Earlier this month Iran showed off its latest drone design, but on examination the photographs bear a striking similarity to those coming out of Japan's Chiba University.

The connection was spotted by pilot, and blogger, Gary Mortimer, who felt the design of the KOKER-1 looked familiar but had to spend a few weeks remembering exactly where he'd seen it before before he remembered the Japanese researchers. He charitably suggests the Iranians might have bought a Quad Tilt Wing (QTW) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for testing, but admits they found a remarkably similar building over which to test it:

The Japanese drone is on the left, the Iranian one (sans windmills) in the right

In announcing the KOKER-1 the Iranians took full credit for the design, which is apparently the first vertical take-off drone built by Iranian scientists, scientists who presumably aren't fans of windmills but like the shadows they leave.

It's not the first time Iran has been caught using Photoshop to enhance reality a bit, back in 2008 the country released photographs of a rocket launch with suspiciously similar exhaust clouds, concealing a failed ignition, leading to a plethora of tributes which get funnier all the time.

We can only hope Iran's attempt to get credit for a Japanese drone proves equally inspiring. ®