The "Lucas" deception: Iranian military claims US and Israel are using fake Shahed drones to frame Tehran

In an official statement released today, a spokesman for the IRGC’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters accused the United States and Israel of resorting to deceptive tactics.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has accused the United States and Israel of conducting a false-flag campaign using a rebranded version of Iran’s Shahed-136 drone, state broadcaster Press TV reported on Sunday.

In an official statement released today, a spokesman for the IRGC’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters accused the United States and Israel of resorting to deceptive tactics. He alleged that Washington and Tel Aviv had deployed copies of Iran’s Shahed-136 drone against civilian infrastructure across the region in an attempt to deliberately frame the Islamic Republic.

The Iranian military further claimed that the two countries were seeking to “create doubt and accuse the Islamic Republic of Iran,” thereby sowing discord between Tehran and its neighbours.

According to the statement, Western media outlets and what it described as hostile entities have wrongly blamed Iranian forces for recent attacks in neighbouring countries such as Turkey, Kuwait and Iraq. The IRGC added that Iran assumes full responsibility for any location it targets and issues an official statement in such cases.

“As the Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly announced, it only targets the objectives, centres and interests of the United States and the Zionist regime, and assumes full responsibility for any location it targets by issuing an official statement,” Press TV quoted the spokesman as saying.

The report comes amid a series of drone strikes on residential areas and diplomatic sites throughout the conflict. Tehran has consistently denied involvement in attacks on non-military targets.

Press TV also cited earlier remarks by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who accused Israel of orchestrating drone strikes in Azerbaijan in an effort to undermine Tehran’s foreign relations. Similarly, Alireza Enayati, Iran’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, denied any Iranian involvement in an alleged strike on the U.S. embassy in Riyadh.

The latest reported incident involved a strike at the Lanaz refinery in Iraqi Kurdistan on Saturday. Iranian military sources said the attack was not linked to Iran or its allies.

Iran-Israel-US War

Now in its 16th day, the Iran-US-Israel war has caused widespread destruction across the region. Iranian state media and the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs report more than 2,000 casualties, most of them in Iran, including over 1,300 civilians.

The war began after Israel and the United States reportedly carried out a joint strike on Iran on February 28. Iranian sources claim the attack killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei along with several senior officials.

In response, Iran launched missile and drone attacks targeting US military installations and strategic facilities across West Asia, including in Iraq, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Iranian authorities later indicated that they would halt strikes on neighbouring states if their territories were not used for further attacks against Iran.

Separately, Press TV reported that the IRGC’s Public Relations Department had accused the United States and Israel of shifting their focus to civilian industries after failing to overcome Iran’s armed forces. Iranian officials said that several factories had been struck, resulting in casualties among workers.

According to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, more than 24,500 civilian structures have been damaged in US and Israeli bombardments. These reportedly include nearly 20,000 homes, 4,500 businesses and 69 schools, with at least 154 people killed and hundreds of students and teachers injured.

(With ANI inputs)