Leaking of dubious document spurs new wave of anti-Iran propaganda

On Monday the Times of London said "confidential intelligence documents" from Iran, one of which it published in toto, "show that Iran is working on testing a key final component of a nuclear bomb."

• [1] -- For endorsement of the document the Times cited the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) as its only named expert source. -- The paper published a translation (from Farsi) of the document on its website.
• [2] -- The New York Times devoted a long piece to the document in its Wednesday edition, emphasizing that the document had not been authenticated by Western intelligence agencies.
• [3] -- It had nothing to say about the provenance of the undated two-page document either. -- The Washington Post also devoted a long article to the document, and also said nothing about where it came from, noting, however, for some reason, that it was "creased."
• [4] -- Like the Times of London, the Post cited ISIS as its only named expert commentator. -- Finally, on Wednesday, Robert Burns and Pamela Hess of the Associated Press hinted that Israel was the source of what it bizarrely called a "reportedly-secret document" -- bizarrely, since on Sunday a photograph of the original was published on the website of the Times of London along with a complete translation.
• [5] -- COMMENT: In short, there would appear to be every reason to be suspicious both of the authenticity of this document and of the timing of the leak.

-- Last year Scott Ritter said of ISIS's director: "David Albright has a history of being used by those who seek to gain media attention for their respective claims." -- Ritter believes that Albright's organization, whose funding has never been explained, serves the function of "imprinting a negative image in the psyche of public opinion." -- Mohammad Sahimi has also written an extensive piece on David Albright and his organization; see here. -- Sahimi noted that ISIS does not involve itself in analysis of Israel's nuclear weapons program.... More.