.S. Warships in Strait of Hormuz” by the YouTube channel “USNI News Video” on 21 June 2022. The description of the video said it showed moments when Iranian boats approached two US vessels, “USS Sirocco (PC-6) and Spearhead-class USNS Choctaw County (T-EPF-2)”.
Another YouTube channel posted the same clip on 21 June 2022 titled “Iranian vessel approaches US Warships”. “Three vessels from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) interacted in an unsafe and unprofessional manner as U.S. Navy ships transited the Strait of Hormuz, June 20, 2022,” the description reads.
Furthermore, keyword searches returned a report by The War Zone (TWZ), a defense news platform, titled “Navy Patrol Ship Had Hostile Encounter With Iranian Boats In Strait Of Hormuz” on 21 June 2022. This article carried a video of the same incident, also published on its YouTube channel.
The title of the above YouTube clip, “DOD 109066876 (IRGCN incident Persian Gulf July 20th, 2022)”, contained key information that indicated the origins of the footage, including the file name “DOD 109066876”.
Simply entering this information into Google led Soch Fact Check to the original clip uploaded by Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) on its website on 20 June 2022. DVIDS is an operation run by the Department of War Information Activity (DWIA), connecting media around the world with the military, according to its website.
The description stated that the Iranian vessels supposedly operated in an “unsafe and unprofessional manner in close proximity to patrol coastal ship USS Sirocco (PC 6) and expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Choctaw County (T-EPF 2) in the Strait of Hormuz, June 20.”
Soch Fact Check therefore rates the claim as false.
Virality
The video was shared on Facebook here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here.
It was also shared on Instagram here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here.
Conclusion: The video, supposedly of Iran intercepting US war vessels, is not linked to recent tensions in the Persian Gulf in April 2026. It appeared on 20 June 2022, and shows Iranian speedboats approaching US Navy vessels at the time.
Background image in cover photo: Wikipedia
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