Iranian authorities say they have detained three people who were responsible for the blunder in which a billboard memorializing fallen Iranian soldiers mistakenly featured a photo of Israeli troops instead.
Media reports quoted the judiciary chief of the southern city of Shiraz, Ali Salehi, as saying on Friday that prosecutors were conducting preliminary investigations in the case.
The banner went up in Shiraz as part of the annual week-long commemoration events in memory of Iranian soldiers killed during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. This year, the 30th anniversary of the end of the war, the events held particular significance.
The original photo showed the backs of one female and three male Israeli soldiers standing on a hilltop near Hebron. It was edited to remove the female soldier and to change the backdrop to clouds, apparently to make the soldiers appear they were looking toward heaven. Farsi text was also added in praise of their sacrifice.
The billboard was ridiculed on Iranian social media, with some quickly pointing out that the mistake could have easily been avoided because the soldiers were carrying M-16 rifles, which the Iranian military does not use.
In the wake of the online backlash, local authorities took the billboard down under the cover of darkness a day after it was put on display.
