Propaganda Exposed: Top Iranian Official Admits Regime Lied About Shooting Down Israeli F-35

Chief of State Media Confesses to Falsehood

The Iranian regime has, for the first time, publicly acknowledged that it lied and disseminated false propaganda during a recent operational period in an attempt to manipulate public opinion. This significant confession came from Peyman Jebelli, the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the state-run news channel and the country's primary propaganda apparatus.

The admission occurred during a discussion Jebelli held with communications students in Tehran. Jebelli was boasting about the regime's supposed "many achievements and victories" during the war. However, a student raised a sign in protest that ultimately compelled the top media official to reveal the truth.

The sign simply read: "Source of news during war: State Channel of Iran, No, Al Jazeera, Yes."

Confronted by the blunt protest, Jebelli reluctantly conceded that "mistakes were made" during what he termed the "thwarting of the war," and he expressed regret over one particular incident that he admitted severely damaged the regime's reputation.

The F-35 Embarrassment

Jebelli specifically pointed to the fabricated F-35 incident as a major blow to their trustworthiness.

"One thing damaged our credibility, and that was the downing of the F-35 aircraft," Jebelli stated with visible resentment. He then challenged the students rhetorically, "Were we in the sky to witness the crash of the fighter jet? Were we behind the defense system? Did someone from the military authorities inform us?"

Jebelli's comments address a particularly embarrassing episode during the war, when the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed to have successfully shot down a stealth Israeli F-35 fighter jet. If true, this would have marked the first time in history that a fifth-generation stealth aircraft had ever been downed in combat.

However, the "photographic evidence" subsequently released by the regime to support its claims was quickly and widely exposed as a blatant fake, causing immense international embarrassment for Iran and undermining its claims of military prowess and media integrity on the global stage. Jebelli's rare, candid admission confirms that the incident was a deliberate attempt at deception intended to influence public perception during the height of the operational period.