Doctored picture. © AFP via Sepah

© AP

The incriminating photo was released on the Sepah News website, a press agency controlled by the Guard. It shows four missiles launching simultaneously. This spectacular photo is in fact nothing but a doctored image. The actual photo only shows three missiles, with the fourth still on the ground. This video confirms that the fourth missile remained on its launch pad and was never released.

The world's biggest newspapers, including the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, placed the fake photo, obtained by AFP, on the front page.

 

On July 10, one day after this demonstration of Iranian force, the Iranian press extensively covered the missile tests. Conservative newspaper Kayhan makes the missile launch its top story.

 

But Observer Arash "Kamangir ", an Iranian blogger exiled in Canada, discovered that the photo used to illustrate the nation's military maneuvers actually dates from 2006. It had been posted on the Mehrnews website, a press agency with close ties to Iranian president Ahmadinejad.

The doctoring of photos and of facts is widely practiced in the powerful Iranian media, according to RezaMoini.

Kayhan is a major conservative daily. More importantly, it's a medium for propaganda for the powerful. It maintains close ties to Iranian security services and follows the Islamic platform of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Kayhan has no credibility. As a side note, the head of the newspaper is none other than the former chief of interrogation for Evin, Tehran's largest prison."