A month ago I speculated on the possible consequences of the US bombing of the Karaj bridge, an act of international vandalism and spite which could only be described as a war crime, given the bridge was unfinished and with no military significance. While we wait to see if 'hostilities resume' - or when they resume - the question of more strikes on civilian targets is again relevant. The US and israel made clear their preference for soft targets during the forty days of war, including those particularly soft inflatable tanks and planes that helped exhaust their missile supplies. Even though Trump repeatedly claimed Iran 'has no ships and no missiles and no planes', his military realises this is not true, but has no way to destroy Iran's many hardened bases around the country. There is clearly some confusion over the situation, and the completely contradictory demands of 'both sides', as reflected by Retired General Mark Kimmitt speaking to Al Jazeera, who has described Iran as "a target-rich environment". Al Jazeera has given this stalwart of the US military a little too much time recently, and that simple phrase illustrates the whole problem with American thinking. It's like the saying that 'to a hammer, every problem looks like a nail'. An Iranian might note that nails come with two ends, and there are many different sorts of hammer.. The point of this particular piece however is to highlight the difference between genuine independent reporting on the ground and that from foreign reporters for alien news agencies - in this case the BBC and its local asset, BBC Persian. The BBC recently broadcast a report from its veteran Middle East reporter Lyse Doucet, following her visit to Karaj and meeting with relatives of the victims of the April 2nd attack. Rebroadcast by SBS on April 28th, it was unclear exactly when Doucet was there, but the pretext was to talk to survivors of the bombing and see how they were coping with the situation following the ceasefire:
Listening to the report however, it soon becomes clear that Doucet's mission, on behalf of her employer and its overseers, is to attempt to re-frame the killing of civilians as possibly 'collateral damage' in an attack on a potential military target. Not only does she ask grieving relatives the grotesque question of whether there were any IRGC members there - sharing perhaps in a picnic on that last day of Nowruz - but she completely omits the most important context. Had she not stated at the start that she was going to Karaj - which many people likely only know about because of the destroyed bridge - we would never have known why these people died; at no point is the bridge mentioned, nor shown in the report! This is not simply some error, or abbreviation of the report for convenience; it is a clear attempt by the BBC to mislead the audience over one of the great crimes of the war and a recognised war crime - targeting a major symbolic and purely civilian structure, and with a double tap missile strike. To set the record straight on what actually happened there, independent British Journalist Bushra Sheikh just visited the city and posted her report on TwitterX. Sheikh has Pakistani heritage, and clear sympathy with the Muslim world - but has to put up with a heap of threats and antagonism for visiting Iran, and seeing for herself how people are living and how they feel about the West's war on their country. She is attacked by people from different sides of the debate - criticised for 'collaborating with the regime', for not wearing a head-scarf or for wearing one, or accused of faking her visit. Some of her critics will doubtless have found Lyse Doucet's 'reports' more to their liking and suiting their prejudices. Before visiting Karaj Bushra had been south to the Strait of Hormuz and Minab, Shiraz and Esfahan, travelling on trains and talking to people she met. By contrast, Doucet and the BBC must rely on shady characters to tell us what life is really like in Iran - for an opposition supporter; it will not be easy now, being such a rarity.
Before visiting Karaj, Bushra had been south to the Strait of Hormuz, visiting Minab, Shiraz and Esfahan, travelling on trains and talking to people she met. By contrast, Doucet and the BBC must rely on shady characters to tell us what life is really like in Iran - for an opposition supporter; it will not be easy now, being such a rarity. And her reports are always accompanied by a disclaimer of sorts - that what she sees and records must not be used by BBC Persian. It's a little hard to know why that would be, given the only people likely to watch BBC Persian are in the diaspora and already have their heads full of the Brits' propaganda.
DM 3rd May 2026