Iran's Failure to Launch

Here's the actual photo of Iran's missile tests, which have now been identified as doctored:

My morning copy of the Los Angeles Times, on the front page, included the photoshopped version below (showing four missiles), as did two other major national dailies:

There's some media controversy over the story.

It turns out the New York Times has taken credit for revealing Iran's faked photos, although timestamps indicate the first scoop was provided by Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs.

See also, Beyond Babylon, "IRAN: Doctored Missile Image?"

Plus, Ace of Spades, Augean Stables, Blackfive, Gateway Pundit, Kamangir, and Suitably Flip.

The photos were produced by the media arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Further, the Iranian regime is apparently engaged in deep emergency planning at the prospect of an attack from Israel, the United States, or both (in contrast to firm public statements suggesting the West wouldn't dare attack Tehran).

For additional background, see "Iran in Preparations, Deployment to Withstand Possible Attack by West."

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UPDATE: The New York Times credits Little Green Footballs in a news story on Iran's photoshop controversy, "In Image of Iran’s Power, There’s Less Than Meets the Eye":

Little Green Footballs, a conservative blog, identified the altered image on Wednesday. Last year the blog pointed out a manipulated image that had been distributed by Iran’s semiofficial Fars News Agency. As in the case of Wednesday’s photograph and many others that the site has uncovered, the one from 2007 appeared to contain several cloned elements.