Iran War Propaganda in Western Media

I recently conducted an analysis on disinformation narratives about the alleged “rise of extremism in Bangladesh” circulated in Indian media after the political transition of August 2024. This work contributes to discussions on information disorder, cross-border disinformation, and Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI), particularly in the context of South Asian media ecosystems. Understanding how such narratives are constructed and amplified is important for strengthening fact-checking, media accountability, and information integrity. Have a read: https://lnkd.in/gyV3xUqT #FIMI | #Disinformation | #InformationDisorder | #InformationIntegrity | #MediaResearch | #FactChecking | #SouthAsia

Pakistani foreign policy has never been worded better: “The result is a familiar but increasingly fraught geopolitical balancing act: neutrality in public, caution in private, and constant diplomatic engagement behind the scenes.”

#ExpertSpeak | #ORFIndia Dr Soumya Awasthi argues that tensions between #Afghanistan and #Pakistan highlight the growing importance of digital information #warfare. Afghanistan’s decentralised networks use memes, hashtags, and rapid messaging to shape narratives and outpace Pakistan’s centralised communication. Humour and viral content influence perceptions, exposing weaknesses in official responses and demonstrating how online narratives can rival traditional #military and political strategies. Read the analysis 👉 https://or-f.org/37941

Mojtaba Sets The Price For Peace https://lnkd.in/gHzk4KYQ

Recent intelligence indicates that the critical divisions of the #IslamicState faction established in eastern Somalia have been successfully dismantled. The latest operation in the Golis Mountains is reported to have eliminated approximately 89% of the group operational capacity building on the momentum of last year campaign. This decisive blow has severely diminished the group prospects. For over a decade the rugged terrain of the Golis Mountains had served as a sanctuary enabling the militants to regroup and host foreign fighters intent on creating a significant branch of the so‑called Islamic State. With their stronghold now shattered the group ability to sustain influence in the region has been drastically curtailed.

Unity and Civilizational Continuity of Iran Many contemporary geopolitical analyses of Iran suffer from a methodological limitation: they approach the country through the narrow framework of modern state politics, often ignoring the deeper civilizational context that has shaped Iranian society for millennia. Such perspectives—frequently emerging from relatively young European political traditions—attempt to interpret a complex and ancient civilization through analytical models that are only a few centuries old. This approach risks overlooking the profound historical continuity and cultural cohesion that characterize the Iranian plateau. Iran represents one of the oldest continuous civilizations in the world. Archaeological and historical evidence demonstrates that organized societies and urban settlements in the region date back to at least the fifth millennium BCE, with earlier cultural roots stretching even further into prehistory. Civilizations such as Elam, centered in Susa around 3200 BCE, formed the early foundations of political and cultural life in the region. Over subsequent millennia, the Medes, Achaemenids, Parthians, and Sasanians established political systems that unified diverse peoples across vast territories, creating imperial structures that integrated multiple ethnicities, languages, and religions under shared administrative and cultural frameworks. The Persian imperial tradition itself demonstrates a unique model of governance rooted in cultural pluralism and administrative tolerance. The Achaemenid Empire, founded by Cyrus the Great in the sixth century BCE, incorporated regions stretching from the Indus Valley to the Balkans, yet preserved local customs, languages, and religious traditions within its administrative system. This capacity to integrate diversity without erasing identity became a defining feature of the Iranian civilizational experience. Consequently, Iranian unity has historically been less a product of ethnic homogeneity and more a function of shared civilizational memory, language networks, cultural production, and geographic continuity across the Iranian plateau. Persian language, literature, and administrative traditions have acted as binding forces linking diverse communities—including Persians, Kurds, Azeris, Baluch, Arabs, and others—within a broader Iranian cultural sphere. In this sense, modern analyses that reduce Iran to contemporary political factions or short-term geopolitical dynamics fail to capture the deeper structures of identity that have sustained the region for more than seven millennia. Iran is not merely a modern nation-state but the continuation of a long-standing civilizational ecosystem. Understanding its unity therefore requires engagement with its historical depth, cultural complexity, and enduring traditions—dimensions that cannot be adequately interpreted through frameworks developed only in the recent centuries of European political thought.

The long arm of Iran is extending further than many realize. From the local to the global, the scope of this threat is shifting rapidly: On the Ground: We are seeing the tragic human cost firsthand with the horrific attacks on Hatzalah ambulances. When first responders and medical infrastructure become targets, it represents a dangerous escalation by proxy forces. On the Global Stage: The threat is no longer confined to the Middle East. Recent developments confirm that Iran possesses intermediate-range ballistic missiles capable of reaching 4,000 km. Do the math: The UK is approximately 3,550 km from Iran. Geopolitical borders are shrinking, and the security radius just got a lot wider. The assumption that remote or Western assets remain comfortably out of reach is mathematically obsolete. Watch out, UK. 🎯 #GlobalSecurity #Geopolitics #DefenseStrategy #Iran #UKSecurity #Hatzalah #MiddleEast #MilitaryTech #InternationalRelations

The joint statement from AHPRA acknowledging Islamophobia was needed. But it also leaves me wondering why did it have to come to this? Across Australia, many Muslim community members are currently navigating environments that feel increasingly difficult. In workplaces, in public spaces, and within professional settings. The current climate is not something many people are imagining, it is something many are feeling. For Muslim women in particular, especially those who visibly identify as Muslim, the experience can be even heavier. Visibility should never mean vulnerability. Yet for many, it does. Fear-mongering narratives and divisive rhetoric do not build safe or thriving societies. They create suspicion, distance, and harm. They make people feel like they need to shrink parts of who they are just to exist comfortably in the spaces they belong. That is not the kind of society we should be proud of. Statements like this matter. They acknowledge what many have been experiencing. But acknowledgement alone is not enough. What truly strengthens our communities is how we collectively respond through our voices, our actions, and our willingness to stand alongside one another. When we raise our voices together, when we choose compassion over fear and unity over division, our communities become stronger. And that is the Australia many of us I am sure want to see.

Let's be bluntly honest - great power in the hands of socially inadequate leaders supported by arms companies and shareholders focused on unloading their products to maximise profits and politicians and officials whose priority is keeping their jobs will never result in protection of civilians. While we still have a belief that wars are 'won' or that bombing towns and cities is defensive we will never change. https://lnkd.in/eAg7TfeQ