Amid the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict, a video circulating on social media claims to depict an Iranian attack on a U.S. warship.
Watch the video circulated on Facebook with this claim here (archive).
Fact-check
Rumor Scanner Team’s investigation found that the ships shown in the video engulfed in flames are not American warships. Rather, a video of a fire caused by the collision of two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz is being circulated in connection with the claim.
In this investigation, reverse image searches of several key frames from the video led to a video published on June 17, 2025, on the YouTube channel of Azerbaijani media outlet “Kanal13,” titled A tanker belonging to Russian shadow fleet crashes in the Gulf of Omam. A segment from 3 seconds to 1 minute 18 seconds of that report matches the footage used in the video shared with the claim.
A keyword search led to a Reuters report published on June 17, 2025, titled Two oil tankers collide, catch fire near Strait of Hormuz. The report states that two oil tankers collided near the Strait of Hormuz on June 17, resulting in a fire. The ongoing Iran–Israel conflict has caused increased electronic interference in the region, affecting navigation systems. Despite the collision, no crew members were injured, and no oil spillage occurred. The Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime route between Iran and Oman, handles about one-fifth of global seaborne oil transport. The UAE Coast Guard rescued 24 people from a vessel named Adalynn and transported them to Khor Fakkan port, located 24 nautical miles off the UAE’s eastern coast. The shipping company Frontline stated that the incident would be investigated, though no evidence of external interference was found.
At the time, various international media outlets reported the same incident with similar information, including: Gulf Today, The Sun, and GB News
Conclusion
Therefore, footage of a fire caused by a collision between two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz has been falsely circulated as footage of an Iranian attack on a U.S. warship amid the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict. This claim is false.
Sources
- Kanal13 – A tanker belonging to Russian shadow fleet crashes in the Gulf of Omam
- Reuters – Two oil tankers collide, catch fire nTwo oil tankers collide, catch fire near Strait of Hormuzear Strait of Hormuz
