Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya central command has accused the United States and Israel of deploying imitation versions of Iranian Shahed drones in order to blame Tehran for attacks across the region.

In a statement carried by state broadcaster IRIB, the command said a drone known as the Lucas had been used in recent strikes on sites in neighbouring and friendly countries, including Turkiye, Kuwait and Iraq, before those attacks were falsely attributed to Iranian forces.

It said the purpose of the alleged tactic was to discredit what it described as Iran’s lawful and defensive military actions, while also driving a wedge between Tehran and countries in the region.

The command insisted Iran only strikes American and Israeli targets, interests and facilities, and said it would publicly acknowledge any attack carried out by its own forces through an official announcement.