Iran says US officials misleading public, manipulating media to justify ‘illegal war’

The spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry says American officials are misleading the public and manipulating the media to justify their illegal war, nearly a month after the US and Israel launched an unprovoked war of aggression against the Islamic Republic.

Esmaeil Baghaei made the remarks in a post on his X account on Wednesday, hailing "The War You Don't See," a renowned American documentary by John Pilger about the realities of war.

Baghaei, who also published a poster of the documentary, said: "This is a must-watch film, especially now—at a time when U.S. authorities are actively misleading the public and manipulating the media to justify their illegal war against Iran and to whitewash the atrocities they are committing."

He also quoted the following lines from the documentary's narration, which underscore the critical role of media in crimes committed during the US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as Israel's appalling atrocities against Palestinians:

"We journalists have to be brave enough to defy those who seek our collusion in selling their latest bloody adventure in someone else's country … For propaganda relies on us in the media to aim its deceptions not at a faraway enemy but at you at home."

The US and Israel launched the aggression on February 28, assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, several senior officials and military commanders, and hundreds of civilians in attacks on residential areas, schools, hospitals and other civilian places.

In response, the Iranian armed forces have carried out retaliatory operations, targeting US bases in the region and Israeli positions in the occupied territories with waves of missile strikes and drone attacks.

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