A video showing a massive fire with towering flames and thick black smoke coming from a large building has gone viral on social media. In the video, we can also see cars moving on the street while we can hear people shouting.
The video is shared with a caption suggesting that it shows Iranian missiles targeting the US Consulate in Qatar.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “Officially, the US consulate in Qatar is out of service after the Iranian bombing that completely destroyed it.”
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The viral video is from a 2025 gas station fire in Syria.
On a Google reverse image search, we found that the same video was shared by a Syrian X handle, @SyriawatanNews, on April 23, 2025. The video was shared with a caption that reads, “A massive fire in the city of #AlBab in the countryside of #EasternAleppo is believed to be at a gas station.”
Since the video is from last year, we can ascertain that it is not of any recent incident that might have happened amid the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.
Using this information, we searched with relevant keywords and found that a screenshot of the same incident was broadcast on a YouTube channel named ‘Smart multimedia’. We compared the viral video with the video on the YouTube channel and found them to be the same. We can see a signboard of a shop named ‘شام للديكور’ in both videos.
Moreover, an advertisement video for the same shop, found on a Facebook account, lists its address as Al-Bab city, Ring Road, opposite the Al-Baushi Mosque, next to the Al-Bab petrol pump
We further found that the post was shared by Alfajr Newspaper, which reported about the same incident. It said a gas explosion in the city of Al-Bab in northern Syria left at least 28 people injured. It took the authorities more than three hours to bring the flames under control after they had spread to adjacent buildings.
Based on this information, we can ascertain that the viral claim is false.
Has Iran attacked the US Consulate?
The video is being shared amid heightened tensions following US-Israeli strikes on Iran starting February 28.
Iran has launched retaliatory missile attacks on US bases in the Middle East. However, the viral footage has no connection to any of these events. Also, on August 1, the US Embassy in Doha issued a security alert. The embassy remained under ordered departure status, meaning non-emergency US government personnel had been relocated outside Qatar.
However, we found no confirmed reports of the attack.
