Was Fordo a Hoax? If So, Why?
 We have so few sources and contacts there, and both sides are doing such a poor job of communicating with each other, that a netherworld of rumor, fakery and shadowy figures like Reza Khalili can prosper. It allows intelligence agencies like the Mossad and others to exploit ignorance and information vacuums to create fictional narratives that advance Israeli interests. It also indicates how faulty may be the intelligence on which both sides make their judgments about policy. At any rate, all this means journalists have to exercise extra care and not be hurried into decisions that may reflect poorly afterward. But of course if we don’t at times take risks, then we may not report a story that is important for the world to know.It’s important to take credit when you get a story right and to acknowledge when you got it wrong. It appears the latter was likely the case with this story. The only thing to do in such a situation is to admit the possibility of error and move on.One final note: this should hammer a nail in the coffin of Reza Khalili, WND and Hamidezra Zakeri, who initiated this hoax by being the first to report it. UPDATE: Now, an Iranian monarchist comes out of the wood work to try to revive the story with this report.