Fact check: Viral video does not show Yemeni rocket attacks in Saudi Arabia's Najran

Several social media users have been sharing a video montage on X since September 14, 2026, claiming it shows massive rocket attacks launched from Yemen, striking Najran, Saudi Arabia. However, the montage consists of old and unrelated clips. Houthi attacks have recently disrupted operations at energy facilities in Saudi Arabia as the conflict in the Middle East drags on and continues to involve other countries apart from Iran and the United States. Saudi authorities said the attacks targeted sites in Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran and injured 73 people. How it started On September 14, a user on X shared a video claiming it showed a massive rocket launched from Yemen striking Najran, Saudi Arabia. The video begins with a rocket or missile over an urban area before cutting to a man running through the streets alongside several other people as an emergency siren sounds in the background. It then switches to a highly zoomed-in scene showing what appears to be rocket or missile attacks on an area with buildings. The caption of the post read: “A Russian tourist in Saudi Arabia documents the fall of a massive rocket that generates a huge explosion coming from Yemen, then resorts to running, fleeing, and taking shelter in the nearest shopping centre in Najran, which is ablaze. Saudi Arabia is now at the mercy of Yemeni missiles.” The post accumulated 708,000 views. Another account, which appeared to be pro-UAE based on its past posts, shared the same video with the same caption in Arabic. The post received 113,000 views. Another user shared the same video with a similar claim, gaining 67,000 views. Similarly, an X handle that described itself as a news aggregator, listed under the platform’s “Media & News” professional category, and gave its location as Türkiye, shared the same video with a similar claim in Turkish. The post received 26,000 views. Several other social media users also shared the same video on X with similar claims, as seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here; collectively accumulating more than 79,000 views. Methodology A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its high virality and keen public interest in the recent attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on Saudi Arabia. The viral video is a compilation of three different clips. A reverse image search of the first clip yielded the official Instagram page of Seoul Moon Mall in Uzbekistan, the same mall seen in the viral clip. Comparing the viral clip with visuals of the mall from an Instagram post showed similar buildings on both sides of the artificial waterway.         View this post on Instagram                       The same pole was also visible in both visuals. A reverse image search on the second clip, which starts from the six to 32-second marks, yielded the same clip from an Iranian media outlet, Aparat, dated June 15, 2026, with the following title: “The horror of child killers and scenes they have never seen before in their lives.” In the video, the same man can be seen running away after hearing a missile attack. A further reverse image search yielded a Facebook post by Indian politician Vikar Rasool Wani, dated June 16, 2026, featuring the second clip of the viral video, from the 0:00 to the 0:16 mark. https://www.facebook.com/Vikar.rasool.wani.official/videos/dajal-benjamin-netanyahu-killer-of-innocent-people-in-gaza-palestine-mostly-chil/1050163860516848/ The caption of the post read, “Benjamin Netanyahu, killer of innocent people in Gaza (Palestine), mostly children, is now experiencing the same destruction in his own country, Israel, due to Iran’s missile attacks.” A keyword search on Iran’s missile attack on Israel yielded the second clip from Newsflare, a global video news community, dated October 1, 2024, and titled: “Iran launches ballistic missile attack on Israel, sirens sound as citizens run for cover”. Further keyword search yielded a news report from Al Jazeera, dated October 1, 2024, with the following headline: “Iran’s missile attack against Israel: What we know and what comes next” According to the report, Iran launched an unprecedented attack against Israel, firing a barrage of missiles at the country in the latest escalation after weeks of soaring violence and tensions in the region. The original context of the third clip of the viral video, starting at the 34-second mark, could not be conclusively determined. However, the clip has been used in similar montages before and thus confirms it does not show any recent Yemeni attacks on Saudi Arabia. A reverse image search yielded a Facebook post, dated June 15, 2025, with the following caption: “Breaking news: ‘Iran the hell has opened for the world, ISR has burned missiles and drones like rain.’“ Further reverse image search yielded a YouTube short video, dated March 2, 2026, with the following caption: “Iran launches new wave of missiles against Israel.” Fact-check status: false The claim that a viral video shows Yemeni rockets striking Najran, Saudi Arabia, is false. The video is a compilation of three old and unrelated clips. This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.