Farnaz Fassihi is the New York Times reporter for the United Nations. She often also writes about Iran.
Earlier this month her report How Iran’s Hard-Liners Prevailed and Sabotaged U.S. Peace Deal (archived) claimed that that a former official without current responsibilities, one Hussein Taeb, had ordered the bombing of three tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. An act, which she claimed, had derailed peace efforts:
This account of the inner deliberations of Iran’s leadership is based on interviews with eight Iranian officials, three members of the Revolutionary Guards, four former officials and a review of dozens of speeches and comments by government officials and military generals from June to September published in the Iranian press and social media. The officials interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss delicate issues of national security.
As if any of those people would speak to a NY Times reporter who is not even in Iran …
The report was widely mocked as mere fantasy by various experts on, and from Iran:
Seyed Mohammad Marandi @s_m_marandi – 15:37 UTC · Sep 13, 2026
Fake news by the person who falsely claimed in September 2022 that Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei was gravely ill.
Such decisions are not made by individuals.
Today Farnaz Fassihi has written from her original beat, the headquarter of the United Nation:
U.N. Leader Uses Final Speech to Issue Stark Warning – NY Times, Sep 22 2026
António Guterres, the secretary general of the United Nations, delivered his final address to the General Assembly in New York on Tuesday morning, laying out the perils the world faces and urging leaders to reverse course before it was too late.
Mr. Guterres, 77, issued a blunt assessment of the state of global affairs, warning of the need to deal with urgent challenges at a time when the divisions between nations only seem to be growing.
…
Mr. Guterres called out Russia by name for invading Ukraine and causing human suffering by disrupting global food and energy supply chains with its war. But he made no direct mention of the United States and Israel’s war on Iran and the turmoil and civilian casualties that it has caused.Instead, he spoke only in broad terms of unspecified regional confrontations.
“Across the Middle East, conflicts are cascading,” Mr. Guterres said. “Enough is enough.” He called for all nations involved to return to diplomacy.
The emphasized quote is a highly misleading.
Guterres spoke at length about the main conflict in Middle East, especially about the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
The New York Times, and Farnaz Fassihi, make no mention of this (video):
Peace is far more than the absence of conflict. It is the presence of restraint of power by law. It is the recognition, as enshrined in the UN Charter, that force cannot be the final arbiter of whose lives, rights and future matter.
Today that principle is under profound strain. Across the Middle East, conflicts are cascading. So-called ceasefires have amounted to little more than “lesser fires” – with civilians continuing to pay the price.
Enough is enough.
I appeal to the leaders in this Chamber to maximize this High-Level week for de-escalation and dialogue. Together, let’s send a clear message from this Hall:
The fighting must stop. Humanitarian aid must flow. And navigational rights and freedoms must be fully restored in accordance with international law.
Amid the turmoil engulfing the region, we must not lose sight of the devastating situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
It is nearly three years since the abhorrent terror attacks by Hamas on 7 October.
What followed was an onslaught on Palestinians in Gaza, with a scale of killing and destruction unlike anything I have witnessed in all my years as Secretary-General.
The International Court of Justice has issued legally binding provisional measures in the case entitled: “Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip.”
In an advisory opinion last year, the Court was clear that the United Nations needs to be allowed to perform our mandates in Gaza – and for our staff and humanitarian personnel to be protected.
All parties must comply with international law and the Court’s orders.
Meanwhile violence, displacement and settlement expansion by Israel in the Occupied West Bank are bulldozing the path to peace and raising the spectre of ethnic cleansing. We cannot allow the two-State solution to disappear before our eyes.
The above passage of the speech received wide applause.
The New York Times and Farnaz Fassihi summarize the above as Gutteres speaking only “in broad terms of unspecified regional confrontations”.
To do so is more than being mistaken.
