Iran 'Threatens' US After Decades of US Threats, Sanctions, and Coups
The Independent’s recent headline warns that 'Iran threatens US troops and Israel' if America strikes over protests. The article presents Iran's statement as a standalone act of aggression, devoid of any historical narrative. This framing ignores decades of U.S. intervention in Iran, from the CIA-orchestrated 1953 coup that overthrew democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh to the
2020 assassination of General Qassem Soleimani by drone strike, ordered by the U.S. (Source: The New York Times, 'Soleimani's killing risks war, experts say,' Jan 3, 2020). One might wonder if 'Iran threatens' is simply code for 'Iran reacts to provocations we prefer not to detail.' The protests themselves, while certainly having legitimate grievances, are not explicitly separated from external
influences in the reporting. The media consistently portrays any Iranian response to foreign pressure as an inherent threat, rather than a predictable, albeit escalatory, defense mechanism against a backdrop of continuous destabilization efforts. It appears some nations are only allowed to react if their reactions conveniently align with Western geopolitical interests. (How many times must a
nation be 'warned' before it 'threatens' back, one wonders?)