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Expert: Iran 'doctored' photo of missile launches

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-07-11 14:08

NEW YORK --An Iranian photograph showing a cluster of missile launches was apparently altered to add a fourth missile lifting off from a desert range, a defense analyst said Thursday.

A handout picture from the news website and PR arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Sepah News, shows an image apparently digitally altered to show four missiles rising into the air instead of three during a test-firing in the Iranian desert, July 9. The 2nd Right missile has apparently been added in digital retouch to cover a grounded missile that may have failed during the test. [Agencies]

"There's no doubt the photo was doctored," said Mark Fitzpatrick, director of the Non-Proliferation Program for the London-based International Institute For Strategic Studies.

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The image, posted Wednesday on a Web site owned by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, showed four missiles moments after launch, leaving trails of glowing exhaust and clouds of billowing brown dust.

The scene was described as part of military maneuvers in which nine missiles were test fired, including an enhanced version of the Shahab-3. Iranian officials say the new missile has a range of 1,250 miles, which would enable a strike on Israel and most of the Middle East. The tests drew immediate criticism from Washington.

Some media outlets used the photo Wednesday, but not The Associated Press.

The photo on the Sepah News site was replaced Thursday with an image showing three missiles — which appear to be the same as the earlier photo. In place of the fourth missile, however, the photo showed one still on the ground in its launch position and what appears to be a vehicle nearby.

An image grab from the Arabic-language Iranian TV station Al-Alam taken on July 9, shows a longer range Shahab-3 missile fired by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards at an undisclosed location in the Iranian desert. [Agencies]

That photo was used by the AP Thursday, and later the apparently altered photo was added for purposes of comparison. The image with four launches was taken off the Sepah site's main news page, but both photos were on its archive Thursday.

Fitzpatrick, a former State Department official who followed arms control issues, believes the photo was manipulated after the missile malfunctioned.

"They had a rocket launch and one failed," he said. "They have had other tests that have succeeded, but Iran tends to exaggerate its capabilities."

There was no immediate comment from Iranian government officials on the photos.

"The whole purpose of these launches was to demonstrate Iran's capabilities and a photo showing one out of four rockets failing doesn't have the intended impact," Fitzpatrick said.