Will Israel and America attack Iran? It is a simple question we often hear in TV debates, read in newspaper articles and discuss in public spaces.
In theory, war is destructive, but it’s also profitable. I struggled to find any U.S. president who has not sanctioned a new war or pledged to halt conflicts. The world was anxiously waiting for Donald Trump to take the oath because he vowed to end the Russia-Ukraine War in one day and told Netanyahu he wanted the Gaza war over by the time he entered office.
Trump has taken U-turns, as he desired to take over the Panama Canal, Greenland, Canada and Gaza. The world is ready to witness a new form of ethnic cleansing in Gaza as “Israel orders military to prepare for Palestinians to leave Gaza” whilst the Palestinians in Gaza have rejected Trump's plan, affirming, “We would rather die here than leave,” Will all this be possible without starting new wars?
Turning on Iran now, for several years, many political analysts, media specialists and academics have floated the argument that Israel and America are planning to attack Iran. In contrast, several leading critics see the confrontation between the U.S. and Iran as nothing more than a war of words.
Hussein Bani, Malcolm Byrne and John Tirman have offered an in-depth analysis of the U.S.-Iranian relations in their book: “Republics of Myth: National Narratives and the US-Iran.” Bruce Riedel penned for Brookings the following words: “The central lesson of the war in the 1980s is that it is easy to start a conflict with Iran and very difficult to end it.”
Although the U.S., Israel and Iran are engaged in “proxies,” they have been trying to avoid a wider conflict. So, a “friendly-fire” style operation, such as Iran’s pre-informed retaliatory strike on Israel and an Israeli strike on Iran in 2024, a tit-for-tat scheme, has been happening for decades.
However, Trump’s stance on Gaza and Ukraine has changed. This means Iran could be the next target. It’s about time to view the Western media reporting on Iran to figure out the possibilities of the looming war on Iran.
It is a documented fact that some Western media organs are responsible for supporting the official rhetoric that “weapons of mass destruction” were used in Iraq, which led to the U.S.'s invasion of the country.
Nowadays, a thorough analysis of the Western media reporting on Iran would show a recurring theme that the Iranian regime is an “existential threat” to the West and Israel. Evidently, some sections of the Western press, politicians and pressure groups are using the old-fear tactic to find a reason to start a war with Iran.
Though Jonathan Leslie has rejected this thesis in his book “Fear and Insecurity,” Western conservative newspapers like The Daily Telegraph have been trying hard to make people believe that “Iranian terror is a threat to every country – it must be stopped” and that the “West failing to take Iran threat seriously out of sheer arrogance.”
Correspondingly even more, liberal newspapers like The Guardian are equally engaged in feeding the public news stories surrounding the following themes: Iranian women and a wholesome society oppressed under a brutal extremist regime and the never-ending human rights crises in Iran.
In this limited space, these two illustrations of quality and mainstream newspapers clearly tell the Western media mindset about Iran, a "failed state that needs to adopt Western values." The same goes for all major U.S. and U.K. newspapers that miss no opportunity to malign Iran and its leadership.
Now let's have a look at a few illustrations of the Western broadcasters, including Fox News, BBC, CNN, France24, and DW, which are constantly feeding the Western public with news of the Iranian nuclear threat.
This situation recalls Edward Said's idea of “Orientalism,” through which the West sees and portrays others, especially the people of the Middle East.
Today, the same is true in the case of Iran, its regime and its proxies as the Western media portrays them as “extremists” and “terrorists,” thus making a case for war against Iran.
Since the New Year (2025), a tidal wave of unusual events across Europe and America, such as an al-Qaida-style deadly attack in New Orleans, brought back “Islamic State” in the media limelight. According to the Fox News investigations, Daesh is responsible for six attacks on U.S. soil.
Fear continues to grow as The New York Times report reveals, “How Islamic State radicalizes people today?” At the same time, the destructive Tesla Cybertruck attack outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas has further strengthened the concerns because both suspects had “military experience."
An emerging Western media narrative suggests that “the Islamic State” is getting strengthened across the Middle East and South Asia. Is there a chance that the media is preparing the public for another conflict, be it Iran?
Evidently, Trump publicly named former U.S. President Barack Obama and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as “co-founders of Daesh.” Piles of allegations have been made that the U.S. was behind “Deash recruits” in Syria, Iraq and Libya. American author William Blum’s three classic books: “America’s Deadliest Export, Rouge State, and Killing Hope,” enclose the long history of how America has been exporting terror around the world.
The Middle East has witnessed a series of illegal wars, sectarian violence, dictatorial regimes, oppression and conflicts for decades and the West has always blamed Middle Easterners for creating, promoting and funding these. But is it true?
Australian British journalist John Pilger’s documentaries, including “The War You Don’t See” and “Palestine Is Still the Issue,” present undeniable evidence of Western interference in the Middle Eastern nations' affairs.
A closer look at the numerous articles, commentaries, editorials, news items, visuals and documentaries would make it noticeable that the West presents itself as a custodian of a “free world” in comparison to Iran, which is often framed as the “conservative society” under “hardliner mullahs’ rule.” Hence, the idea of “Islamic Iran” could be the best case to advance the fear strategy, arguing that Iran intends its “Islamic ideology” beyond its borders, which is a threat to modern Western societies.
Most of the time, the Western media and politicians school others but fail to admit and rectify their own wrongdoings. The biggest threat to Europe and Israel is their own inhume policies, not Iran.
Surely, the West needs a revised Middle East policy, and the best way is to start it from Gaza. How about following the Chinese model? Applying peaceful means to benefit from natural resources rather than aiding conflicts and wars.
