In an escalation late on June 21, US B-2 Spirit stealth bombers joined Israeli forces in a surprise strike on Iran's nuclear infrastructure, dropping massive bunker-buster bombs on Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan as part of what officials are calling Operation Midnight Hammer.

After an 18-hour covert mission, seven B-2s returned to Missouri, prompting the Pentagon to declare the operation a "spectacular military success." On June 23, Tehran launched retaliatory missile strikes against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

As news of the US strikes spread, social media platforms were quickly flooded with dramatic videos purporting to show the bombings. Many of these, however, are either digitally manipulated or falsely repurposed. DW Fact Check has investigated several of the viral clips.

Viral AI-generated video of explosion near a city has nothing to do with US bombing

Claim: "US missile hits Iran," wrote one TikTok user on a video that shows a massive explosion near or inside a city, with a mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke rising into the sky. Other versions of the same video have appeared across platforms like X and YouTube, reaching millions of users in different languages.

DW Fact Check: Fake

The video is generated with artificial intelligence, and has no connection to the actual US strike on nuclear sites in Iran. 

The earliest known source of the clip is a social media account that clearly states in its description that all of its content is AI-generated. A reverse image search of key frames shows the footage appeared online several days before the operation, with some posts then falsely claiming it depicted an Iranian missile strike on Israel.

There are multiple visual indicators that the video is not authentic. The glow from the explosion, for instance, fails to cast realistic light or reflections on nearby buildings or smoke. The urban layout features Soviet-style buildings, which are uncharacteristic of Iranian cities. Moreover, none of Iran's nuclear facilities targeted in the strike are located near large urban centers like the one depicted here.

Volcanic eruption video claims to show aftermath of US bombing in Iran

Claim: This video, which shows a massive pile of smoke allegedly rising from a nuclear site bombed by the US, has been shared on several platforms including TikTok, where a user has added the watermark "Good morning Iran from the B-2 Spirit." 

The video opens on a village road surrounded by dense greenery, then tilts upward to reveal a towering column of smoke. 

DW Fact Check: False

This footage is not related to any military activity. It shows a volcanic eruption in Indonesia. A reverse image search confirms the video first appeared online last week, and was part of broader coverage of the eruption. Numerous photos and videos of the same volcanic event can be found online.

The landscape is another giveaway. The road is bordered by tropical forest and the scene has nothing in common with the semi-arid, desert-like surroundings of Iran's nuclear facilities.

Videos claim to show B-2 bomber being shot down

Claim: Footage circulating on TikTok and YouTube on Monday morning claims to show an American B-2 stealth bomber being shot down over Iran during the US bombing raid on the Iranian nuclear facility at Fordo over the weekend. 

The video accrued over 70,000 views on a TikTok channel that has posted a dozen other clearly AI-generated videos before being deleted.

DW Fact Check: False

Both the footage and the claim are fake. Aside from the fact that the Pentagon officially confirmed on Sunday that all seven B-2s and their crews had returned safely, with major international news outlets including the BBC, CBS and The Associated Press carrying footage of their return, there are several aspects of the social media video which reveal it to be manipulated.

A reverse image search for various screenshots revealed that the same footage had earlier been uploaded to a YouTube channel along with the claim: "Iran shoots down US B-2 plane." A disclaimer, points out that the content is "altered or synthetic."

Other reverse image search results lead to a different video in which the zig-zagging flightpath taken by an anti-aircraft missile appears to be identical to that taken by the missile in the original video. This video featured a disclaimer pointing out: "This video is gaming footage, just for fun."

Indeed, a closer look at the original frames suggests that the air-defense system firing the missile is positioned on animated terrain and in a landscape which doesn't reflect the reality of what we know about the raid on Fordo. That raid took place in a mountainous location, not a grassy field, in the middle of the night, local time, not during daylight.

Out-of-context footage of US strikes on Fordo

Claim: Several videos have also been circulating on social media claiming to show the US strikes on Fordo or their aftermath, including here (1.5m views).

DW Fact Check: False

The video is real but has been taken out of context, and actually shows the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes on an oil depot in Shahran on the northern edge of Tehran earlier in June. The facility can be geolocated using the two large pylons visible both in the video and on Google Earth.

Furthermore, given the nature of the strike using 13,000-kilogram (30,000-pound) GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bombs, which are designed to penetrate up to 18 meters into concrete or 61 meters into normal earth before exploding on a delayed fuse, it is unlikely that a major explosion such as those depicted in the videos would even have been visible, even if there was footage. 

Reporting from the European Broadcasting Union's Eurovision News Spotlight was included in this article.

Adnan Sidibe contributed to this report. 

Edited by: Rachel Baig