Looking at the war through lopsided world media

Western media did not question the disruption of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme which  Western and Israeli leaders view as a threat

“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin.”

This was a recent post on American President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform. No outrage came out from any quarters of the world as if the US has the right to kill the Iranian leader under  international law as well as internationally accepted moral principles. 

Let’s try to see an imaginary reverse picture where Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei or the president of the country Masoud Pezeshkian says: “We know exactly where the US president is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.”

What would be the response of the Western leaders and the so-called western free media for such an outrageous statement? How many media outlets from the Western hemisphere would have questioned  Iran’s legal as well as moral right to kill leaders of other countries? 

The current war between Iran and Israel broke out after  Israel’s unprovoked attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities and military leaders on June 13 in which some of Iran’s top nuclear scientists and commanders were killed. Ironically, Israel attributed its attack to  Iran’s nuclear programme on which negotiations were ongoing then between the representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran. Following the attack Iran withdrew from talks. 

Then, the US joined the war by attacking Iran’s nuclear sites on Sunday after which on the same day BBC said that British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump discussed the need for Iran to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible and make progress on a lasting settlement. Isn’t it amusing? They disrupted the negotiation by attacking Iran and then say Iran should return to negotiating table, as if the purpose of their attack was to push Iran towards negotiations. 

Unlike what happened following the attack by  Hamas on October 7, 2023 against military as well as civilian targets within Israel, no western media questioned the legality or ethicality of the unprovoked Israeli attack on  Iranian nuclear sites this month. According to a recent study, conducted by the Muslim Council of Britain’s Centre for Media Monitoring (CFMM), BBC alone had pressed a total of 38 pro-Palestinian interviewees to condemn the attacks against Israelis by the Hamas, but at no point applied the equivalent questioning to Israeli actions in Gaza. The CFMM had come to this conclusion after an analysis of over 35,000 pieces of content.

Western media did not question the disruption of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme which  Western and Israeli leaders view as a threat. Nor did they question Western leaders’ hypocrisy in calling Iran for talks after they sabotaged the very talks. 

This lopsided media coverage largely affects the knowledge and perceptions of the people in countries in the Global South. Politicians and journalists and also students of international affairs in those countries are fed with information flowing from the West. That is almost their only source of information on international affairs. 

What is disheartening is that the Global South receives not only information in the form of news and views from the West, but also the Western outlook as well which is inimical in some cases to the interests of the people in their own region. Thus, leaders of some countries who are not in the list of favoritesof the West become sponsors of terrorism or despots. And most of those in the Global South who are fed with this information flow still prefer to talk about October 7 rather than talking about the 55,000 people including around 20,000 children who perished in  Israeli bombing sponsored by  powerful Western countries since October 7.

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