Iranian media publish photoshopped images of missile attack victim

Iranian state media published photoshopped images of Peshraw Dizayee with a Russian rabbi and the head of Tasa Elite.

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2024/01/21 23:28

An allegedly doctored picture showing Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee with Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar (left) next to the original.

Kurdistan Tasa Elite Press TV Rabbi Berel Lazar Elan Nissim Peshraw Dizayee

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Iranian state-affiliated media have published allegedly doctored images of Peshraw Dizayee, one of the victims of last week’s Iranian ballistic missile attack, in order to justify the attack.

An alleged photoshopped picture showing Peshraw Dizayee with Tasa Elite's Elan Nissim (left) next to the original. — An allegedly doctored picture showing Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee in the background of a Peshmerga battalion with Tasa Elite's Elan Nissim (left) next to the original.

The Iranian-state run Press TV and other Iranian-state run news agencies published an image claiming Peshraw Dizayee was an ‘oil tycoon’ and had a meeting with fighters of the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) with the alleged ‘Mossad agent’ Elan Nissim, who is the head of the Tasa Elite network group.

Nissim seemed to have visited the Kurdistan Region in the past according to the original, undoctored photos of him with Peshmerga.

The original picture has surfaced online after it was found that Tasa Elite posted it in the past on Facebook.

Tasa Elite later published some screenshots of rumours posted about him with the caption ‘unlimited stupidity’ and ‘whatever’ about the photoshopped pics.

On its website, Tasa Elite describes itself as a counterterrorism force operating in several Middle Eastern countries, claiming to have 900 operatives at the moment.

Moreover, another image published by the Iranian state-linked media showed Dizayee with Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar. The picture also turned out to be a doctored version with the Rabbi with Nissim, which was also previously posted on Tasa Elite, and later reposted.

Omar Majid Dizayee, brother of Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee, earlier in an interview also denied rumours spread by Iranian state media that his brother was involved in exporting oil.

“He did not work in the field of buying, selling, extracting or transporting oil,” Dizayee told Kurdistan24.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in a phone call with his Dutch counterpart claimed that “we do not have any evidence proving that a child was killed,” although Dizayee’s daughter Zhina (11 months old), was killed in the attack.

Dutch FM Hanke Bruins Slot summoned the Iranian ambassador in the Netherlands, and called his Iranian counterpart after it turned out Dizayee’s daughter had Dutch nationality.

Editing by Dastan Muwaffaq