Shayan Ghajar
In an apparent reaction to discussions on possible air strikes against Iran in the international news today, the front page stories of many of Iran’s leading state-affiliated news agencies featured articles on regional stability in the Persian Gulf and the dangers awaiting any military attempting an attack.
Raja News, a hardliner newspaper affiliated with the government, featured an article in Farsi quoting a CNN interview with Fareed Zakaria regarding the West’s options in addressing Iran’s nuclear program. Zakaria commented in his interview with CNN that attacking Iran would be a “very risky strategy with many potentially large, unintended consequences.” Raja News selected quotes from the interview enumerating the difficulties in attempting to slow or halt the nuclear program by force, and the diplomatic and strategic fallout that would likely result. The story also quoted Zakaria’s call for the United States to support the Green Movement, likely attempting to imply the Green Movement is a foreign conspiracy.
Other articles stressed the need for Arab states in the Persian Gulf to align with Iran in regional security issues and distance themselves from the United States. Fars News, affiliated with the IRGC, had the headline “Persian Gulf Security Found with Iran, without America” emblazoned on its front page. The author, a Palestinian expatriate in London, opined that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) should reject American interference in regional security and align itself with Iran. Iran and other Persian Gulf nations share commonalities of culture and economic interests, the author asserted, that would best be served by cooperation on security matters and Iran’s input in the GCC.
Multiple government-affiliated Iranian newspapers also ran stories celebrating the inaugural voyage of Iran’s first domestically produced destroyer, praising it as insurance against foreign attacks. The ceremony celebrating the event was attended by the Supreme Leader and almost every top-level military commander in the country.
These headlines are likely a reaction against the pressure building on Iran from the United States and its regional allies regarding the nuclear issue. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has met with many Arab officials of the Gulf Cooperation Council in the last week to discuss Iran and regional security. Concurrently, Israel’s announcement of a new long range drone, as well as more discussions of sanctions in international diplomatic circles, have also factored into the Iranian government’s heightened rhetoric and shows of force.