Stop Using This Obvious Fake Image (Updated)

This image is fake.

IranFake

This picture has become a very widespread featured image to represent operation Protective Edge, and Israel attacking Gaza.

gaza

The source of the image is a hypothetical Israeli attack on Iran featured on David Cenciotti’s The Aviationist Blog.

tehran_attack_1024-wm

Image: Israeli F-15 strike on Tehran on Day 1 of the war on Iran’s nuclear program

Mar 08 2012
By David Cenciotti

The following drawing, exclusively prepared by Al Clark for The Aviationist, shows how an attack by a formation of F-15Is on a nuclear facility located in downtown Tehran might look like.

Obviously, it is only a fictional scene, however it is quite realistic for an eventual strike on the Tehran Nuclear Research Center, that is located not far from the Milad Tower, clearly visible on the background.

Someone might argue that the first and most of strikes would be launched at night. That is true, but it is quite likely that subsequent missions would be flown during daylight conditions too. Even the surroundings of the Nuclear Research Center are probably a bit different from those depicted, the payload could be different, tanks would be dropped, altitude should be higher and so on, but please take it just as an interesting artwork.

Please note that I’ve used the word “image” on the title because it is not a drawing, nor a rendering or a photo. It is a Computer Generated Imagery (CGI).

Image by Al Clark for The Aviationist

BTW, here is the source for the CGI IAF F-15I by Al Clark (5th row down, leftmost image).

Israeli F-15I Low Over Desert / Al Clarck
Israeli F-15I Low Over Desert / Al Clarck

So if you see anyone using this image, be they pro or anti your side, tell them to stop using it.

Update, December 25th, 2014:

In lieu of the 6th anniversary of Cast Lead, this image is resurfacing again. I have now found that the overlaid explosion is indeed from Gaza, though it happened in an empty field some 600 meters from the border fence with Israel.

Gaza Explosion Original
Caption:A picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows a bomb dropped by an Israeli air force F-16 jet exploding in Beit Hanoun, north of the Gaza Strip, on January 3, 2009. The Israeli military has carried out more than 700 strikes on Gaza since it launched a massive offensive on Hamas a week ago, killing at least 435 Palestinians, the army and medics said today. AFP PHOTO/PATRICK BAZ (Photo credit should read PATRICK BAZ/AFP/Getty Images)

 

Here’s are a set of color-coded landmarks that one can discern in the photo and in Google Earth

uSUqJa2 rrrr

 

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