The New York Times (5/1/23) claims an Iranian who spied for Britain delivered “valuable information”—but its description of what he supposedly revealed is disinformation.
The New York Times (5/1/23), reporting on Iran’s execution of British spy Alireza Akbari, reported:
The spy had provided valuable information — and would continue to do so for years — intelligence that would prove critical in eliminating any doubt in Western capitals that Iran was pursuing nuclear weapons.
This is not correct; as FAIR has often pointed out (FAIR.org, 10/17/17, 9/9/15, 9/24/13; 1/31/13; Extra!, 3–4/08), the position of US intelligence is that it has no proof Iran has decided to build a nuclear weapon. As the US State Department reiterated in April 2022:
The United States continues to assess that Iran is not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons–development activities it judge necessary to produce a nuclear device.
This is a serious error that deserves prompt correction.
ACTION:
Please tell the New York Times to correct its false claim that there is no doubt that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons.
CONTACT:
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Twitter: @NYTimes
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False information has serious consequences
I am appalled that your article, “Iranian Insider and British Spy” (May 1, 2023) says that the spy provided information “critical in eliminating any doubt in Western capitals that Iran was pursuing nuclear weapons.” According to the US State Department, Iran is *not* developing nuclear weapons!
As we reflect on the twenty year anniversary of the War on Iraq, along with the infamous “Mission Accomplished” speech given May 1, 2023 , we see that false information led us into actions which even constitute war crimes.
Given the role of the New York Times in spreading false information that led to the Iraq debacle, I hoped the Times would now be more careful in verifying information that might have extreme consequences.
If this “fact check” is based solely on an intelligence community statement meant for public consumption it is sorely lacking in credibility itself.
Agencies will never fully disclose what they know in order to protect sources, assets and confidential communications. If your source is a press release you need to work harder.
If you can’t trust an official statement from US intelligence, what exactly can you trust? Particularly because it’s in the US defense department’s best interest that Iran does indeed have nuclear weapons. If it’s supposedly confidential, why are numerous newspapers repeating the same (incorrect) information? What source would satisfy you?
You rightly call out the Times for their unfortunate phrasing and it probably does call for a correction, although I think it goes too far to characterize this as disinformation, as if there were intent to mislead.
The Times’ assertion of Iranian intent is even more in error in light of the time of the apparent revelations by Akbari but your insistence of no Iranian intent might also be dated, viz., a State Dept statement from more than a year ago.
A more timely reassessment might be in order (and probably is already in the works within the USG) as suggested by this:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/iran-could-build-several-nuclear-weapons-un-says#:~:text=For%20months%2C%20nonproliferation%20experts%20have,program%20is%20for%20peaceful%20purposes.
Building up such close to the precipice capability certainly suggests intent…and while it only suggests it, considering how consequential this threshold is, it might be reasonable to err on the side of perceiving probable intent in these precursive actions.
No surprise that the New York Time lies to whip up fear of Iran to prevent any normalization of relations. The New York Times is a propaganda organ for the Mossad and the Mossad’s subsidiary, the CIA.
What I wrote at the Times feedback form:
The Times (5/1/23), reported on Iran’s execution of British spy Alireza Akbari, that “there was little doubt in Western capitals that Iran was pursuing nuclear weapons.” Where is it verified that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons? The U.S. State Department believes that “Iran is not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons–development activities it judges necessary to produce a nuclear device.” (April 2022)