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Iran 'Doctored' Launch Photograph

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The Associated Press

Published: July 11, 2008

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.

"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.

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 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 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. Instead 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.

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.

Fitzpatrick, a former State Department official who followed arms control issues, thinks 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."

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