Iranian Propaganda Uses Doctored Image from Satirical American Web Site

Iran's primary propaganda web site was caught using an image of an admittedly doctored nature in its December 27, 2007, article, "Iranian Jews Reject Emigration Report."

The intent of the article was to demonstrate the large Iranian-Jewish population's enjoyment of living in the nation. The picture selected was a Persian man wielding a yellow sign reading "Iran Loves Jews," using the symbol of a "heart" in place of "loves." It was, no doubt, used to demonstrate the majority's love for the Jewish people. The most amusing thing, however, is that the image was not doctored by the Iranian government but an American satire web site for the purpose of mocking the Iranian government.

Following several e-mails and articles posted on the satire web site, known as The People's Cube, the Iranian web site changed its image to a more ambiguous man lighting candles in what could possibly be considered a Persian lighting a menorah. The sign the man was holding was allegedly actually written in Farsi, reading, "Nuclear power is our absolute right," a common rallying cry by Iranians in the hopes of finding international approval for their nuclear program.

At this time, Iran has said they have several thousand centrifuges ready - and the West fears that this is a ready step in the direction of nuclear weapons, consistent with Iranian President Ahmadinejad's claim that he is the "ninth nuclear nation".

According to The People's Cube, the initial image was found on the internet and quickly doctored in Photoshop so that it could be used a satirical parody article called "Israel Dismantles; World's Problems End" - and from there the Iranian government seems to have inadvertently stumbled on the image, opting to use it on their popular press website.

Writers at The People's Cube assume that a simple Google search was how the Iranian government discovered the image.

Although humorous, the simplicity with which the Iranian government passes information such as this off has potentially grievous side effects in a time when "slips of the tongue" have been routinely coming out of Iran, including interior ministers accidentally referring to their nuclear program as a weapons program on network television and Ahmadinejad's alarming promise that Iran is now a "nuclear powered nation" and that it is the "ninth".

As a note, before his declaration, there were eight declared nuclear armed nations, and more than two dozen nuclear powered nations.

The People's Cube posted a follow-up article mocking the Iranian government, "The People's Cube Pwns Iranian Propaganda." To accentuate the point further, The People's Cube doctored the initial sign with several more sayings ranging from "Vote for Pedro" to notions of how the Iranian government was "pwned" (an internet term for "owned" to indicate that one has successfully one-uped someone) by the cynical conservative American web site.

Sources:

-Iranian Press TV - Iranian Jews reject emigration report
-The People's Cube - The People's Cube Pwns Iranian Propaganda