Video shows fires at Iranian oil warehouses after Israel strikes, rather than fires at Haifa refinery
After Iran launches missiles As Israeli cities retaliate against strikes in nuclear and military facilities, a video of the fire began to falsely claim that it showed that Israel’s Haifa refinery was radiating after an attack on Iran. In fact, the video shows the consequences of a strike at an oil warehouse in northwest Tehran.
“The video confirms Iran's attack on Israel's largest energy facility,” Thai Language X Post wrote in a section shared on June 16, 2025.
“This refinery is Israel's strategic energy heart, producing 9 million tons of fuel per year. The Iranian attack will affect the energy supply of Israeli military and civilians.”
The attached 22-second video shows that the courtyard burns on fire as thick black smoke rolls into the night sky. You can see the city in the backstage.
Screenshot of False X Post, captured on June 18, 2025
The same footage was shared in similar Thai posts on Facebook and Tiktok.
The posts emerged after Tehran launched a June 13 strike on Israel's strike against its nuclear and military facilities and bounced missiles and drones with resilience (archived here and here).
The Arch enemy continues to trade shoots in the most intense confrontation in history, which has heightened concerns about the fascinating conflict that could sweep the Middle East.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office said on June 16 that at least 24 people have been killed and hundreds have been injured since Iran's retaliation strike. Iran said the day before that the Israeli strike killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.
Although Israeli officials confirmed that an oil refinery in the coastal city of Haifa was hit by an Iranian missile on June 15, the video actually showed an Iranian oil warehouse after the Israeli strike (archived here and here).
Shahran Oil Warehouse
Reverse image search using keyframes of wrongly shared videos resulted in clips (archive links) released by Iranian users on June 15.
Its Persian title shows that it shows Shahran oil warehouse.
Similar lenses It also appears in a YouTube video posted by Forbes, titled “Original Video: Shahran Oil Depot in Tehran, Iran, hit by an Israeli strike” (archive link).
The video is credited to the contributor through the Getty Image (archive link).
It is title On Getty Images website, the website partially read: “After Israel's attack on Shahran oil warehouse, the Shahran oil warehouse was attacked in Tehran, Iran on June 15, 2025.”
Comparison of screenshots of fake shared videos (left) and Getty Images distributed videos (right)
Iran's oil ministry said two warehouses, including Sharan, were hit (a link to archive).
A reporter from AFP caught fire in Shahran and the AFP video showed Blaze (a link to archive).
Elements of fake shared videos – including large fuel tanks, hilly terrain and nearby downtown – also match Shahran Depot’s Google Maps Imager (archive link).
Screenshot of Google Maps image of Shahran oil warehouse in northwest Tehran
AFP also debunked several other false claims related to the Iran-Israel conflict.
