A video circulating on Facebook claims to show a combination of three scenarios: the Burj Khalifa, a megatall skyscraper in Dubai, falling; people in Iran panicking; and a jet missile attack on a military truck in a desert.
All three scenarios were fabricated using artificial intelligence, falsely depicting the current conflict and tensions between Iran and the United Arab Emirates following the US-Israeli attack on Iran’s military and its leaders last Saturday.
The posted video by an FB user on March 1 has a caption:
“Pinsala sa Dubai at kawawa manga tao sa İn IRAN
(Damage in Dubai and the people in Iran are in a pitiful state).”
VERA Files points out the red flags in the video and shares results from an AI-detection tool.
The video contained several red flags suggesting it was fake:
- The Burj Khalifa tilts and falls in one piece like a rigid pole, which is not how real structural collapses work.
- No dust cloud or debris during the tilt phase. A real collapse of that scale would immediately generate massive debris and dust before it even hits the ground.
- The surrounding city looks completely undisturbed while the tilt is happening.
- The audio suggests that people are panicking, but the video shows otherwise.
- The woman holding a phone in the second clip appears to have no face, and the phone itself looks distorted.
- The flags supposedly representing Iran appear in different sizes and are shown in blue in some parts of the video. The colors of Iran’s flag are green, white and red.
- The missile trails, explosions and trucks all have an unnaturally smooth, over-rendered quality typical of AI-generated footage.
- The trucks and the explosions don’t share the same light source or shadow direction.
- The fireballs and smoke are too bright, too round, and too evenly spaced, resembling video game graphics.
Results from the Hive Moderation AI detector flagged the circulating video as 99.8% likely to be AI-generated.
The Burj Khalifa has not collapsed. However, it was evacuated for precautionary measures. While the skyscraper was not hit, smoke was visible nearby due to interceptions occurring in the downtown district.
Falling debris from these interceptions caused minor damage elsewhere in the city, including a small fire on the facade of the Burj Al Arab hotel and debris falling in residential areas.
Meanwhile, no credible news source reported the supposed missile strike in the last part of the fabricated video.
Backstory
The attacks on Dubai stemmed from Operation Epic Fury, a joint U.S.-Israeli offensive launched on Feb. 28, which struck Iran’s nuclear sites, military infrastructure and leadership, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In retaliation, Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel and the Gulf states hosting U.S. military assets.
Dubai was targeted due to the presence of the U.S.-linked facilities, including Jebel Ali Port and Al Minhad Air Base.
The fabricated video appears to have been deliberately created to exploit the ongoing conflict and spread panic and misinformation about the actual extent of damage in Dubai and Iran. The Dubai Media Office warned the public not to circulate old or misleading videos, urging people to rely only on official updates.
As of writing, the fake video posted by an FB user garnered 2,000 reactions; 215 comments; and 679 shares.
