Iran's Stealth Fighter is Probably an Elaborate Fraud
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, listens to an unidentified pilot during a ceremony to unveil Iran's newest fighter jet, Qaher-313. Younes Khani, Mehr News Agency/AP
Experts believe that the Iranian jet is hardly the aeronautical breakthrough the Islamic Republic wants the world to think it is.
Iran over the weekend presented what it called a "significant achievement in the field of aerospace technology" -- a domestically built fighter jet with stealth capabilities.
Some aviation experts, however, believe the tiny, angular fighter jet with stubby wings shown to the world may have been an expensive mock-up and that video footage of the black jet screaming across the sky may actually show a radio-controlled model aircraft instead.
Such skepticism may be understandable, given the recent questions surrounding Iran's now-dubious claim of having sent a monkey into space and returning him safely to Earth.
At an unveiling ceremony in a Tehran warehouse on February 2, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad said that now "the speed of Iran's development in science and technology does not depend on circumstances, it depends on our will." He assured the world that the Qaher (Conqueror) F-313 project "carries the message of brotherhood, peace, and security and it doesn't pose any threat to anyone. There is no intention to interfere in any other country's affairs."