Video shared in January 2025 as fireworks in Berlin now viral as visuals from Israel-Iran airstrikes

by Oishani Bhattacharya

A seven-second-long clip showing an explosion near a building is viral on social media in the context of the recent escalation of tensions between Iran and Israel.

Israel on June 13 launched blistering attacks on Iran’s nuclear and military structures from warplanes and drones killing at least 78 people including generals, scientists and civilians. Iran retaliated with long-range missiles targeting Tel Aviv, wounding at least 34 people, according to Israel’s paramedic services.

X user @RoyalIntel_ shared the video in question on June 14 with the following caption: “UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL FROM IRAN”, seemingly stating that the clip depicts Iran’s strikes on Israel. At the time of writing this report, the post has received close to 1 Lakh views. (Archive)

An Instagram user, @haitham_alwakeel, posted the same video on June 14, claiming that the visuals were from Israel’s Tel Aviv.

Several other users shared the same video, claiming that it showed Iran’s attack on Israel. Below are a few instances.

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Fact Check

After breaking down the video into several keyframes, we ran a reverse image search on a few of them. This led us to an Instagram post from January 2 by the page @inner.journey.diaries. The post, or a reel, shared by this page consisted of the same video clip, which is now viral as visuals from Israel. The caption of the post further mentions, “Average fireworks in Berlin”, indicating that the visuals are from Berlin, Germany.

Taking a cue from here, we ran a relevant keyword search and found several other posts from the first week of January which carried the viral clip and mentioned that the visuals were from Berlin.

Another Instagram page, @berlindeyiz.de, also posted the viral clip on January 1 and mentioned in the caption, “Here are some very unusual scenes from Berlin..  New Year’s celebrations are one of the most eagerly anticipated times in Berlin. However, with each passing year, these celebrations open the door to greater problems and cause serious damage in many areas. Buses, buildings, garbage containers, and many other things are affected by fireworks. We hope that the coming years will bring fewer problems.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Berlindeyiz (@berlindeyiz.de)

We also came across a report on the website etemadonline.com from January 3, which carried the viral video, and the headline said that a suspicious package exploded in front of one of the police stations in Berlin. The report further mentioned that the Berlin Police Department has issued a statement saying that two officers were injured as a result of an explosion that happened in front of one of the police stations.

We found a statement posted by Berlin police on their official X handle at 3:26 am IST on January 3. The statement in German could be translated as, “This evening, around 8:20 PM, a serious security incident occurred at the fence of our Police Precinct 12 in #Wittenau, during which a female and a male colleague were partially seriously injured while on a routine security patrol. According to initial investigations, an as-yet unidentified object detonated, causing the male officer to suffer serious injuries to his face and eye. His female colleague sustained acoustic trauma. Both are currently receiving medical treatment. Our #CriminalPolice are investigating, and the crime scene is currently being examined”.

Further, we found several news reports which state that this time the New Year’s celebrations in Berlin went too far, the use of fireworks turned violent, injuring several.

We have reached out to the Berlin police via email requesting confirmation from them about the location of the viral video. This report will be updated if and when we receive a response.

To sum up, the claims connecting the viral clip with the present military escalation between Iran and Israel are false. According to multiple social media posts and some reports, the incident is from January 2025 in Berlin.

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