VOL-II, ISSUE- II (Fall 2009)

TREATMENT OF IRAN-US STAND OFF BY THE PAKISTAN ENGLISH PRESS

Dr. Muhammad Nawaz
Noman Yaser
Dr. Saqib Riaz

ABSTRACT

This article describes the treatment of Iran US stand-off by three English dailies—Dawn, The Nation, and The News—front, back and editorial pages for the period of three months. Data is collected form 135 newspapers consist of 45 issues of each paper. Findings of the study reveal that almost all the selected papers published more news item and spared more space by their front and back pages than the number of photos and the space given to them. The editorial pages treatment of the papers shows that all the papers have published significantly more articles in support of Iran peaceful Nuclear Program followed by editorials and editorial notes with significant space as compared to their columns and letter to editors.

IMPORTANCE

A major breakthrough in the United States and Iran’s relationships was observed after 11th, February, 1979 the day of Islamic revolution of Iran. Later that year, young revolutionaries seized the U.S embassy and took its employees as hostage. The United States and Iran have bitter adversaries ever since. Young revolutionaries stormed the compound in November of 1979 and held embassy for 444 days. Garry Sick was on the national Security Council during the revolution and hostage crises. He says that it was an initial and deeply shocking introduction of fundamentalist government. “It was the first major crisis that we had on television for the daily treatment of the crises,” Said Sick. Now a day, this conflict has achieved great coverage at the media (www.voanews.com).
            On 12 April 2006 Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made an important announcement, declaring that Iran had mastered the nuclear fuel cycle for uranium enrichment. He reiterated that Iran’s nuclear energy was for peaceful purposes and not for manufacturing nuclear weapons. This assurance, however, is somehow not accepted by the US and EU countries, who remain deeply suspicious of Iran’s nuclear programme. This paper is speculative in nature and involves crystal gazing as it is based on the supposition, that given compulsions and dynamics, Iran will become a nuclear state in due course of time. The speculation is, however dependent upon various assessments. At this point of time it is important to note that whether it turn out to be a factor of stability or instability due to the new nuclear balance of power created in the Middle East? What are the variables that could intervene? The study ends with some projections--short and long term-- and envisages likely scenarios of nuclearised Iran in the Middle East (Hasan, 2006).
            The world’s attention is focused on the fighting in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, but the context leads to Iran. Unfortunately, the diplomacy dealing with that issue is constantly outstripped by events (Kissenger, 2006).             After a glance at the world complicated situation, it can be illustrated that there is a very tense situation between West and Islamic world. Besides Kashmir, Palestine and Afghanistan crises, the Iraq and particularly Iran nuclear issue has gained top position at the world agenda. It is just a tussle between two civilizations, because of its importance in term of so many reasons. The United States is of the view that Iran’s nuclear program is a serious threat to world peace.  Keeping in view the importance of the selected issue for research, it will be a matter of great interest to explore the coverage of front and back pages and treatment of the editorial pages of the issue of Iran US stand-off by the daily Dawn, The Nation and The News.

BACKGROUND

The 1970 was a decade of violence for Iran. The early years were that of urban terrorism, bomb explosions, and assassinations. During 1976 and 1977 such incidents had decreased but another wave of unrest started when the government decided to impose more restrictions on the political activities. Students, Lawyers, Intellectual, writers and Ulema all resented the new restrictions. Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran on February 1, 1979. A big mob of more 30, 00,000 Iranian greeted the Ayatollah Khomeini on his returns to Tehran. In October, the former Shah of Iran, who fled to Mexico reached America for treatment. The Shah’s arrival further infuriated the Iranians and on November 4, the U.S. embassy in Tehran was occupied by the students. The entire staff of embassy was taken as hostages. The student's action t occupy the Embassy was supported by Ayatollah Khomeini, who dubbed the staff as spied. The American Government also reacted strongly and stopped all oil imports from Iran besides freezing Iranian assets in the U.S. banks. The efforts of U.S.A many European countries as well of United Nations Secretary General failed to solve this problem (Mahmood, 1998).
            Like peering at same object through different lenses, Iran and the West, particularly the United-States have profoundly different views of the Iranian revolution. For Iranian it is seen as the toppling of an autocratic monarch, the Shah of Iran, who had ruled the country with the military and financial support of the United States and his replacement by a theocratic government by Ayatollah Khomeini. With the passage of time Iran became much more nationalistic and much less interested and supporting the revolution. The west led by the United States, insists that Iran, now has ambitions to be nuclear power. Iran, the fourth largest oil exporter, says its nuclear program is for energy needs alone. But calls by its president Mahmoud Ahmedinijad for Israel to “wipe off the map” have destroyed western calls for program to curb (www.voanews.com).

            The research literature on the coverage of international news and issues has covered a wide range of topics and embody a number of different conceptual approaches. Some studies have examined the images of foreign nations, particularly actual or potential enemies, as presented in the media of selected countries. Some of these studies have been international and comparative in scope; others have focused on one nation’s media, looking at the coverage of specific countries or of foreign news in general (Larson, 1990). Through the findings of these studies the researcher points out a list of factors that take part in shaping foreign countries images in the U.S. media. The rationale of this paper is to explore nature of treatment of United States media in framing of foreign countries images in context of the socio-economic, political, military, cultural, and ideological interests. In addition, the two important concepts “framing” and “image” are also defined for the better understanding of the patterns of media coverage.

            To know how the other countries are presented in United States media the understanding of the concept of framing is very important. An analytical technique of framing was developed by social psychologists (Goffman, 1974; Entamn, 1991; Gitlin, 1980) to study and explain the role of the news media in defining issues for the public. Several studies suggested that the concept of ‘framing’ is now more or less established as a field in mass communication studies. Entman argued in an often quoted, relatively recent definition of framing, “is to select some aspects of a perceived reality and make them more salient in a communication text, in such a way as to promote a particular problem definition, casual interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment recommendation for the item described” (Entman, 1993, p. 52). According to him “frames are information-processing schemata (Entman, 1991, p. 7) that operates by selecting and highlighting some features of reality while omitting others”(Entman, 1993, p. 53). Gitlin (1980) defines media frames as “persistent patterns of cognition, interpretation, and presentation of selection, emphasis, and exclusion, by which symbol-handlers routinely organize discourse, whether verbal or visual”. He also challenged researchers to look at persistent patterns not just isolated stories (Gitlin, 1980, p.7., see also Carragee, 1991, p. 6). For McGrath (2002) “framing devices are operative, whether consciously or unconsciously, in the media reporting of unions, feminism, environmentalism, antiracism, lesbian and gay activism, and most certainly antiglobalization protests” (p. 390). According to Goffman, events may be interpreted according to one of three frameworks: natural, social or institutional. Events interpreted according to natural frameworks are perceived as unguided and not subject to moral judgment (he suggests that earthquakes are an example).

Actions interpreted according to social frameworks, on the other hand, are described as “guided doings " and are subject to social appraisals (p. 22). Baran and Davis (2000) stated that the “Goffman’s theory of ‘frame analysis’ is a microscopic theory that focuses on how individuals learn to routinely make sense of their social world” (p. 270). Frames are the principles of selection, emphasis, and presentation composed of tacit theories about what exists, what happens, and what matters. Framing is considered as a central organizing idea to make sense of event or an issue (Gamson, 1989, p. 157; Gamson and Modigliani, 1987, p. 43). Tuchman (1978) offered a similar definition for media frames: “the news frame organizes everyday reality and the news frames is the part and parcel of everyday reality it is an essential feature of news” (p. 193). Framing is a term that implies how an event is portrayed in a particular story or article. The notion of framing appears to be emerging as a significant one in the mass communication theorization and research. This theory examines how writers frame a story (Atheide, 1976).

James Mann discussed the media treatment of foreign affairs reporting and revealed that reporters do not always get the story right; neither do their editors and publishers.

This is especially the case when they report about distant lands and unfamiliar cultures…the readers, who are already conditioned by the prevalent stereotypes, accept the misleading stories as true and react accordingly. The consequences can be disastrous media effects are enhanced when the information conveyed in stories in unfamiliar to audience and cannot be readily verified through their personal experiences or competing stories. This is why foreign affairs reporting demands the attention of experienced, highly skilled, and well informed reporters” (Mann, 1999, p. 102). Moreover, the notion of media frame has been used loosely and often left undefined. It is frequently used in a vague way, or as a metaphor (Tankard et al, 1991, p. 2). In general, news frames are constructed from and embodied in the key words. Jamieson and Waldman (2003) suggested “the metaphor of a frame-a fixed border to determine what information is included and what is ignored” (p. xiii). For Reese, framing is ultimately “an exercise of power” (Resse, 2001, p. 10). Gitlin described to the elite’s control of media frames an essential hegemonic function of media content. In addition, Tuchman’s labeled framing as content production. Both argued that media routines favored elite opinion, thus implicitly making the case that the elite sources are influential in constructing frames. In that sense, frames are indicators of power, as Entman called it as frames are “the imprint of power” (Entman, 1993, p. 55). Furthermore, Gitlin (1980) described frames as “a significant social force” that formulates public ideology. He studied how and through what kind of frames that ideology was formed (p. 9). Hackett (1984) draws on Gitlin’s definition of media frames and he argues that, “the ideology provides a framework through which events are presented” (Hackett, 1984 cited in Mughees, 1993, p. 66). According to Berenger (2004), “frames make messages memorable and understandable” (cited in King & Lester, 2005, p. 626). Bourdieu (1998) maintained that “even in countries where there is freedom of expression, there is a form of invisible self-censorship. Journalists, writers, and producers realize what is permissible in media, and they pre-edit their own work to be consistent with those perceived norms-all in the interest of remaining employed in the media companies. For example, news producers at ABC “just know” they should avoid stories about new animated movies not produced by their corporate parent, Disney” (cited in Straubhaar & Larose, 2002, p. 54).

 Media critics, Herman and Chomsky (2000) maintained that the media frame plays a vital role in presenting, shaping or destroying the picture of an event or story (p.xiii). They revealed that the U.S. media framed the Seattle protesters as “all purpose agitators” (U.S. News& World Report), “terminally aggrieved” (Philadelphia Inquirer), simply against world trade (ABC News), and making “much ado about nothing” (CNN), but the bases of the protesters grievances were almost entirely unexplored (p. xiii). The literature on framing indicates that, (1) Media frames can play a vital role in stimulating opposition to or support for an event or issue. (2) Media frames provide moral judgment, causal interpretation and remedy/solution for media-focused problems. (3) Media frames generally represent specific ideology. (4) Media frames including attractive words, metaphors, phrases etc also help to determine the “tone” of media coverage of an event or issue.

The mass media play a very significant role in the formulation of images and beliefs of the people. John Galtung and Mari Holmboe Ruge call the media as the “first rate competitors for the number one position as international image former” (Galtung & Ruge, 1965, p. 65; see also Tanstall, 1970, p. 260). Cohen further describes that “most of us gather our impressions of our countries and societies from the media” (Mughees, 1997, p. 33). Lippmann descries the social and political images by labeling them as “pictures in our heads” (Mughees, 1991, p. 8). “Image” is a subtle mental integration of various attributes that the person projects and that people perceive and interpret in light of their beliefs, values and expectations (Renato Taguriri, cited in Nimmo, 1978, pp. 43-44). An “image” is everything a person has learned relevant to a situation and to the acts that occur within it… and image is a tendency composed of thoughts, feelings, and inclinations. Images change constantly with experience (p. 226). Boulding (1969) describes various factors that play an important role in the formulation of national image in international system…The national image is essentially a historical image-that is an image which extends through time, backward into a supposedly recorded or perhaps mythological past and forward into an imagined future. The more conscious a people is of its history, the stronger the national image is likely to be.

Wars and hostilities among nations also formulate national images as do geographical space, past friendliness and alliances, and strengths and weaknesses of the nations in terms of military, economic and  politic capacity (pp. 424-26). More directly, media’s stereotypes, organizational ideology, corporate and government influence, among other factors, help to create and reinforce nation’s image in media coverage (Hanan, 2006, p. 7). Besides “many prejudices about nations are carried forward through the generations, so that historical events of long ago remain decisive in nation’s image (Kunczik, 1997, p. 3). Therefore, a country’s image can be defined as “a representation of a country’s positive or negative standing in media, in terms of historical, political, economic, military, diplomatic and religious context” (Hanan, 2006, p. 8). “Image” can be defined as a conceptual picture in the mind of a person, about a person, thing or a country and it may be a product of some specific political, social, or religious background or circumstances. In journalistic terminology, image of a country can be defined in the terms of political, economical, military, diplomatic and religious relations in the changing domestic, regional and international scenario and its effects on the thoughts, behaviors, feelings, and inclinations of the owners of the media organization (Noshina, 2000, p. 6). The “image of a country” in media analyzed through the language used by media, including value-landed (words, phrase, metaphors, sentences and adjectives etc.,) which appear in support or opposition to that country’s government policies on various domestic and international issues (Hanan, 2006, p. 151).

A sufficient amount of literature was available related to the coverage of image of the Muslim World in the U.S. media that provided a comprehensive knowledge about the treatment of Islam and Muslim world in the U.S. media. Said (1987) observed that the tone of the Western media was against Islam, and the Western media portray Islam as a violent and destructive religion for individuals and civilizations (p. 93). During the 1979 hostage crisis, ABC commentator asked an “expert” whether being a Shi’ite Muslim meant being “anti-American”, he replied that it did. Over film footage of Muslim crowds chanting “God is Great”, ABC commentator Frank Reynolds said that he supposed their real meaning was: “Hatred of America”. Similarly, CBS’s Walter Cronkite spoke of Muslim hatred of this country (Said, 1981also see Mughees, 1995, p. 35). Esposito (1992) in his book the Islamic threat: myth and reality, gave a detailed picture of Islamic history, emergence of Islam, misinterpretation about Islamic laws and practices, gap between Western and Islamic world, the Islamic revolutionary Movements in all parts of the world, particularly in Iran and Algeria, and Rushdie affair, the civil war in Lebanon, Operation Desert Storm, the turmoil in the Soviet republics in Central Asia, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, presented an overview of Western media’s biased treatment with reference to Muslims and Muslim world (see chapter 6). Esposito further wrote about Edward Sid’s critique of orientalism, maintained “that though at time excessive, was insignificant in identifying deficiencies and bias in the scholarship of the past. However, new form of orientalism flourish today in the hands of those who equate revivalism, fundamentalism, or Islamic movements solely with radical revolutionaries, and who fail to focus on the vast majority of Islamically committed Muslims who belong to the moderate mainstream of society” (p. 202). He further asserted that this trend (and deficiency) has been reinforced by the realities of the marketplace. Publishing houses, journals, consulting firms, and the media seek out that which captures the headlines and all too often confirms stereotypes and fears of extremism and terrorism. Think how often any reference to an Islamic organization inevitably includes adjectives like “fundamentalism”, “conservativeness”, and “extremist” (p. 202). Mughees-uddin (1995), “Image of Iran in the Western media”, indicates that the major reason of negative image of Iran in the U.S. media is its “Islamic Character”-- which is portrayed as a threat to regional peace, security and the interest of U.S. and Israel. Generally, the Western media portray Iran as a “terrorist”, or a “fundamentalist” country. The notion of Islamic fundamentalism is mostly attributed to Iran and Iranian Muslims. He describes that the Western media is not only critical towards Islam but also helps to promote stereotypes about Muslim world and Islamic values. He concluded that the U.S. media has tried to create conflict and misunderstanding between Islam and Christianity by portraying Christianity as a symbol of tolerance and free market economy, whereas Islam as a religion of non-tolerant people (pp. 41-42).

            Soderlund & Schmitt (1986) analyzed 160 news items appeared in North and South American press related to El Salvador’s civil war. Their study revealed that the U.S. newspapers gave almost double coverage compared to Canadian media. In addition, the treatment of South American papers was more negative than North American newspapers. Which were “more international” in their portrayal of the crisis, they did not present this international involvement in a positive light (p. 274). In another study of the coverage of Cuban image in major news networks of Canada (CBC and CTV) and the United States (ABC, CBS, and NBC) from 1988 to 1992, Soderlund, et al. (1998) revealed that the Cuban image in both countries television were negative since Cuban revolution and the end of the Cold War did not change, in any fundamental way, the Cuba’s image in their coverage. They also pointed out that the Cuban image in U.S. television was dominantly influenced by ‘conflict and confrontation frames (para 1). Hachten & Hachten (1992) argued that in reporting the Gulf war, the U.S. media, CNN and other television broadcasts with the help of newest technology of small, lightweight cameras, portable up-links, digital editing, and suitcase-sized satellite telephones made it a “real-time war”. Especially CNN gave live bloody images of Gulf war on television screen for the whole global audience. The Gulf War was a violent conflict between Iraq and coalition forces led by the United States, which lasted for 42 days but turned the world into global community. He found that “this live global coverage passed through the prism of deep cultural difference between West and Islam.

To the West and some Arabs, Saddam Hussein (the former Iraqi President) was a dangerous, reckless tyrant, to millions of other Arabs and Moslems, he was as a hero who stood up to the West--a modern day Saladin” (p. 305). The various studies revealed that U.S. media supported U.S. foreign policy when U.S. involved in war or conflict and U.S. media were always highly critical to those countries from which U.S. involved in confrontation because of the following reasons (a) U.S. media helps to organize the American as well as the world public opinion in the favor of U.S. government policies, (b) U.S. media framed enemy state as a potential threat to U.S. interests, and (c) focuses on socio-economic, military and political weakness and confronting state and project American core values including, democracy, freedom of speech and expression and torchbearer of peace and tranquility.  The U.S says it wants a peaceful solution. An attack would not only risk Iranian retaliation it would be hard to justify legally. The U.S is said to have plans but it has plans for many contingencies and it has not taken a decision. Iran says its policy is “Yes” to enrichment but “No” to nuclear weapons. A fatwa against nuclear weapons has been issues by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini (Nuclear articles\BBC News Middle East, 2007).

            The United States is committed to pursuing a diplomatic solution to the challenges posed by Iran and we are making every effort to improve U.S.-Iranian relations. But that cannot happen without a change in the Iranian regime’s actions and policies.  Secretary Rice offered the Iranian Government an extraordinary opportunity, in June 2006, when she pledged to engage in direct talks alongside Russian, China, and our European partners if Iran verifiably suspends enrichment and cooperates with the IAEA. This offer remains on the table, and we will continue to make clear to the Iranian regime that the best to way to ensure its security is by complying with, not ignoring its international nuclear obligations and by seeking peace through negotiations with the U.S. and our partners. As the President has stated, we look forward to the day when the Iranian people live in freedom and America and Iran can be good friends and close partners in the cause of peace (Burns, 2007).

            Iran will never back down in a nuclear dispute with the West and is not interested in talks with the United States, its president said ahead of a previously unannounced visit by Russia's Foreign Minister. Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaking hours before he was due to meet Russia's Sergei Lavrov in Tehran, dismissed US offers of broader negotiations between the two foes if Tehran first halts atomic work which Washington fears is aimed at building bombs. "This nation will not negotiate with anyone over its obvious and legal rights," Ahmadinejad told student members in the gathering. Sergei Lavrov reiterated Russia's stand that only dialogue and not more penalties or military action as mooted in the United States, is the way to ease an escalating international stand-off over Iran's nuclear plans. The Lavrov visit coincides with a crucial round of talks in Tehran between officials from Iran and the UN International Atomic Energy Agency watchdog on implementing an August deal meant to resolve questions about past secret Iranian nuclear activity (Antony, 2007). http://www.globalresearch.ca.

           

METHODOLOGY

The total 270 issues of the three selected English dailies from January 1st to March 31st, 2008 are the universe of the study. All the statements from the officials representing USA,  European Union, Atomic Powers, IAEA, OIC, , Iran and Pakistan in term of news items or photographs and the editorial pages content published on the Iran US stand off are taken as unit of analysis. Systematic sampling procedure is adopted through which 135 newspapers (containing 45 issues of each newspaper) out of total 270 issues selected for the collection  of the data. The time period of the is consisted of three months, i,e., from 1st January to March 31st, 2008. Two separate coding sheets were prepared. The first one was used to collect data from the front and back pages of selected newspapers for the purpose to explore the number of news items and photo graphs published on the issue along with space given to them. The second one was used to collect data from the editorial pages of the selected newspaper for the purpose to explore the treatment of the said issue by the English national dailies.
            After developing a standardized coding sheet, data was collected from initially 21 newspapers containing 7 issues of each selected newspaper. Six coders (students) were properly trained and facilitated to check the authenticity of the coding sheet. Pilot study is made to check how reliable the coding process is (Hansen, A. et al., 1998). Reliability in content analysis is essentially about consistency: consistency between different coders (inter-coder reliability), and consistency of the individual coder’s coding practice over time (intra-coder reliability). There are several different ways of checking or measuring reliability in content analysis, from a simple check on the percentage of coding decisions which coders agree, to more complex formulae which take into account the degree to which a certain level of agreement would occur simply by chance in a set number of coding decisions (pp.120-21). Higher percentage of inter-coder reliability was observed. In this way, finally the required data from the selected 135 newspapers was collected. 

                        Coding Sheet 1 (used for front and back pages data collection)

    *: 1,2,3,4, & 5 show single, double, three, four and five columns respectively.
    UH*: upper half of the page, and LH* lower half of the page.

 

Coding Sheet 2  (used for editorial pages data collection)

                  The results of the study illustrate the coverage—opinion pages number of articles, editorials, editorial notes, columns, and letter to editor—and treatment—favorable, unfavorable and neutral stand—of the three national leading dailies ‘The Nation’, The News’ and ‘Dawn’ on the Iran Nuclear crisis for the period from January to March, 2007. This was the period in which the research issue had gained top position on media as well on the policy agendas through the world. The findings reveal each paper exclusive as well collective policy position of the issue. For instance, figure 1.5 shows the comparison of ‘The Nation’ has published more articles on the issue for the months of January and March compared to its article for the month of February and has published more editorials in January and March.

Iran-US Stand off  by Exclusive and collective papers editorial pages
 Figure 1.5 by the Nation                                 Figure 1.6  by Dawn
 
            It is observed form the findings of figure 1.6 that daily Dawn published significantly more articles on the issue for the month of March. While the results show that the paper has published more letters to editor for the month of February and March. It can be concluded that the paper has published more articles followed by letter to editor as compared to its number of editorials, editorial notes and columns published on the same issue.              
               Figure 1.7 by The News                                   Figure 1.8 by all the dailies
     
            The results of figure 1.7 show that ‘The News’ has published significantly more articles on the issue in the month of February. The paper has published significantly more editorial notes in the month of February while no editorial note has published on the issue for the month of January.  The findings further show more columns in the month of February and more letters to editor in the month of March on the issue compared to its number of letters to editor for the months of January and February.
            The results of figure 1.8 show all the selected three dailies comparison of opinion pages for the whole three months period. As it is observed from the empirical findings that the ‘The Nation’ has significantly published more articles compared to the number of articles published by ‘The News’ and ‘Dawn’ on the same issue for the selected period. The findings further show that ‘The News’ and ‘The Nation’ have published more editorials and editorial notes on the issue than daily ‘Dawn’ for the whole selected study’s period. The results further reveal that the ‘Dawn’ has published more letters to editors than ‘The News’ and ‘The Nation’. It can be concluded that the three leading papers have published more articles followed by letters to editors, on the issue compared to their number of editorial notes, editorials and columns.
            The review of the comparison of month wise coverage by ‘Dawn’ shows that the paper has published significantly more articles on the Iran Us stand off and also given huge space followed by more letters to editor with more space compared to its number of published editorials, editorial notes, and column (figure 1.9).  Month wise space coverage by ‘The Nation’ shows that the paper has  also published more articles and spared highly significant space than its editorial space given to editorial, letter to editors and number of columns (1.10). 
            The analytical review of the comparison of month wise space coverage by ‘The News’ shows that the paper has not only published more articles on Iran Us stand-off  but also devoted highly significant space followed by columns as compared to its number of published editorials, editorial notes, and letter to editor  (figure 1.11). The overall month wise space coverage comparison reveals that all the selected newspapers have published more articles on the issue and also devoted significant space followed by the space given to editorials than their space given to columns and letter to editors for the whole three months period (figure 1.12).
  

      Iran-US Stand off  and the space by the selected papers  editorial pages
Figure 1.9 by “Dawn”                         Figure 1.10 by “The Nation”
                 
        

         
     Figure 1.11by “The News”        Figure 1.12 by All Papers
                     

           

DISCUSSION

The critical analysis of all the newspapers maters particularly the editorial content potentially led us to conclude that all the national dailies have very strongly extended support to the Iran peaceful nuclear program. The papers in most of the situation also supported Iranian’s president Ahmadinejad bold step for the promotion of good image of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The papers in most of their editorials high endorsed the logic the reinvention of Iran as an Islamic republic after the ouster of Shah did not change Iran’s perception as a regional power. The first Gulf War against Iraq in Kuwait (1991-92) was seen as attempt by the US to establish its position in the region. Throughout the 1990s, Iran repeatedly called for withdrawal of US troops from the region and was reminiscent of the same tone used earlier that the security of the Gulf region should be left to regional powers alone. The majority articles have focused on the point that at the time of US intervention in Afghanistan and then in Iraq, Iran was initially relieved to see the ouster of two neighboring forces, Taliban of Afghanistan and Saddam Hussain of Iraq that were at variance with her ideological mornings.

Some of the editorials raised a question that if Iran become a nuclear weapons state in a couple of years from now, it will change the security landscape of the Southwest Asia, ME, Central Asia and South Asia. Although it calls itself as ‘Near East’ rather than ME country but the impact felt in the region and abroad will be strong and reverberating. Alleged nuclear weapon ambition, in tandem with some of the inflammatory statements by the newly elected hardliner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has fuelled fears of Iran’s so-called belligerent designs. Not only the US, but of late, the EU countries are feeling uneasy about Iran’s intentions and think, that in case it manufactures N-weapons, it will destabilize the entire region.

            Iranian calculus and rationale is based on the following lines: given its hostile relations with US for the last 28 years or so, and the recent ‘encirclement’ by US troops, it must build its defenses, of which nuclear weapons could be pivotal as a means of deterrence. Besides, it needs to diversify its abundant resources for development. It claims that it is not making nuclear weapons peaceful use of nuclear energy for development. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), after al, provides the right to all countries to gain access to all forms of N-energy, including uranium enrichment or plutonium reprocessing under adequate “safeguards.”  

            Iran feels that it is unjustly targeted for political reasons. The Iranians contend that if North Korea has acquired N-weapons together with Pakistan and India without signing the NPT, ostensibly there should be no justification to deny it the option of peaceful generation of N-energy. While the common Iranian does not talk of nuclear weapons, the unstated assumption with many is: In the event of acquisition of N-weapons by North-Korea, the US attitude had markedly changed from confrontation to tacit acceptance. Similarly, in the case of Pakistan, accused of ‘buying’ nuclear technology from open market, the US stance has since changed as it has become a major non-NATO ally. Also, for decision makers in Iran, the case of Iraq starkly stands out: perhaps it could not have been invaded and occupied if it had possessed N-weapons. Besides, for most Iranians acquiring nuclear fuel cycle has become a trademark of nationalistic pride and sovereignty. How is it that the US is allergic to Iran’s becoming a nuclear state? The fact is that Iran does not have any expansionist designs but it is the Islamic character and its recent provocative statements that act as bugbear for the Americans. Besides, the history of the 1979 US embassy hostage crises, blowing up of US marine barracks in 1983 in Beirut and of Khobar towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996 haunt the US memories. US suspects Al-Qaeda cadres on Iranian soil and smells Iranian involvement in the troubled Iraq.

            In the US estimations, both Iran and North Korea stand as ‘rogue states. ‘North Korea opted out of NPT regime and is in possession of N-weapons and is perceived as a threat by neighbours. On the other hand, is a signatory to NPT, is clubbed as “axis of evil” as it poses major challenge to the US policies in ME. While the former is as impoverished and isolated state, Iran is bigger in size and richer in resources. Hence in order to deal with the two ‘difficult’ regimes the US is using the six-party talks and EU-3 mechanism. However there is one important difference: North Korea is a declared N-power while Iran is not. Also, the stakes for US are greater in the ME due to oil resources and the preservation of the Israeli state to which the later is committed.

The stage is set for a chain of events that could lead to nuclear war over chemical weapons in the immediate future. If these events unfold, the trigger will be Israel, the target Iran and the nuclear aggressor the U.S... The IAEA reported that Iran has hidden a uranium enrichment program for 18 years, and the current dispute dates back to then. Western members of the IAEA called on Iran commit itself to stopping all enrichment activities permanently, but it has refused to do so and has not abandoned a temporary halts as well. The clash with Iran escalated in February 2006, when the IAEA as a whole reported Iran to the Security Council. A month later, the Security Council decided to take up the issue after receiving a copy of an IAEA report on Iran which said that it could not conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran.

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Websites
 Cited at: www.voanews.com
Cited at: www.bbc.uk.com
Cited at: www.news.com.pk
Cited at: www.nation.com.pk
Cited at: www.dawn.com.pk
Cited at: http://www.cjconline.ca
 Cited at: www.wit.edu
Cited at: en.wikipedia.org.
Cited at: www.newspapersineducation.ca
Cited at: www.newspapersineducation.ca
Cited at: www.rtlabs.com.
Cited at: calendar.massey.ac.nz
Cited at: library.thinkquest.org.
Cited at: http://lass.calumet.purduce.edu
Cited at: www.globalresearch.ca

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Dr. Muhammad Nawaz Mahsud is the Chairman of the Department of Mass Communication at Sargodha University , Sargodha , Pakistan .
Noman Yaser is a Research Scholar at Sargodha University , Sargodha .