Big difference between an image and an iframe is the fact that an image keeps its aspect-ratio. You could combine an image and an iframe with will result in a responsive iframe.
Hope this answerers your question.
Check this link for example : http://jsfiddle.net/Masau/7WRHM/
HTML:
<div class="wrapper">
<div class="h_iframe">
<!-- a transparent image is preferable -->
<img class="ratio" src="http://placehold.it/16x9"/>
<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WsFWhL4Y84Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div>
<p>Please scale the "result" window to notice the effect.</p>
</div>
CSS:
html,body {height:100%;}
.wrapper {width:80%;height:100%;margin:0 auto;background:#CCC}
.h_iframe {position:relative;}
.h_iframe .ratio {display:block;width:100%;height:auto;}
.h_iframe iframe {position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%; height:100%;}
note: This only works with a fixed aspect-ratio.