NYT – Guessing About Iran With ‘Experts’ Who Lack Knowledge of It
A lot of the misunderstanding U.S. policy makers have of foreign countries is caused by the lousy reporting in U.S. media.
Here is just one of many examples:
After War With Israel and U.S., Iran Rests on a Knife Edge (archived) – NY Times, Jun 29 2025
The Islamic Republic limps on after the 12-day conflict. Where will the nation go from here?
The piece was filled by Roger Cohen – the ‘Paris Bureau chief for The Times’ – from Dubai.
The opener is somewhat weird:
Roxana Saberi felt like she was back behind bars in Tehran. As she watched Israel’s bombing of Evin prison, the notorious detention facility at the core of Iran’s political repression, she shuddered at memories of solitary confinement, relentless interrogation, fabricated espionage charges and a sham trial during her 100-day incarceration in 2009.
Like many Iranians in the diaspora and at home, Ms. Saberi wavered, torn between her dreams of a government collapse that would free the country’s immense potential and her concern for family and friends as the civilian death toll mounted. Longings for liberation and for a cease-fire vied with each other.
That ‘longings’ language would fit the opener for some soft-porn essay. But it has nothing to do with the question the piece is supposed to (but does not) answer.
Roxana Saberi is U.S. born to an Iranian mother and a Japanese father. She lives with her parents in North Dakota. Only six out of her 48 years were spent in Iran where she worked until 2009 as a repor
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