Fact Check: Is viral video showing CIA headquarters in Dubai under attack by Iran real?

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Following the tensions in the Middle East, which escalated into the US and Israel exchanging missile strikes with Iran, a video has been making rounds on social media platforms, claiming to show CIA headquarters in Dubai on fire after an attack by Iran. Let us examine and fact-check the viral video, which many believe to be authentic.

Claim: Video shows fire at CIA headquarters in Dubai 

Following the missile strikes that killed Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Islamic Republic unleashed a set of retaliatory strikes on Israel and US bases in the Middle East, following which the video emerged, claiming to show the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) headquarters in Dubai under fire after an attack from Iran.

In the viral clip, a tall skyscraper appears to be burning with thick smoke rising from the structure.

Many shared the video on social media, claiming it was real, while a few others expressed skepticism about it.

Fact Check: False, video clip is from 2015

Although the clip is real, the claim is found to be false, and is shared with the claim that it is related to the recent attacks in Dubai.

A reverse image search for the keyframes from the viral video leads to several news reports from 2025, indicating that the footage is from 2015, showing a skyscraper on fire in Sharjah.

The same video was published on The National News YouTube channel on October 1, 2015, with the description stating that a building caught fire on King Faisal Road in Sharjah and that residents were evacuated by the authorities.

Both videos show a tall building with blue-tinted glass walls on fire beside a smaller structure, and comparing the keyframes of both clips shows that it is from the same incident.

Although several reports and social media speculation suggested that a CIA headquarters in Dubai was struck during the Iranian attacks, no major news agencies or government statements have confirmed that any CIA facility was hit.

Iran intensifies attack after Ali Khamenei killed in US-Israel strike

The attack from Iran intensified after Khamenei was killed following a devastating joint military operation launched by the United States and Israel.

Amit Segal, chief political analyst at Israel’s N12 News, reported that senior officials were informed of the dictator's elimination after his body was recovered from the ruins of his palace.

Documentation of the recovery has reportedly been presented to the Israeli Prime Minister. The confirmation follows a high-stakes night of 'major combat operations' announced by President Donald Trump.

While Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi initially claimed both Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were alive, Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter has since informed US officials that the Supreme Leader was killed during the targeted strike on his compound.