Iran: Building a Myth For War - Iraq Part II?

There is a striking similarity between what has been happening over Iran's push for nuclear technology and the lead up to the last Iraq war, with calls for Iran to be UN Security Council.

This time there is no obvious Goldstein-esque hate-figure for the pro-action faction to direct our fear toward. but that does not stop the relentless march towards Security Council sanction.

And unlike Iraq, not all the permanent members are on-side. Russian and China have economic ties with Iran. Russia's president Putin is quoted as saying “The Iranian nuclear problem requires a very accurate approach without rash or erroneous moves”
But in a good example of framing, CNN has been banned from working in Iran because they have “violated 'professional ethics', the Iran news agency quoted the [culture] ministry as saying.” During a live broadcast of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's press conference on Saturday, CNN translated the farsi word for “technology” as “weapon”, thus:

“We believe all nations are allowed to have nuclear weapons”, and that the West should not “deprive us to have nuclear weapons”

Nice one CNN, that's how wars start.

But perhaps, we are seeing the new “Gold this is part of the unconscious building of an Evil/”Satan“ myth around the Iranian President. We don't get to hear much about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad here in the west, unless its controversial. When we came to power, the first thing we heard about was his taking part in the US Embassy siege. Since then there has been the slow bubbling nuclear stand-off. More recently, and in language guaranteed to interest the press and stir up the masses, Ahmadinejad has been quoted as saying that Israel should either be ”wiped off the map,“ or less drastically, relocated to somewhere in Germany or Austria.

Language is a barrier here, with the English-speaking media acting as Gate-Keeper to news emanating from the non-english speaking world. A form of negotiating power between the source and the journalist. At least the internet gives the source more direct right-of-reply.

So, what we are seeing here is a confluence of many theories of news production: Myth, rival narratives, negotiating control between journalist and source and a great deal of public relations.

The war of words has already begun. Who will win, remains to be seen.