WHAT WAS CLAIMED
A video shows a US ship on fire following an Iranian attack.
OUR VERDICT
False. The video shows a boat on fire in Australia.
AAP FACTCHECK - Pro-Iranian accounts are falsely claiming that a video shows flames engulfing a US ship after an attack.
In fact, the footage shows a boat fire near the mouth of the Hawkesbury River, north of Sydney.
"Iran has just attacked a US ship, it is clearly visible, it is completely on fire and many ships have been targeted," a Facebook post sharing the video reads.
This claim was also made in posts sharing the clip on Instagram and X, where it appears to have originated from an account called "Iran time" on March 17.
The account's bio states it is an "Iran News Group" located in the country's capital, Tehran, however the "About this account" section states it is operated from Saudi Arabia.
It currently posts exclusively about the ongoing war to its more than 180,000 followers with a pro-Iran bent.
However, a reverse image search of frames from the boat fire video reveals it is unrelated to the war in the Middle East.
Instead, it shows a luxury boat that caught fire north of Pittwater on March 16, according to 7News footage.
7News reported those on board were rescued by a passing vessel before the boat capsized.
NSW police believe the fire started in the engine bay, the Manly Observer reported.
The footage shared in the false claims is from SKYview Aerial Photography, based in Sydney.
Iran claimed early in the conflict that it had struck a US aircraft carrier with a missile, but US officials rejected the assertion, and there have been no independently verified reports of any successful Iranian attacks on US naval vessels in the region since.
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