The U.S. military attack on Tehran‘s nuclear facilities on Saturday, and fears of a further escalation in the Israel-Iran war, dominated international news headlines and broadcasts over the weekend.
While British right-wing tabloid The Sun cheered on the U.S. bombings — “Stick It Up Your Bunker” was their triumphant headline — most outlets warned of the dangers of repercussions from Iran and an expansion of the war beyond the Middle East.
“Starmer warns of ‘escalation’ risk as UK terror risk rises,” ran the headline of the conservative Daily Express newspaper, quoting the concerns of the British prime minister Keir Starmer that the Iranian regime may begin targeting the U.S. and its allies following Saturday’s attacks, in which the U.S. military dropped so-called bunker-buster bombs on three Iranian nuclear sites, targeting underground facilities used to enrich uranium. The contention of the U.S. government is that Tehran was close to developing a nuclear bomb and that the attacks derailed that effort.
The international media isn’t so sure about that.
“Bombings against Iran set the whole world on fire,” plastered Denmark’s Dagbladet newspaper over its front page, with a photo of a glowering Donald Trump and the headline: “Like a Savage,” apparently in reference to the U.S. President.
The Irish Daily Mirror was more succinct: “Stop Now” ran its 60-point headline, over a photo of a MAGA-hat wearing POTUS. “All-out war fear as world braces for Tehran’s retaliation.”
Television coverage focused on the extent and effectiveness of the U.S. strikes — with extensive debate as to whether the bombings had, in fact, destroyed Iran’s nuclear program — and on how Iran would respond.
CNN’s Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen, the first Western journalist to report from Iran following the start of the war, reported on anti-American protests inside the country, suggesting the bombings may have strengthened support for the Iranian regime, even among former critics.
Al Jazeera reported extensively from Iranian government sources, quoting Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in his first comments since the U.S. attacks, promising to punish “the Zionist enemy.” Speaking on Iranian state television, armed forces spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari said the “hostile act” of the U.S. attack “will widen the scope of legitimate targets of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran and pave the way for the extension of war in the region…The fighters of Islam will inflict serious, unpredictable consequences on you with powerful and targeted (military) operations.”
Trump has hinted at a possible regime change in Tehran, saying, “If the current Iranian regime is unable to make Iran great again, why wouldn’t there be a regime change?”
In an editorial piece, the all-news network France 24 called the U.S. bombing a gamble of “force over diplomacy,” saying the strikes brought “the conflict into the open, and the consequences may not be clear for some time to come.” Reuters TV concurred, saying the “strikes on Iran mark Trump’s biggest, and riskiest, foreign policy gamble.”
As the world’s media digests and analyses Saturday’s attacks, fighting between Iran and Israel continued. Israel’s army said it hit military infrastructure sites in western Iran’s Kermanshah on Monday, and said Iran had launched several missiles towards Israel.