BBC inconsistency on Iran’s Syria build-up continues

Whether or not BBC audiences understand the extent of Iran's activities in Syria depends on which report they happen to read.

On the afternoon of May 22nd the BBC News website published a report headlined “F-35 stealth fighter sees first combat, in Israeli operation“. Readers were told that:

“The US-made F-35 stealth fighter has seen its first ever combat action, flying in an operation for the Israeli air force.

The air force chief showed an image of jets over Beirut, Lebanon, and said the planes had “already attacked twice on two different fronts”. […]

Maj Gen Amikam Norkin told heads of 20 foreign air forces meeting in Israel: “We are flying the F-35 all over the Middle East and have already attacked twice on two different fronts.” He did not specify the targets.”

However, as local media had reported earlier the same day, Maj Gen Norkin also gave the conference participants some additional information concerning an incident earlier this month:  

“During his speech, Norkin also revealed that earlier this month Iranian forces in Syria had fired more rockets at Israeli military bases on the Golan Heights than the army had previously acknowledged.

“The Iranians fired 32 rockets, we intercepted four. The rest landed outside Israeli territory,” he said.”

The BBC apparently did not consider that new information newsworthy because no mention of it appears in this report. Readers were also not told that in the same speech Maj Gen Norkin said:

““We’re watching what the Iranians are doing around us. The al-Quds Force has set up on the T-4 air base, some 250 kilometers (150 miles) from Israel,” Norkin told the visiting air commanders.

“From this base, they tried to attack [us] with a drone that infiltrated into Israel a few months ago. After that, we noticed they were continuing to store weapons on that base, including the air defenses that we attacked a month ago,” he said, referring to an April 9 air raid on the T-4 base, in which at least seven IRGC members were killed, including the senior officer in charge of its drone program.”

Earlier this month Israeli military officials clarified the nature of the target of the strike on the T4 airbase on April 9th.

“According to the army, the specific target of the strike on the T-4 base was a shipment of advanced air defense weapons, including one with a range of 110 kilometers (70 miles). […]

According to IDF assessments, in recent weeks Iran has stepped up its efforts to bring a number of advanced munitions into Syria, notably air defense systems, with which the IRGC could fire on Israeli fighter jets.

The anti-aircraft systems Iran has been bringing into Syria are meant to threaten Israel’s air superiority in the region, providing a cover for Iranian forces in Syria to carry out attacks against the Jewish state, the military believes.”

The BBC did not report on that May 11th statement but had around the same time, to one degree or another, noted the IRGC’s entrenchment in Syria that includes the import of weapons such as missiles and anti-aircraft batteries – for example here, here, here and here.

Nevertheless, in this May 22nd report the build-up of Iranian weapons in Syria was once again portrayed as something that Israel “believes” is happening rather than as fact. [emphasis added]

 “The BBC’s Tom Bateman in Jerusalem says Israel’s claim to have used it [the F-35] in an operational strike even before the Americans may be designed as a further show of military strength, as it believes elite Iranian forces are trying to entrench themselves in Syria to threaten Israel.”

When some BBC journalists report frankly about Iran’s transfer of weapons to Hizballah and the IRGC’s entrenchment in Syria while others continue to promote faux ‘objectivity’ by unnecessarily qualifying information, the losers are obviously the members of the BBC’s funding public whose understanding of this story depends on which particular report they happen to stumble.  

Related Articles:

BBC Radio 4 manages to report on Iran without the usual distractions

What do BBC audiences know about the background to tensions in northern Israel?

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