Video of 2015 China explosions misrepresented as US strike on Iran
- Published on July 15, 2026 at 22:17
- 1 min read
- By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA
Hostilities between the United States and Iran have mounted in July 2026 as disagreements over the Strait of Hormuz jeopardize efforts to cease fighting, but online claims that a video shows huge explosions triggered by US strikes in the city of Bushehr are false. The footage -- which is frequently misrepresented -- comes from 2015 chemical blasts in Tianjin, China.
"STUNNING video show the moment a MASSIVE explosion rocks the Iranian city of Bushehr during U.S. airstrikes last night," says a July 13, 2026 post sharing the striking visuals of a series of fiery explosions on X. "President Trump is NOT playing games!"
Similar posts appeared across X and other platforms as fighting between the United States and Iran surged to a scale unseen since the implementation of an April ceasefire, with President Donald Trump ordering a reimposition of its blockade of Iran's ports.
The renewed attacks on Iran have included targets in Bushehr, which hosts Iran's only civilian nuclear power plant, according to local authorities.
But the footage of massive explosions is unrelated.
AFP has previously debunked posts that have misrepresented the same scene as coming from Ukraine after Russia invaded in 2022, from an earlier US-Israeli operation against Iran in 2025, and from the opening days of the Middle East war following February 28 strikes that killed Iran's leader.
Reverse image searches surfaced the same footage in reports from August 2015 documenting a series of explosions in Tianjin, China (archived here and here). The reports said a warehouse handling hazardous goods caught fire, triggering enormous blasts that killed dozens of people and injured hundreds.
AFP also published footage of the explosions at the time.
AFP has debunked other misinformation about Iran here.
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