A viral video is being widely shared on social media falsely claiming that Iran has attacked Israel's Home Ministry building. The footage shows large flames engulfing a building by a river, leading to widespread confusion.
However, BOOM found that the video is originally from Khujand, Tajikistan. The fire occurred at a restaurant called Yakkasaroy on June 19, 2025.
After 12 days of intense airstrikes between Iran and Israel, US President Donald Trump announced on June 23 that the two countries had reached a ceasefire agreement.
The Claim
Several social media users shared the video on X and Facebook, falsely claiming it showed an Iranian attack on Israel’s Home Ministry.
In a video report, Zee News also used visuals from the viral footage, incorrectly reporting that Iran had blown up the Israeli Home Ministry. (Archive link)
What We Found: Unrelated video
BOOM ran a reverse image search using related keywords and traced the viral video to an Instagram account named ParvizTV, where it was shared on June 20, 2025. The video was captioned in Tajik and described a fire at the "Yakkasaroy" restaurant in Khujand city, Tajikistan.
1. Video is from Tajikistan
We then ran a search using related keywords in Tajik, which led us to several posts on Facebook and Instagram featuring visuals similar to the viral video. Find it here, here and here.
These posts also described a fire that broke out on June 19, 2025, at the Yakkasaroy restaurant, located on the banks of the Syr Darya river in Khujand city. The same location and incident details were also shown in a vlog uploaded to a YouTube channel on June 19, 2025.
2. News Reports Confirm a Fire in Khujand
Additionally, we also found several news reports confirming the incident. According to an Asia-Plus report, a massive fire broke out at the Yakkasaroy restaurant in Khujand on the evening of June 19. The restaurant, previously known as Temurmalik, was engulfed in flames. In an off-the-record conversation with Asia-Plus, a fire service employee revealed that the fire was caused by smoldering coal from a barbecue grill, which had been carelessly discarded near the wood.
3. Location Confirmed on Google Maps
A structure resembling the one in the viral video can be identified on Google Maps' Street View, as well as in existing photos of the Yakkasaroy restaurant.
Additionally, we verified that the images of Israel's Home Ministry on Google Maps do not match the visuals in the viral video.
