Iran Accuses Israel of False Flag Attacks on Gulf Energy Infrastructure: What You Need to Know
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Attack on Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery[Vantor/Reuters=Provided by Yonhap News][Vantor/Reuters=Provided by Yonhap News]
Iran’s military says some strikes on Gulf energy infrastructure were an Israeli false-flag operation intended to make the attacks appear to have been carried out by Tehran and to generate criticism of Iran.
The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Military Headquarters, which coordinates operations between Iran’s regular army (Artesh) and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said in a statement on the 19th that Israel has struck regional energy infrastructure and is trying to pin the blame on Iran.
Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesperson for Khatam al-Anbiya, warned that Iran’s forces will target any infrastructure linked to the United States or Israel and that Tehran will formally acknowledge responsibility and announce its actions publicly.
He said multiple reports indicate Israel is plotting strikes on regional energy infrastructure, including Saudi Aramco facilities, and that the intent is to carry out attacks and then falsely attribute them to Iran to sow discord among Middle Eastern countries.
After Israel struck Iran’s largest gas field, South Pars, on the 18th, Iran launched concentrated retaliatory strikes on energy facilities in Gulf oil-producing states. Iran’s military says the sites hit were joint ventures with U.S. companies or included U.S. equity stakes.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has pointed to a munition known as the Lucas suicide drone—deployed by the U.S. in the current conflict—as evidence supporting its false-flag claim.
The Lucas is an airstrike weapon reportedly reverse-engineered from the Iranian Shahed drone that U.S. forces recovered and disassembled years ago.
Because the Lucas closely resembles the Shahed and is difficult to distinguish on radar, Iran’s military says Israel could launch the drones from covert Gulf bases, strike energy facilities, and make the attacks look like they were carried out by Iran.
Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, on the 19th strongly rejected Iran’s claim that it targets only U.S.-linked energy facilities.
He condemned the strikes, saying the damaged Ras Laffan infrastructure is Qatar’s economic lifeline and a purely civilian facility that underpins global energy security, and that no rationale justifies labeling it a military target.
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Ji-yoon Lee (easyun@yna.co.kr)
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