Why we think the Tehran strike CCTV is genuinepublished at 16:00 British Summer Time

16:00 BST

Shayan Sardarizadeh & Emma Pengelly
BBC Verify

We’ve been analysing CCTV video of two blasts in Tehran on 15 June during the 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel.

The dramatic footage that was published by Iranian media yesterday was shared rapidly online. Shortly afterwards many raised questions about its authenticity.

Working with colleagues in BBC Persian, we’ve been analysing the video frame by frame. Our conclusion is the video is real, and here’s why we can say that.

First, the version that initially went viral was low quality and grainy, which explains why several inconsistencies were visible in the footage – for example, certain sections appeared blurred and ghost-like.

But a higher resolution version of the same footage was posted online later in the day which looked more authentic.

We also found multiple videos posted by Iranian social media users on 15 June showing the aftermath of both attacks. We’ve geolocated the initial explosion to a building on Bahonar Street in Tehran’s Tajrish district and the second, about 100m to the west, at a crossroads.

Aftermath videos filmed by Iranians showed significant damage to buildings and the street, with severe flooding at the crossroads junction, reportedly due to water pipe damage under the road. Iranian media also published images of repair work being carried out at the intersection of the second strike.

The video we’ve seen is by someone filming CCTV footage on another device. We found a photo from December 2022 which shows a surveillance camera in a position which would give us the same point of view.

We’ve also spoken to an expert at GetReal Security for their analysis on signs of AI manipulation. Professor Hany Farid told us that while the low resolution version did bring up questions, the clearer version made it easier to confirm the video is most likely legitimate.

A day after the attack the IDF said it had carried out several strikes on “command centers belonging to the Quds Force of the IRGC and the Iranian military” and shared a graphic of attack locations, external which included the neighbourhood Tajrish.

We’ve confirmed that a number of civilians were killed in the strikes and continue to work to confirm identities.