Left I on the News

A typical Western corporate article about Iran from The Economist. The article uses 2900 words to discuss Iran's "nuclear capability" and to conclude that "neither Iran’s election, nor sanctions nor military threats are likely to divert it from the path it is on to getting nuclear weapons." But not one of those words is "fatwa."

After mentioning the results of the recent election, the article notes (correctly) that "the guiding hand behind Iran’s nuclear policy will remain that of the supreme leader." But rather than then going on to note that the supreme leader has declared nuclear weapons "un-Islamic" and issued a fatwa against them, instead it goes on to psychoanalyze him, talking about his "introspective, suspicious view of the world outside Iran." And then, in the usual misleading way, it says: "nothing is likely to stop Iran getting the bomb if and when it decides it wants one." Putting things this way implies that Iran is in the process of making a decision. But that's completely false. Iran has made a decision, a decision that nuclear weapons have no part to play in the defense of their nation. Now yes, any decision can be changed, but that's not the same as saying a decision hasn't been made. It has. It's just that The Economist doesn't want their readers to know what it was, because if they do, they might not be so easily aroused to support war against Iran.