Just four days after Iran proudly announced it had successfully launched a monkey into space – a move seen as proof of a technological breakthrough which may help the Islamic Republic advance its nuclear program, London’s Times newspaper is questioning the Iranian claims.
The British paper said Friday that two different photographs of the monkey allegedly sent to space raise suspicion that the launch never happened at all or that the original monkey died during the flight and the Iranians introduced a different monkey to announce their triumph.
Times noted that before the alleged launch, the official Fars news agency and other state-controlled media published several photographs of the monkey – with a distinctive red mole above its right eye and a band of light fur around the side of its head wearing some sort of spacesuit and strapped into the seat that would carry it heavenwards.
In the post-flight press conference, when the regime introduced the heroic astro-monkey, the mole was gone, as was the band of light fur.
“It is manifestly a different creature,” the Times said.
According to the paper, there are two possible explanations: One is that the original monkey died during the flight and the regime was too embarrassed to admit it, and the second is that the launch never actually took place