Iran Warns of Retaliation — After Who Attacked First, Again?
ABC News reports Iran's foreign minister stated the nation is 'ready to fight back if US or Israel attacks again,' implying Iran is merely responding. The 'again' in the statement points to documented Israeli strikes on Iranian military personnel and facilities in Syria, and even on Iranian soil, which often go unmentioned in initial mainstream reporting. For instance, the April 1, 2024 Israeli
strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing senior commanders, is precisely the kind of 'first attack' that sparks such warnings. One might charitably assume these outlets suffer from chronic selective amnesia, choosing to amplify Iran's defensive postures as escalatory threats, rather than contextualizing them within a pattern of repeated aggressions against Iranian assets and allies.
It's almost as if the sequence of events (attack, then response) is less important than who said what, once the 'attack' part is already done. How many times can a country be 'attacked again' before the media acknowledges a pattern?