Saturday, August 31, 2019

Trump’s tweet about the Iranian space center crash raises questions

President Trump tweeted a high-reso image of the aftermath of a mysterious explosion at an Iranian space center, “raising questions about whether he had plucked a classified image from his morning intelligence briefing to troll the Iranians,” the N.Y. Times’ David E. Sanger and Bill Broad write.

Why it matters, from the WashPost: “The image … is almost certainly highly classified, experts said, and bears markings that resemble those made by intelligence analysts.”


  • The photo “appears to show a camera flash and a person’s shadow, leading to speculation that Trump or one of his aides may have snapped a picture of the image using a cellphone,” the Post says.
  • Maybe a first for a photo credit in The New York Times: “President Trump, via Twitter.”
  • Trump’s text: “The United States of America was not involved in the catastrophic accident during final launch preparations for the Safir SLV Launch at Semnan Launch Site One in Iran. I wish Iran best wishes and good luck in determining what happened at Site One.”

Asked about the photo by reporters on the South Lawn, Trump said: “I just wish Iran well. They had a big problem. And we had a photo. And I released it, which I have the absolute right to do.”

  • Asked where it came from, he said: “You’ll have to figure that one out yourself.”

For contrast with the U.S. spy shot, here’s a commercial satellite view:

1567257575857.jpg

Planet Labs, Middlebury Institute of International Studies via AP

Source: https://www.axios.com/trumps-tweet-iranian-space-center-crash-12492de2-7a86-4c8a-ab04-3b075c111ae7.html
Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you.
The Article Was Written/Published By: Axios



! #Headlines, #Axios, #Iran, #Newsfeed, #space, #Trump, #syndicated, news

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