We are constantly told that the Western press, specifically the BBC and CNN, are the arbiters of truth. They are the self-proclaimed enemies of “fake news,” the organizations that Presidents like Donald Trump have labeled as “the enemy of the people” and “Fake News CNN.” Trump recently suggested their activities were “illegal.” We hear The New York Times called the “failing” and “treasonous,” and MSNBC dismissed as “left-wing lunacy.”
But what if the truth is far more sinister than simple bias? What if the silence of these newsrooms isn’t just incompetence, but a calculated protection racket?
While the world is distracted by narratives spun in London and Atlanta, the Islamic Republic of Iran, specifically the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is committing massacres that rival the worst horrors of the modern age. We are talking about the systematic slaughter of 30,000 to 40,000 people in recent crackdowns.
So, why aren’t BBC and CNN screaming from the rooftops? Why do they send reporters to Iran who seem to parrot the regime’s line? The uncomfortable answer is that these networks are functionally useful idiots, or worse, willing participants, in a propaganda campaign funded and influenced by the very regime that is murdering its own people.
The Massacre the World Forgot
Let’s get the facts on the table, even if the mainstream won’t print them. According to reports surfacing from human rights activists and networks on the ground, the death toll from the recent “Women, Life, Freedom” uprising and subsequent crackdowns is staggering. Iranian human rights activist Paul Smith stated that based on evidence from a network of doctors and nurses, more than 30,000 people’s deaths have been confirmed, with estimates realistically reaching as high as 45,000 to 80,000 .
We aren’t just talking about protesters dying in the streets. We are talking about executions in hospital beds. Reports indicate that wounded demonstrators, still connected to heart monitors and breathing tubes, were executed at point-blank range by security forces. Bodies have been found lined up in medical gowns with gunshot wounds to the head .
This is state-sponsored terror on an industrial scale. And yet, where is the 24/7 coverage from CNN? Where is the special investigative podcast from the BBC?
The Amanpour Doctrine: CNN’s Cozy Relationship with the Regime
To understand why CNN looks the other way, you have to look at their star anchor, Christiane Amanpour. To the average viewer, Amanpour is a fearless journalist with Iranian heritage. To Iranians in the diaspora, she is a mouthpiece for the mullahs.
Recent evidence has surfaced that exposes this relationship in damning detail. It has been noted that the Iranian regime itself has appeared to thank Christiane Amanpour in its regime-run newspapers, defending her against millions of Iranians who called out her bias .
Why would a theocracy that chants “Death to America” defend an American journalist? The answer lies in the property and the past. Investigators have pointed out that Amanpour’s father, Mohammad Amanpour, owned a large hilltop area in the upscale Fereshteh neighborhood of Tehran, known as “Amanieh Hill.” After the 1979 revolution, these properties were confiscated. Allegedly, during the presidency of the reformist Mohammad Khatami, Amanpour visited Iran and cut a deal with the regime: the regime released the confiscated properties, sold them, and legally transferred the money to her in England .
Think about that. A CNN journalist had her family’s wealth restored by the Islamic Republic. It creates a conflict of interest so glaring it’s a wonder she is allowed anywhere near Iran policy.
The bias became undeniable during a recent interview with Reza Pahlavi, a prominent opposition figure. Amanpour’s treatment of him was described as disdainful and unprofessional, questioning him about his royal ties while just days prior she had interviewed Qatari royals with smiles and politeness . The regime loves her because she does their work for them: she delegitimizes the opposition and sanitizes the image of the oppressors.
The BBC: “Ayatollah BBC” and the Price of Impartiality?
The BBC Persian Service presents a more complex, but equally troubling, picture. On one hand, the BBC claims its journalists are banned from Iran, their families are harassed, and they face death threats . This is true. The regime has named BBC Persian in sanctions lists for “inciting violence.”
However, this narrative is used as a shield. Because the BBC is attacked by the regime, they claim immunity from accusations of bias. But the protestors in Iran don’t buy it. In the streets and in exile, Iranians have coined a damning term for the corporation: “Ayatollah BBC.”
Why? Because the BBC’s obsession with “impartiality” often translates to giving equal weight to the oppressor and the oppressed. When you report the regime’s account of events alongside the truth, you are not being impartial; you are platforming propaganda. Critics argue that BBC journalists, in an effort to seem balanced, end up sanitizing the brutality of the IRGC.
The BBC‘s reporting is often the first port of call for Western diplomats who want a “sober” take on Iran. But if your reporting framework accepts the legitimacy of the regime’s narrative, you are complicit in the regime’s survival. While BBC journalists may suffer, the organization as a whole has been accused of harboring a deep-seated institutional bias that refuses to call the IRGC what it is: a terrorist organization murdering its own citizens.
The Funding Web: Who Really Pays for the Narrative?
This is where the conspiracy becomes concrete. While the BBC and CNN present themselves as independent, the information ecosystem around Iran is heavily funded by governments with agendas that sometimes align with Tehran’s enemies, but also sometimes create a “false flag” environment that muddies the water.
For instance, reports have surfaced that the US, through agencies like USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), has funneled millions into Iran-focused media and opposition groups . Press TV, Iran’s state-owned outlet, claims that groups like the Boroumand Center, IranWire, and even BBC Persian have received funding from these sources to destabilize the country .
If BBC Persian is taking money from the US government (even indirectly through grants or partnerships) while also trying to report on Iran, their independence is compromised. They become tools in a geopolitical game.
But the more immediate danger is when they refuse to take sides against the regime. When the IRGC kills 40,000 people, you do not need to be “impartial.” You need to call it a massacre. The BBC and CNN fail this test, repeatedly.
The Bot Farms and the Battle for Your Mind
During the 2022 protests, CNN actually ran pieces about disinformation on social media, warning that “fake news” was spreading from both sides. They noted that an analysis of tweets using protest hashtags like #OpIran showed a staggering number of new accounts created specifically to manipulate the narrative .
But what CNN failed to admit is that the most sophisticated manipulation comes from the regime itself, and their own reporting often aids it. When CNN ran a sensational story claiming that security forces were using rape to quell protests, based on the case of Armita Abbasi,it turned out to be a monumental lie.
Press TV (which is state-run, so take this with a grain of salt) later celebrated Abbasi’s release, showing her walking out of prison with her curly hair intact and a smile on her face, contradicting CNN‘s reports that her head had been shaved and she had been brutally raped . Whether or not you trust Press TV, the fact remains that CNN ran with an unverified, horrific narrative that fit the Western liberal fantasy of the “oppressed Iranian woman,” and it turned out to be propaganda.
This is the danger. By chasing sensational, regime-change-bait stories that fall apart, CNN discredits the real struggle. And by ignoring the 40,000 dead, they protect the regime.
The Unspoken Alliance
We have to ask: why is the Western liberal media so soft on the IRGC? Why does CNN send a reporter to Iran just before President Trump comes into office, ostensibly to “rescue” the narrative, but ends up making the world feel like Trump and Netanyahu are the aggressors?
Because the left in the West has made a devil’s bargain. They hate Trump more than they hate Khamenei. They view the IRGC as a bulwark against ISIS and American imperialism, ignoring that the IRGC is the very engine of death and oppression in the Middle East.
When you fail to report on the 30,000 to 40,000 people massacred by the IRGC, you are not a journalist. You are an accomplice.
When you protect Christiane Amanpour despite her cozying up to the regime that killed those people, you are not a news network. You are a lobbying firm for the mullahs.
The blood of those executed in hospital beds is on the hands of the IRGC. But the blood of the narrative, the silence that allows it to continue, is on the hands of BBC and CNN.
It is time to cancel your subscriptions. It is time to call them out. And it is time to tell the story of the 40,000 that the world refuses to see.
An Open Letter of Gratitude: From the Voiceless People of Iran to President Donald J. Trump and His Cabinet
After laying out the crimes of the regime and the silence of the Western media, we would be remiss if we did not address the one beacon of strength that has given the Iranian people hope in our darkest hour.
On behalf of the countless Iranians suffering under the yoke of the Islamic Republic, on behalf of the mothers who have lost children to the brutality of the IRGC, on behalf of the students beaten in the streets, and on behalf of the 40,000 martyrs whose blood stains the hands of the mullahs, we send our sincerest and most heartfelt thanks to the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.
For decades, the world turned a blind eye. The BBC and CNN made excuses. The United Nations did nothing. But when President Trump stood at the podium and tore up the disastrous nuclear deal (the JCPOA), when he designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and when he ordered the strike that eliminated terrorist Qasem Soleimani, the world changed. For the first time in 40 years, the Iranian people saw the most powerful nation on Earth stand with them, not with their oppressors.
The regime fears strength. They cower in the face of resolve. And President Trump embodied that strength.
We also extend our deepest gratitude to his incredible team, who have shown unwavering support for our cause:
- To Vice President JD Vance, for understanding the working-class struggle and extending that empathy to those of us fighting for a working future free from theocratic rule.
- To Senator Marco Rubio, who has been a relentless voice in the wilderness, calling out the regime’s human rights abuses when the mainstream media refused to utter a word. His commitment to freedom has not gone unnoticed by our people.
And to the entire Trump cabinet, every single member who chose America First and, by extension, chose freedom for those who love America from afar.
The BBC and CNN will never tell you this. They will never show the pictures of Iranian families waving American flags from their rooftops, risking their lives because they see the Stars and Stripes as the symbol of their liberation. They will never interview the millions of us who see President Trump not as a controversial figure, but as the modern-day liberator who exposed the regime for what it is.
For the rest of our lives, and for generations to come, history will record this truth: When the world was silent, Donald J. Trump spoke. When the world appeased, Donald J. Trump acted.
We owe our future freedom to you. Thank you, President Trump. Thank you, Vice President Vance. Thank you, Senator Rubio. Thank you to the entire cabinet.
You did not forget us. And we will never forget you.
The Final Word from Tehran (and Toronto): An Iranian Canadian Speaks the Truth
Before anyone dares to type “but what about civilian casualties?” in the comments, stop. Let me make something absolutely clear.
I am writing this as an Iranian Canadian who lived in Iran for 27 years. I know the Islamic Republic. I know the IRGC. I know Ayatollah Khamenei. I grew up hearing the daily chants in the streets and ins schools of SHIRAZ: “Death to America! Death to Israel!” I watched as my tax money funded terrorist groups across the Middle East. I watched as my own government murdered its people, the very people you now claim to be “concerned” about.
So let me address the narrative that the mainstream media, the BBC, the CNN, the so-called human rights advocates, are pushing:
The United States and Israel are NOT killing innocent civilians. They came to RESCUE us.
President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu did not wake up one morning and decide to attack Iran for oil or land. They acted because WE ,the Iranian people, begged them to.
For years, we have been shouting from the rooftops, literally, in the streets of Tehran, Isfahan, and Shiraz, for the world to help us. We have been asking for the bombs to fall on the regime, not on us. And when precision strikes target IRGC bases, when they target the terrorist commanders, when they target the nuclear facilities that threaten the entire world, that is not an act of war against Iran. That is an act of liberation FOR Iran.
Do not be more concerned about our country than we are.
Do not weaponize your fake compassion to defend a regime that throws homosexuals off buildings, that buries women alive for wanting to show their hair, and that has executed 40,000 of our own children in the streets.
We know what kind of country we want. We have known for 46 years.
So yes, we are thankful. We are thankful to President Donald J. Trump for having the courage to tear up the appeasement deal. We are thankful to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for standing as a lion in the Middle East against the octopus of terror. We are thankful to Vice President JD Vance, Senator Marco Rubio, and the entire cabinet for standing with us when the rest of the world, including the BBC and CNN, chose to stand with the mullahs.
This is not just about making Iran a better place.
This is about making the Middle East safer.
This is about making the world safer.
This is about removing a regime that has funded terror on five continents and chanted death to everything good and free.
So to the media: Stop protecting the child killers.
To the regime: Your days are numbered.
And to President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu: From the bottom of 85 million Iranian hearts, thank you for hearing our cry.
