Reuters Creates Fakenews About Iran - Intentionally Conflates Two Different Missiles - Misquotes Official
A just published Reuters piece claims:
Iran wants to expand missile range despite U.S. opposition.
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That claim is false and is based on a willful misrepresentation of the source Reuters cites.
GENEVA (Reuters) - Iran wants to increase its missiles’ range, a senior military official was quoted as saying on Tuesday, a move that would irk the United States which views Tehran’s weapons program as a regional security threat.U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of an international nuclear agreement in May and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic, criticizing the deal for not including curbs on Iran’s development of ballistic missiles.
“One of our most important programs is increasing the range of missiles and ammunition,” said the head of the Iranian air force, Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
“We don’t see any limitations for ourselves in this field.”
Iran’s military has cited 2,000 km (1,240 miles) as the current missile range, and said U.S. bases in Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, plus U.S. aircraft carriers in the Gulf, were within range.
The Reuters piece conflates ground launched ballistic missiles with air-to-air missiles that the air force commander wants to develop. The U.S. does not care about Iran's air-to-air missiles. It itself has far superior ones. The U.S. does care about Iran's ballistic missiles. But the Iranian general did not talk about those at all. The quote Reuters attributes to the Iranian general it is taken out of context and used to propagandize a non-issue.
The FARS piece Reuters cites is absolutely clear with what the air force commander means, even while its headline is probably too generalized:
Iran Sees No Limit for Increasing Range of Missiles
Commander of the Iranian Air Force Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh announced the country's plans to boost the range of its air-to-air missiles."Today, we are after increasing the range of our air-to-air missiles. Therefore, one of our most important plans is increasing the range of missiles and ammunition. We are after Beyond-Visual-Range (BVR) missiles and ammunition and consider no limitations in this regard for ourselves because the Air Force should heighten the country's deterrence power along with other (Armed) Forces," General Nasirzadeh told FNA on Tuesday.
The underlined part is the only one Reuters cites. In the original that part is led and followed by its context - air-to-air missiles. That very clear context is simply left out. Reuters thus frames the quote as related to ballistic missiles even though it has absolutely nothing to do with them.
Air-to-air missiles are used from one fighter jets against other fighter jets and bombers. Beyond visual range is defined as more than 20 miles or 37 kilometer. BVR air-to-air missiles allow for attacks on planes that are only detected on radar. These are normal ammunition for any modern airforce and have little strategic impact.
Ballistic missiles are ground to ground munitions with a large range. Iran voluntarily limits the reach of its ballistic missiles to 2,000 kilometers.
Brigade General Nazirzadah is head of the Iranian Air Force. Iran's ballistic missiles belong to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace and Missile Force under Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh. Those are two very different organizations, with a different line of command, and with totally different kinds of missiles. The Trump administration opposes Iran's ballistic missile programs, not its meager air-to-air capabilities.
The Reuters writers surely know all this. It is thus obvious that the piece is a willful manipulation of the original FARS piece it is based on.
The Reuters piece has to be seen in the context of the campaign to wage war on Iran currently run by the main neoconservatives in the Trump administration, National Security Advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
On December 1 Pompeo tweeted:
Department of State @StateDept - 17:01 utc - 1 Dec 2018.@SecPompeo: Iranian regime just test-fired a medium range ballistic missile capable of striking Europe & the Middle East. This violates #UNSC Res. 2231. #Iran’s missile testing & proliferation is growing. We are accumulating risk of escalation if we fail to restore deterrence.
The State Departments press statement attached to the above tweet is headlined:
Iran Test Launches Ballistic Missile Violating UN Security Council Ban:
The Iranian regime has just test-fired a medium range ballistic missile that is capable of carrying multiple warheads. The missile has a range that allows it to strike parts of Europe and anywhere in the Middle East. This test violates UN Security Council resolution 2231 that bans Iran from undertaking “any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology ...”As we have been warning for some time, Iran’s missile testing and missile proliferation is growing. We are accumulating risk of escalation in the region if we fail to restore deterrence. We condemn these activities, and call upon Iran to cease immediately all activities related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
The tweet and the statement are filled with lies.
UNSC Resolution 2231 was broken by the U.S. when it exited from the nuclear deal with Iran. Iran and all other signers are sticking to it.
UNSCR 2231 does not "ban" Iran from testing and deploying ballistic missiles. In Annex II part 3 it says (pg 99/104):
Iran is called upon not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology, ...
"Called upon" is UNSC diplomatease for "pretty please". It is non binding. Moreover the use of "calls upon" was a downgrade from the now superseded resolution 1929 in which the council:
Decides that Iran shall not undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using ballistic missile technology, ...
The downgrade from a clear prohibition in Res 1929 to "call upon" in the annex of Res 2231 was widlly interpreted as giving Iran a free hand to continue its ballistic missile program. The U.S. and the Europeans may well want that wording to be different, but it is a part of the agreed upon nuclear deal.
That Iranian missiles can reach Europe, as Pompeo claims, is also nonsense. Iran voluntarily limits the reach of its missiles to 2,000 kilometers. At that range they would have problems to hit anything "Europe" beyond the south-eastern corner of Bulgaria. Iran does not need any longer range missiles because all its potential targets are already within its reach.
The Stockholm Institute for Peace Research SIPRI recently analyzed the questions around Iran's missile deterrence. It concluded that Iran has a legitimated need for these:
Since the 1980s, when Iraq attacked Iranian cities, missiles have played a key role in Iran’s national security approach. Missiles serve as a counter to the overwhelming military capabilities of regional rivals (notably Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates). The rivals’ long-range strike capabilities mainly rely on Western-supplied air forces, which are often equipped with cruise missiles and precision-guided bombs. In contrast, Iran—whose aging air force mostly dates back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution—has sought to maximize self-sufficiency in the production of ballistic missiles.Iran’s medium-range missiles, which are able to reach Israel and US military bases in the region, serve to deter an attack against Iran. The threat of attack was particularly highlighted with the escalation of the nuclear crisis in 2005–12, as Israel and the USA threatened military action against Iranian nuclear facilities.
A tweet by John Bolton, which linked to the State Department statement was even more nonsensical than Pompeo's:
John Bolton @AmbJohnBolton - 20:09 utc - 1 Dec 2018Iran just test-fired an INF range ballistic missile capable of reaching Israel and Europe. This provocative behavior cannot be tolerated.
The Intermediate Nuclear Force (INF) treaty begins with the sentence:
The United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, hereinafter referred to as the Parties, ...
The treaty and missile ranges defined therein have nothing to do with Iran or anyone other than the treaty parties. That Bolton always wanted to kill the INF treaty with Russia, and managed to do it today, is a completely different issues.
With its strongly misleading report Reuters, or at least its correspondent in Geneva, is obviously supporting the neocon campaign that they hope will lead to war on Iran.
It is fakenews from one of the prime 'western' news agencies about Iran's declared intentions.
This is a Moon of Alabama fundraiser week.
Posted by b on December 4, 2018 at 16:50 UTC | Permalink
Well, it might mean different things, but the State Department guy said "missiles" so it's probably not worth worrying about. Our guys know what they're talking about and those Iranians... they held students hostage or something so you can't trust them. Let's just print this article and call it a day...
Sadly, this kind of thought process seems to be standard in US media these days.
Posted by: worldblee | Dec 4 2018 17:19 utc | 2
On one hand, the air distance from Tabriz to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, is 2000 km, and the distances to Athens and Bucharest is similar. One the other hand, what is this concept of "legitimate weapons"? When, what and for whom are weapons legitimate?
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Dec 4 2018 17:23 utc | 3
That major MSM outlets are prepared to publish such easily debunked outright lies shows how the entire realm of "journalism" has been completely turned on its head.
The age of journalism in the MSM is dead. It is not that MSM journalism has lost its way, is going down hill, is becoming corrupted - MSM journalism no longer exists, it is extinct, it is no longer relevant to the MSM business model. MSM journalism has been wholly succeeded by pure propaganda.
Welcome to the age of Newspeak, the only MSM medium now existing and the only permitted by Big Brother. Meanwhile non-MSM digital journalism - the only journalism that still exists - will be hounded through censorship of the internet until that becomes extinct also. The world is Newspeak, Newspeak is the world. Nothing else will be permitted to exist - that is the intention, anyway. That the entire political structures of Big Brother might soon disintegrate is another matter.
Posted by: BM | Dec 4 2018 17:33 utc | 4
Ah yes, BigLie Media strikes again! Too bad this sort of bologna isn't the type one can eat, otherwise the shear volume being manufactured today could feed the world for several weeks!
At least we can use the volume of lies as a metric to gauge the Outlaw US Empire's level of desperation. Just about reached the grasping at straws/clawing at thin air level as Pompeo and Bolton's bombast is heard by fewer and fewer day after day.
Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 4 2018 17:42 utc | 5
thanks b, but you are going to be doing this full time, if you want to challenge the countless lies in the msm... the msm is built for maintaining the empire! who are you to question john boltons supreme logic or anyone else of that stature, lol?
Posted by: james | Dec 4 2018 17:43 utc | 6
james @6--
Bolton has "stature"? I though he only had girth, like Pompeo, and bombasity.
Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 4 2018 18:10 utc | 7
Must agree with Patrick Armstrong's conclusion that all the propaganda, so called fact checkers, "independent" think-tanks, related operators, and the verbiage they spew are indicative of the West's Declne:
"But enough sarcasm, this isn't funny: it's actually very serious. Apart from the dangers of building up war fever against a power that could obliterate the West, it's a telling indication of the decline of the West. And so triumphant and so confident only two decades ago!
"In the Cold War Moscow's sin was that it was actively trying to overthrow us and send those of us it didn't shoot to the GuLag. Today its crime is contumacy: it persistently refuses to accept the blame that the West puts on it."
We here at MoA probably agree with the following screed:
"So, if you, as I do, think that the Western version of the MH17 story is a bit fishy, doubt that Assad is dumb enough to do the one thing that would invite Western missiles, regard Whitehall's Skripal story as laughably incoherent, doubt that Litvinenko could write a perfect English sentence, find it absurd to assume that Putin kills people by such easily noticed means, know that there were Russian troops in Crimea all along, notice that the White Helmets have received millions yet can only afford dust masks and flip flops, had heard of the Crimean Tatars before, notice that NATO has expanded up to Russia's borders and not the other way around, know something about Ossetian-Georgian relations, know what the Ukrainian Constitution says about getting rid of presidents, remember Nuland's telephone call, can remember all the people falsely demonised by the Western propaganda machine... If you dare to think those thoughts, these people will call you a victim of (or accomplice in) Russian disinformation and say you need re-education. Certainly they don't want you to be heard....
"Why else these attempts to manipulate public opinion and block disagreement? It is, in a word, Soviet behaviour. The side that's mostly telling the truth isn't afraid of the other side's lies. Again, a child could figure it out." [My Emphasis]
So, it's simple, We just keep telling the Truth which in turn counters the false-truth being expounded by BigLie Media and their governmental prompters, like Pompeo and Bolton. Eventually, the old, ugly white men and women will be running around stark naked for which they will hopefully be arrested and jailed for our protection as their lewdness is as profane as their lies.
Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 4 2018 18:35 utc | 8
Thanks b. to expose tirelessly the shame, to make it even more shamefull. shame is the ground on wich they can only double down. and therefore accelerate their fall.
Posted by: Alain | Dec 4 2018 19:43 utc | 9
unfortunately, studies have shown that the majority of people ,first told a lie will continue to believe the lie even after the truth has been told to them by the same person later. the west always makes sure to get their lies out first.
Posted by: james c. mcgregor | Dec 4 2018 19:54 utc | 10
That claim is false and is based on a willful misrepresentation of the source Reuters cites.
Yes, it's obviously a lie, and yet Reuters published it. Probably because of a combination of them knowing they'll generally get away without anybody pointing out the lie, and the fact good things could happen for the author, editor, or both.
Last time I had to start from scratch with my bookmarks, I saved every news site I could locate. The fallout from this has been an endless bunch of deletions on account of the level of dishonesty I found at each site. It's a darned weak defense, but I must confess Reuters is the last survivor in the Bookmark folder titled "News". Like with this story, they lie a lot, but they were the "least bad" of all of them. A new addition to that folder last week was the Independent of the UK. Likely they'll get the ax too, but for the moment these two supplement the news aggregation sites like this one and xymphora.
It's significant to me the apartheid Jewish State is worried enough about Iranian missiles to force the publication of this kind of lies. Iran may have limited resources, but that nation appears to have concentrated on its missile program to the exclusion of many others. They have had many years to work on the problems of manufacturing accurate and reliable rockets, and their efforts are beginning to pay off. The US of A has been littering battlefields around the world with examples of its own technology, and inevitably some of those high-technology weapons fall into unfriendly hands. A cruise missile which skids to a halt on a sand dune will allow the finders to examine the engine, guidance systems, and anything else of interest. The US spy drone was brought down by Iran almost intact, and Iranian clones are already flying.
Because Iran's problems are nearby, it doesn't need long range missiles. Indeed, according to the wiki of the Khorramshahr missile, it was deliberately limited in both size and range. After all, Iran has no conceivable use of an ICBM, and besides being very expensive, long range missiles give the Zionists and their US puppets something to scream about. As if the reality matters, this blog story is all about a deliberate lie.
Multiple warheads are the latest Iranian innovation, and it is one I've been expecting. Half a dozen guided bomblets will do a lot more damage than a single large warhead.
If consumer devices are being fitted with dual-use satellite navigation, why not warheads? Why not three or four navigation receivers - hard for the defender to jam them all. And if inertial guidance is cheap enough, the missile builders could attach one of those as a backup. The "Ring laser gyroscope" wiki is what I'm referring to now.
Posted by: Zachary Smith | Dec 4 2018 20:06 utc | 11
@7 karlof1... i thought it would be obvious i was being sarcastic!
Posted by: james | Dec 4 2018 20:15 utc | 12
Thanks!
Even Zerohedge posted the article with no verification. This war mongering crap is really getting out of hand!
Posted by: ken | Dec 4 2018 20:23 utc | 13
Of course most of it is a lie. Western press is more spam than anything else.
Now the weapons we posses are of course legitimate weapons and wepons posessed by those that do not subscribe to our world order are illegitimate.
That it is obvious.
Unfortunately some some rogue nations such as Russia and china mainly have acquired vast quantities of illegitimate weapons during many years. This is a threat to us, world peace and is intolerable.
Our weapons on the other hand are peaceful and only for the purpose of punishing bad guys and are thus legit.
The Iranian excuse of self defense is a false premise as no one threatens them much. And not all the time. Rocket man is also evil. And Maduro. And Castro.
Israel is full of peace loving people. Syria is bad. Gas.
This is what I got skimming MSM. I will go and have a bath, I feel dirty.
;)
Posted by: Den Lille Abe | Dec 4 2018 20:30 utc | 14
'Gotta get a new war on every now and then. That's what we do, nothin' wrong with that!'
Posted by: Quentin | Dec 4 2018 21:06 utc | 15
The true Axis of Evil are on the ropes. MBS, Netanyahu and Trump are all dealing with bad political shit., perhaps ending their reign. And this is where these people are at their most dangerous form. Because nothing will divert from their problems like a nice juicy war. And that is why a war with Iran is more probable than ever. So do not discount these warnings. Don’t forget how Iraq started.
And then god, if there is one, help the world.
Posted by: Alpi57 | Dec 5 2018 1:26 utc | 16
"Don't think it can be stated often enough that Reuters & AP are owned by the Rothschilds. " @9
Is this true? What is the evidence?
Posted by: bevin | Dec 5 2018 2:02 utc | 17
Over on the last Open Thread I commented, I think twice, about how Reuters was first doing a big special on China and what they call their Muslim Gulag and then there is another Reuters special vilifying Iran but I can't remember the details.
Suffice to say that their are a lot of Winston Smiths out there these days, probably being paid a bundle, to write/create/fabricate/obfuscate and otherwise lie about how the world really works....centering around that God of Mammon/private finance thing I keep preaching about
Blessed will come the day when all finance is public. Would that the rising voice of the global masses could focus on that one structural change to the Western social contract.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 5 2018 2:10 utc | 18
DUH!!!!
I found out the patch of skin on my face that was ugly is not cancerous so I am a bit spacey I think.
Fancy that, here I am commenting on the posting thread of b running with the Reuters Iran smear of my previous comment..........
Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 5 2018 2:14 utc | 19
Reuters is owned by the Thomsons' Woodbridge Group. The Thomsons, a Canadian family, are Presbyterians, of Scottish origin.
AP is a cooperative, owned by its member newspapers, so far as I know.
As Bebel once said anti-semitism is for fools.
Posted by: bevin | Dec 5 2018 2:24 utc | 20
Karlof1 @ 7: John Bolton has his big white moustache too in the belief that this will lend him the same level of gravitas that a big white moustache gives to Daddy Walrus (of Astroboy cartoon fame) or any of these other cartoon characters here:
https://twitter.com/hamillhimself/status/977542311503650816
Posted by: Jen | Dec 5 2018 3:37 utc | 21
bolton reminds me of yosemite sam, lol... i think that is who he fashions himself after...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ-BOqQw_TQ
Posted by: james | Dec 5 2018 4:08 utc | 22
@ 20, excellent.
@ 23 i think yosemite had more gravitas, and a better grasp of world affairs.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Dec 5 2018 4:51 utc | 23
Every now and then I check the site belonging to the son of a Famous Zionist Author of the apartheid Jewish State to see what crap is currently being peddled there. Lo and behold, on the first page this morning was this title from yesterday:
Iran vows to increase missile range despite looming UN meet
Source: Iran vows to increase missile range despite looming UN meet | The Times of Israel
Going to the linked "source", here is what I found inside the hasbara piece. (Yes, they lie to the local Zionists same as they do to those of us who don't live in God's Favorite One-Holer)
“One of our most important programs is increasing the range of missiles and ammunition,” Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh told the state-linked Fars news agency in comments reported by Reuters.
Now this is an example of economical lying - get the BS into the record anywhere, and start referring to that same BS from all directions. Wonder if Reuters will back down on this. It will surprise me if they do, for brazening it out seems to be the gold standard of professional liars. For example, the UK Guardian STILL hasn't backed off the obvious whopper it published about Assange meeting Manafort.
Posted by: Zachary Smith | Dec 5 2018 5:48 utc | 24
james @6--
Bolton has "stature"? I though he only had girth, like Pompeo, and bombasity.
Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 4, 2018 1:10:32 PM | 7
Karlof1 @ 7: John Bolton has his big white moustache too in the belief that this will lend him the same level of gravitas that a big white moustache gives to Daddy Walrus (of Astroboy cartoon fame) or any of these other cartoon characters here:
https://twitter.com/hamillhimself/status/977542311503650816
Posted by: Jen | Dec 4, 2018 10:37:55 PM | 22
It is true that Bolton is relatively shrimpy in statue, but he represents Walrus-Americans who are a subspecies of concern, on the account of decreasing numbers and the disturbing drop in the average weight of specimen (compare with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Presidents_Taft_and_Diaz,_Oct._1909.jpg )
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Dec 5 2018 7:29 utc | 25
Thanks Reuters!
Stories inspired by the You Know Whos fear of Iran's missiles makes "Israel's" ambiguous Nuclear Arsenal seem more imaginary than ever.
If "Israel" had Real Nukes instead of Imaginary Nukes they'd have told everyone and be gloating about it 24/7. But they're not, are they?
Why doesn't Reuters break with Tr-r-adition and give Investigative Journalism a whirl?
I'd like to know:
1. Whose pockets did the Nuke Arsenal Budget disappear into?
2. Where is the loot now?
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Dec 5 2018 7:56 utc | 26
I was very sorry to read that and still hope there is an explanation that Reuters has to defend themselves. There are so few news outlets that can be relied upon now but Reuters was one I had pinned my hopes and faith on.
Posted by: RBHoughton | Dec 5 2018 9:53 utc | 27
Hoarsewhisperer | Dec 5, 2018 2:56:24 AM | 27
Shhh! Don't spill the beans!
Seriously, if you spend a while browsing the land of webpolitic, then every day you will read somewhere that 'Israel has between 200 and 400 nuclear warheads' as a bald statement of fact. However, apart from Mordechai Vanunu, what evidence is there of their existence? My understanding of nuclear warheads (if indeed they actually exist at all) is that they need constant maintenance. The metal casing around the fissile core becomes brittle relatively quickly, the atomic structure itself being broken down by the constant bombardment of high energy particles.
So you have to keep replacing this casing, a tricky high hazard technical task, then dispose of the highly radiated debris and so on. All difficult, all expensive, all risky.
If, as we are told, the virtue of nuclear weapons is their deterrent value, then wouldn't it make far more sense to spread it about that you do possess them, rather than taking on the complex and dangerous task of actually producing them?
Could Saint Mordechai actually be part of a ruse, a strategy of deception, a feint? Oy vey!
Posted by: Ross | Dec 5 2018 12:03 utc | 28
psychohistorian | Dec 4, 2018 9:14:10 PM | 20
Yeah, I can relate; I had a prostate scare about 6 years ago.
No problem; so far so good... ;-)
Posted by: V | Dec 5 2018 12:23 utc | 29
Knowing who owns Reuters that comes not as a surprise. In fact it is as it should be. The zionist media is the source of fake news and propaganda. This si all part of the zionist wet dream of establishing a "greater Israel". I doubt if the entity called Israel will exists by 2025.
Posted by: Hem Lock | Dec 5 2018 14:46 utc | 31
@dadooronron - Tried to donate, but "page not found."
Sorry, may mistake. The link above is now corrected.
And also here: Fundraiser - Please Support Moon of Alabama
The Reuters story is no longer on the front page of the web site.
I am a regular enough scanner of Reuters to say they might have pulled that story down early.....good work b!!!!
Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 5 2018 20:04 utc | 33
Once again Trudeau the toady is the great satan's eager little beaver...
Canada's Arrest of Huawei CFO Sparks China's Protest
"...A Canadian source with knowledge of the arrest said the US is alleging Meng tried to evade the American embargo against Iran. Beijing protested the arrest and urged Ottawa to immediately release her as he faces extradition to the US."
Posted by: John Gilberts | Dec 6 2018 10:08 utc | 34
I wish I could say that I'm surprised by b's story. The New Yorker published articles by Jeffrey Goldberger in 2002 that were both highly inflammatory and free of facts. In a two-part article, he claimed that Hezbollah had penetrated deeply into the US and was running a black market cigarette market to obtain funding for terrorist activities. In the same year, the New Yorker published another Goldberg work of fiction, "The Terror" which claimed that Saddam Husain had close ties to Al Qaida. This story was based on a single source who proved to be bogus.
What matters is that his propaganda pieces did the job they were meant to do. Cheney referenced Goldberg's articles on television. Former CIA head James Wooley brandished a copy of Goldberg's "The Terror" before Congress. The New Yorker disgraced itself by participating in the propaganda barrage in the run-up to the catastrophic invasion of Iraq. It is disgracing itself once again
Posted by: David Valachovic | Dec 6 2018 19:27 utc | 35
The piece is a willful manipulation of the original FARS piece it is based on.
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Posted by: Phil | Dec 17 2018 4:51 utc | 36
The comments to this entry are closed.
jesus, they're really ramping up the propaganda lately. i just thought there was a deluge, now i'm learning what a tsunami really looks like.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Dec 4 2018 17:08 utc | 1