Iran warns US drone range claims could signal “false-flag” operations

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei has dismissed claims that Iranian drones could reach the US West Coast, warning that such assertions may be intended to justify “false-flag” operations.

Baghaei accused “the regimes of Israel and the United States” of repeatedly using such tactics, SNN reports.

“When an official, together with US security agencies, claims that Iranian drones can reach California, do they not know the actual range of our drones? They cannot fly 6,500 miles from the Persian Gulf to the US West Coast. These statements are made deliberately and could serve as a precursor to false-flag operations,” Baghaei said.

He stressed that Iran’s armed forces openly announce all strike targets, including American military bases in the region, and do not conceal instances when attacks do not occur. “We have warned regional countries in advance and requested that they do not allow their territory to be used for attacks on Iran,” he added.

Baghaei also accused the United States of using its military bases and infrastructure in the region over the past two weeks to plan “aggressive operations” against Iran, asserting that such activities cannot be hidden. “We have never shown hostility toward regional countries and wish to maintain neighborly relations. All strikes in the region are directed exclusively at US targets and do not violate the sovereignty of these countries,” he said.

Responding to claims by US envoy Steve Witkoff that the United States faces a threat involving 11 nuclear bombs, Baghaei dismissed the statements as “absurd,” emphasizing that uranium enriched to 60% does not equate to possessing nuclear weapons.

On the German Chancellor’s call for an end to the conflict, Baghaei said: “Did we start this war? The war was started by others and imposed on us. Common sense requires criticizing those who created this situation. Iran resolutely defends its honor, dignity, territorial integrity, and national sovereignty by all means.”

By Vafa Guliyeva