The Iranian Missile Photo That CNN Missed

By Published On: March 21, 2016

Two CNN articles erroneously reported this month that Iranian media have not published photographs of the missiles emblazoned with the Hebrew words “Israel must be wiped off the earth,” and that CNN could not independently confirm the information. So CAMERA has helped CNN, directing editors to a photograph of the missile with anti-Israel graffiti which appeared in the Iranian media.

On March 15, Barbara Starr wrote (“U.S. official raises Iran rocket fears; Tehran denies tests are illegal“):

The missiles, capable of reaching Iran’s archenemy Israel, were marked with a statement in Hebrew reading “Israel must be wiped off the Earth,” Iran’s semiofficial Fars News Agency reported.

The phrase originates from a remark made by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of Iran’s Islamic revolution. CNN has not independently confirmed this report, and Iranian media have not shown photographs of the message.

These very same two paragraphs first appeared on CNN’s website March 9, in an article by Tim Hume and Alireza Hajihosseini wrote (“Iran fires ballistic missiles a day after test; U.S. officials hint at violation“).

The following photograph of the missile emblazoned with the anti-Israel graffiti appears on the Fars News site.

cnn fars missiles erase Israel.jpg

CAMERA has contacted CNN to request corrections. Stay tuned for an update.

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