Major construction near Iran bases, satellite images suggest

BBC Verify reports satellite analysis suggesting Iran is building near two missile bases and repairing at least a dozen others. It attributes each reading to named analysts, keeps their uncertainty and names the US and Israel as the attackers. One small asymmetry: Iran's statement is introduced as a claim while the Pentagon's equally unverified figure is something a spokesperson simply said.

1. Uses a loaded word

   Minor

   “But Iran claims it retains large stockpiles of missiles”

   Why this matters

   The BBC uses "claims" for Iran's statement about its missile stocks, straight after giving the Pentagon's figure with the neutral "said".

   The impression it gives

   A reader takes the Pentagon's 90% figure as the firmer account and Iran's statement as the doubtful one.

   The context

   Both are unverified statements by parties to the war. The article's own satellite evidence of construction and repairs at more than a dozen sites cuts against the Pentagon figure at least as much as against Iran's, yet only Iran's word carries the doubting verb.

   How we know

   • Elsewhere in the article“A Pentagon spokesperson previously said that the US had”
   • Elsewhere in the article“At least 12 other military sites, including missile complexes and air bases, appear to show signs of repairs”