Mark Fitzpatrick, Senior Fellow at the International Institute of Strategic Studies, thinks they are. "It's ironic - Iran launches these missile tests to demonstrate might, and instead what they demonstrate is foolishness."
He says that the cloud of dust under the missile on the far right has clearly been copied and superimposed over the failed fourth launch, adding: "They come across by amateurs by doctoring it. It's laughable."
10 July 2008: Times
By Chris Smyth
Four short-range missiles blast off from the Iranian desert, in striking images released yesterday, churning up the red sand and warning the rest of the world: don't mess with Tehran.
Or is it three missiles?
The first picture comes from the Iranian news website Jamejam, and clearly shows one missile has failed to take off. It sits forlornly on its launcher while its three companions power into the sky.
But it was the second image that was released by the PR arm of the Revolutionary Guard – and it seems to have been digitally enhanced to wipe away all traces of the embarrassing dud. Gone is the faulty rocket on its launcher, to be replaced with a fourth successful launch, complete with billowing clouds of exhaust and desert dust.
Are the Iranians sexing up their own weapons dossier?
Mark Fitzpatrick, Senior Fellow at the International Institute of Strategic Studies, thinks they are. "It's ironic - Iran launches these missile tests to demonstrate might, and instead what they demonstrate is foolishness."
He says that the cloud of dust under the missile on the far right has clearly been copied and superimposed over the failed fourth launch, adding: "They come across by amateurs by doctoring it. It's laughable."
The original photo, taken yesterday, documents part of the wargames that caused unease around the world. Mr Fitzpatrick thinks this muscle-flexing was intended not only to warn off Israel and the US, but calm fears at home about the regime's determination to ignore international demands to halt its weapons programme.
"There are two audiences - a foreign and a domestic. The domestic is just as important. There's been a debate in Iran on whether they're doing the right thing," he says. "Israeli sabre-rattling has got them worried - and rightly so".
"The government is trying to calm domestic concerns by showing they can hit back. But sometimes the things they hit back with don't work so well".
The doctored photo is already prompting international ridicule on the internet and Mr Fitzpatrick says Iranians themselves are likely to join in the laughter, despite government attempts at censorship. "Iranians love the internet and are very keen to get round restrictions."
While responsibility for altered version remains unclear, Mr Fitzpatrick believes it is less likely to be a high-level government conspiracy than a case of an overzealous official trying to hide mistakes on the ground. "They got orders to show the world their strength, something went wrong and they tried to cover it up."
