On Monday’s edition of the NewsHour (1/28/13), host Gwen Ifill referred to concerns about the “threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program,” and told viewers at the end of a Margaret Warner report that “Margaret’s next story looks at the debate in Israel over how to deal with the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.”
And on last night’s broadcast (1/30/13 
), Warner explained that countries like the U.S., Israel and Turkey “are concerned about Iran’s nuclear weapons program.”
To reiterate an obvious point: There is no proof of an Iranian nuclear weapons program. There are allegations that Iranian’s enrichment of uranium for its nuclear power program is hiding a military component, but weapons inspectors have not uncovered any such diversion.
The NewsHour has made this mistake before, as FAIR noted in a recent action alert:
In an October 22 discussion of the foreign policy presidential debate, the PBS NewsHour‘s Jeffrey Brown stated that “Iran’s nuclear weapons program has been a particular flash point.”
A few weeks earlier (10/5/12) on the NewsHour, Ray Suarez said that Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez had
continued to thwart American efforts on a range of international issues, such as Washington’s attempt to convince Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to halt his country’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.
How hard is it for NewsHour to understand that allegations are not facts? Write to them at onlineda2@newshour.org
The News Hour did not “make a mistake” when it mischaracterized, or misrepresented the nature of Iran’s nuclear program, it is just another division of the corporate media towing the West’s anti-Iranian party line and beating the drums for sanctions, war, intervention, and “regime change.”
Perhaps PBS should require their “journalists” to take continuing education classes so they can learn the difference between allegations and facts and the difference between stenography and journalism.
Iranian nuclear sites are under IAEA surveillance 24/7 and to date there has been no proof of an Iranian nuclear weapons program. Please stop misleading your viewers.
Keep repeating the big lie and people will believe it is true…
I’m a recent returnee to this site, but has Kae Toguchi ever posted a relevant response to any story? Not that I’ve seen so far.
And has FAIR ever considered the damage to public discussion caused by trolls, even ones that don’t appear overtly malicious?
The Iranian nuclear program is a given within the intel agencies of most of our allies,Obama concurs 100%.Yes yes I know I know …look what happened with WMDs you say(A very singular distinction in that Saddam had the weapons at one time, and lied or “fudged” on their conditions,dispensations ,and levels for the sole purpose of keeping his enemies guessing.A dangerous game after 911)……Yes well on the other hand we were right about Russia ,China,Pakistan,India,France and pretty much every country that has gone nuclear in the past 50 years.It is a hard thing to hide.Iran is doing a poor job hiding it.And having a few witless pawns in the western press wont change that.Obama does not get his intel from the washington post.He gets it from intercepts….satellites ,people on the ground(spy),and from our nuclear weapons experts’s who assure him they are not fueling all those rods to those level’s for anything but a bomb.You dont build an aircraft carrier to go Tuna fishing…even if a government swears on its holy book to that fact.Lest not be complete rubes here people.Soon we will move on to many peoples fallback stance.Yeah they have the bomb -but after all why shouldn’t they?Israel has it.Forgetting that like Hitler on his way to hell….THEY LIED TO YOU ALL ALONG!!!!!!!
You know no one here takes your screeds seriously, right? Extra exclamation points (and all-caps) are the sure sign of a nincompoop. It just is–think about things, then write. That is all.
I am very pleased to note your comments about allegations vs facts with regard to the PBS news reporting on “Iranian Nuclear Arms” All that we know are allegations and should be reported that way and not as factual
Tim you have been a stalwart friend to liberal sensibilities for as long as I have read your remarks.After all this time, and viewing the state of the country, and it’s foreign affairs …it is high time you admitted to complete and utter failure of your brain trusts.Disaster follows you with the tenacity of pig pens dust cloud.You say no one here listens to my “screeds”?Well then they must listen to yours.That means they are part of the lemmings that have followed your side(as we predicted) over the cliff.May God grant me more separation in thought and deed from you lot.By the way …I told you to invest in gun stocks when it was announced that Obama had won.Ive made a bloody killing.I mean an un -freaking-believable wind fall.So did you listen to me genius?Did the teacher(you are a teacher correct?)listen for a change?For his own good and the good of his family?Or did you ignore my..screed?Being stubborn and obstinate is helpful to you……yes? :)
Will PBS ever count Israel’s 300 nuclear missiles with its nuclear sub armed with nuclear missiles? Israel has the ninth most powerful military force on the face of the earth, so powerful that Turkey cannot challenge Israel’s piracy in international waters–piracy that ended in the deaths of nine humanitarian workers delivering food and medicine to an illegally embargoed Gaza. Many years ago America championed the underdog, the oppressed, and the downtrodden but no longer: we torture, we render, and we murder prisoners of war and support those who do likewise. What horrible blight has befallen our nation?
GuideAmerican I think you need to look at the other side of the coin, and do some homework on your allegations.They hold no water.Israel has been fighting for her life since her inception.You seem to believe she should throw her safety to the mercy of her enemies.
At the same time as the IAEA, the internationally recognized nuclear watchdog of the UN, released its most recent critical report of Iran’s nuclear program (see my recent post), Farhad Pouladi from AFP decided to rewrite the news.
A full three quarters of his report were made up of a mere regurgitation of Saeed Jalili’s propaganda:
“Iran has fulfilled its NPT obligations as an active and committed member, therefore (it) should gain all of its rights,” Jalili said in an address to Iranian nuclear industry officials.
read the full post about iran nuclear weapons program