Iran tested a series of ballistic missiles on January 29 within the bounds of the Iranian nuclear agreement. However, despite these tests being within the agreement, politicians jumped at the opportunity to appear tough on Iran despite worsening tensions in the Middle East. A range of news outlets posted attention grabbing and misleading headlines to incite fear and interest in the article, resulting in more readers.
Iran, for just cause, has been pressed with economic sanctions that have crippled the economy for decades. Their weak economy is easily compared to a stray, three-legged dog getting hit by a bus and hobbling on down a dirt road. Iran is a place where tensions breed international terrorism. When politicians from the US to Israel condemn Iran and threaten the country with more crippling sanctions, it will only fuel tensions in the area resulting in more “blow back,”— a term used to describe unintended consequences by a foreign action.
“We had announced before that we will carry out those programs that we have planned in the field of the production of defense items in line with national interests and goals,” Iranian Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan said. None of Iran’s missiles had been designed to carry a nuclear warhead, Iranian Diplomat Mr. Zarif said, which meant the program didn’t conflict with the resolution. Thereby, these tests are within Iran’s rights agreed upon in the nuclear agreement the US and other countries. Tehran has maintained that its missiles are conventional and for defensive purposes, according to Zarif.
Most countries around the world have nuclear capabilities for defense, energy and research purposes. Politicians and news outlets know that the words “Iran,” “nuclear,” and “missiles” cause great fear and anger among their following— resulting in the constituents supporting the politicians who take hard line stances despite having no grounds in reality.
News media from sources like the Wall Street Journal to Breitbart published ambiguous articles after the missile tests hinting at how Iran is almost going rogue and acting outside of the bounds of the nuclear agreement. Breitbart's headline was “Iran Tested Cruise Missile in Addition to Ballistic Missile in Sanctions-Defying Weekend.” The sources used in the Breitbart article are Die Welt a conservative German news service along with “unspecified intelligence sources” and unconfirmed German Intelligence.
To the WSJ's credit, they followed up a day later covering how the missile tests really were within Iran’s bounds of the agreement while Breitbart did not. This only further misinforms readers and creates false opinions about certain parts of the world that only increase tensions that must reside if peace is to be had.
Our country, a democracy, was built on the necessity of the press accurately reporting on issues that would prevent politicians from being able to jump on these politically expedient bandwagons.
