Monday, May 2, 2011

Reuters still covering for Iran

Reuters has a long history of censoring the various findings of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with respect to Iran's nuclear program.  The IAEA concluded in October 2009 that Iran had acquired “sufficient information to be able to design and produce a workable” atom bomb and the following month asked Iran to respond to evidence suggesting that Iranian scientists had experimented with an advanced nuclear warhead design.  Iran refused to do so.

Yet in story after story, Reuters correspondents choose to withhold this critical information from readers and instead revert to their standard propaganda mantra suggesting that only the United States, Israel, and the amorphous "West" believe Iran is developing nuclear weapons:
The United States and its Western allies suspect Iran is using its nuclear energy program as a cover to build bombs. Iran denies the allegation, insisting it needs nuclear technology to generate more electricity.
This key omission is of course, intentional, and reflects Reuters' efforts to conceal from readers the widespread and independently-held conclusion that Iran is indeed, aggressively pursuing the bomb.  Rather, the dispute is framed merely as a "he said/she said".

Nor does Reuters note, as we did in October of 2009, that based on the widening positive gap between electricity production and electricity consumption in Iran, it is absurd to suggest (or parrot) that Iran "needs nuclear technology to generate more electricity".

Why does Reuters, which clings to claims of being an unbiased and transparent news agency, continue to cover for the Iranian regime?

2 comments:

  1. Rubbish. "Information" to make an atom bomb is commonly found in public libraries and declassified military documents (Google the "Nth Country Experiment") so that doesn't prove anything, and Iran has repeatedly said that it can't refute charged in the "alleged studies" unless it can see the documents, and the US has prevented the IAEA from sharing those documents with Iran but Iran. Furthermore, Iran's nuclear program started under the Shah with the assistance and encouragement of the US precisely because it makes economic sense for Iran to diversify its energy. You use a chart of electricity supply/demand that goes until 2008 where as countries have to plan for 50-100 years ahead of time.

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  2. Nice straw man. You don't address the point of our post which is that Reuters consistently fails to report that it is not solely the US or "the West" that recognizes Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons but also the UN via the IAEA.

    Iran is not merely looking for info to build a bomb; it has tested components needed to arm its long-range missiles with nuclear warheads. A topic for late-night reading at the public library? We think not.

    And incidentally, Iran has the third largest oil reserves in the world; at current rates of production these will last at least another 100 years, assuming no new oil is discovered.

    The notion that Iran wants a nuclear program for electricity generation is beyond farce.

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