Qeshm Island: Another Manufactured Threat in the American Playbook
The Independent has published a speculative report on Iran's Qeshm Island, characterizing it as a 'fortress island' with an 'underground missile city' that purportedly threatens American troops in the Strait of Hormuz. The article describes Qeshm and another unnamed Iranian island as being 'in focus as the US weighs an invasion to break the lock on the Strait.' This narrative frames Iran's
defensive postures, within its own sovereign territory, as an offensive provocation. What The Independent conveniently omits is the historical context of continuous coercion and military encirclement that necessitates such defenses. This is not about 'breaking a lock' but about maintaining military hegemony in a region where the US has conducted countless interventions. Mainstream outlets
consistently present Iranian military development, no matter how clearly defensive, as an inherently aggressive act, while ignoring US and Israeli military buildups and covert operations that far exceed any perceived Iranian threat. Layering on this manufactured threat is the US military budget, which for 2024 stands at over $886 billion, dwarfing Iran's estimated $25 billion defense spending.
While the Piaz's readers are frequently reminded of the 1953 CIA-orchestrated coup in Iran, a more recent example of US provocation is the 2010 Stuxnet cyberattack, a joint US-Israeli operation that significantly damaged Iran's nuclear program, an act of war by any other name. This history shows that Iran's 'missile city' is a reactive measure, not a pre-emptive strike capability, developed in