Iranian Shahed-238 Drone Detected in Iraq Border Region

A drone resembling the Iranian jet-powered kamikaze drone Shahed-238 was discovered in Iraq, near the border with Iran, in the Basra province.

The Conflict reported on this.

The unmanned aerial vehicle was found on September 28th, 2025, in the Al-Mebsana area in the south of the country. According to Iraqi sources, it was used for a reconnaissance flight to monitor military activity along the border.

Markings were found on the recovered drone, including ‘LOT 2,’ which likely indicates the second production batch, and ‘C 098,’ possibly a serial number or series designation.

According to the examination, the drone was powered by a jet engine rather than a conventional internal combustion engine. Its external appearance closely resembles that of the Shahed-238 kamikaze drone unveiled in 2023, featuring an identical aerodynamic layout and the presence of a jet propulsion system.

Initially, Iraqi media reported that the drone belonged to the Israeli military, but later, after a detailed examination of the find, opinions regarding its origin had diverged.

The Shahed-238 UAV was unveiled by Iranian Ashura Aerospace University of Science and Technology, where a modified version of the Shahed-136, named Shahed-238, was presented.

At the time, three variants of the new model were showcased: one equipped with an autonomous inertial-GPS guidance system; another with an infrared/optical guidance system; and possibly a third featuring a radar guidance system.

The technical specifications of the Shahed-238 remain unknown. The presence of a jet engine suggests potentially higher speed, though this likely comes at the cost of reduced flight range compared to piston or turboprop variants.

It is worth noting that this is not the first instance of Iranian drones being detected on Iraqi territory amid the ongoing conflict with Israel. During the 12-day war, Iranian UAVs repeatedly used Iraqi airspace as a transit route toward Israel.

Despite the transit nature of these flights, international coalition forces based at Ain al-Asad in western Iraq shot down several Iranian drones en route to Israeli territory.

In addition to Iraq, similar transit flights also occurred over Jordanian airspace, where countermeasures against Iranian forces were more active. In that region, allied fighter jets from the United States, the United Kingdom, and France – supporting Israel – took part in intercepting the drones.

Militarnyi previously reported that an Iranian Arash 2 kamikaze drone had crashed on the territory of Kazakhstan, which Russian media had attempted to portray as Ukrainian.