Amid a tense situation in Iran on the anniversary of last year's anti-regime protests, the government claims that it seized “American weapons and gear” entering the country.

The official government news website IRNA quoted an official in the southern Hormozgan Province on the Persian Gulf as saying that “a large consignment American-made instruments was discovered as it was entering Iranian waters, including thousands of electric shockers specially designed to be used by rioters,” on board a vessel.

The website published a photo showing two cardboard commercial boxes full of smaller packaging fully covered with American flags, full of what appeared to be small electric shockers. It did not show any weapons as IRNA claimed in its report.

These could well be merchandize produced in Pakistan and other regional countries that are freely available in Iranian bazaars.

Iranian regime officials in the past have regularly claimed seizure of weapons and terrorists, rarely producing any convincing evidence.

Since the beginning of protests in September 2022, officials taking their cue from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei have blamed the United States and its allies for fomenting unrest in Iran. Many people detained for posting news or images on social media have been accused of “collaborating with the enemy.”

The chief of the judiciary department in Hormozgan claimed that the consignment was identified and followed before being loaded on the vessel “by the exact intelligence work and was seized immediately upon entering Iranian waters.”