New York Post, on Iran, 26 July 2026

The ceasefire blame is one-sided, the headline editorialises, and the military's claims carry no caveat.

3.3

out of 10, scored on 6 of 11 checks.

The double standard

American deaths are attributed to a named Iranian cause while Iranian deaths from US strikes are reported without any named actor, applying a stricter standard of agency to one side only.

How it builds, in Iran retaliating / four American soldiers killed

  1. US bombing of Iran: no casualties mentioned

    The US had been bombing Iran every day for nearly two weeks before President Trump ordered a halt.

    Strikes reported with no Iranian casualties stated or implied

  2. Iranian retaliation: named actor, named victims, death toll given

    The strikes mainly targeted Iranian military sites that threatened the strait, with Iran retaliating with its own attacks on US military bases in the region that resulted in the death of four more American soldiers.

    Iran named as actor causing American deaths; no equivalent Iranian death toll offered for US strikes

The same decision, both sides

Whether casualties are reported for each side's strikes

US strikes on Iran are described at length but produce no stated Iranian casualties anywhere in the article.

The US had been bombing Iran for nearly two weeks straight after the memorandum of understanding broke down

Iranian strikes on US bases are immediately followed by a specific American death toll.

Iran retaliating with its own attacks on US military bases in the region that resulted in the death of four more American soldiers

Whether the attacking party is named as the agent of death

The US is never named as the agent of any deaths; its strikes are described in terms of targets, not victims.

The strikes mainly targeted Iranian military sites that threatened the strait

Iran is named as the direct agent whose attacks produced American fatalities.

Iran retaliating with its own attacks on US military bases in the region that resulted in the death of four more American soldiers

What a reader is left with. A reader is left understanding that Iran is the clear aggressor whose attacks kill named American victims, while US strikes on Iran produce no stated casualties at all, making the American side appear to bear all the human cost of the conflict.

Trump likes daily strikes on Iran, Sen. Kennedy says: 'You have to kill a few chickens to scare the monkeys’

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) claimed Sunday that President Trump likes to conduct daily strikes on Iran as he called for the US to ramp up pressure rather than pause them to allow negotiations to continue. Kennedy said the US should act quickly to accomplish its war goals as the conflict approaches its sixth month, warning the president that previous daily attacks on Iran are just not working. “The president likes the daily attacks. He believes that sometimes you have to kill a few chickens to scare the monkeys,” Kennedy told CBS News’ “Meet the Press,” referencing the old Chinese idiom. 4 Sen. John Kennedy said the daily strikes to pressure Iran into negotiating are not the proper strategy to use for the regime, which he slammed as insane. CBS News 4 The US had been bombing Iran every day for nearly two weeks before President Trump ordered a halt. via REUTERS “I don’t think that’s going to work with the Iranian leadership,” he added. “These people are more than mildly insane. It’s like dealing with Son of Sam or Charles Manson.” The US had been bombing Iran for nearly two weeks straight after the memorandum of understanding broke down earlier this month over Tehran’s attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. Explore More Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Iraq report drone attacks days after US suspended Iran strikes Netanyahu heads to DC after warning Trump needs ‘constant, constant watch’ on Iran Iran ramps up threats on Ukraine over Caspian Sea attack: ‘The list of defeated forces is getting longer’ The strikes mainly targeted Iranian military sites that threatened the strait, with Iran retaliating with its own attacks on US military bases in the region that resulted in the death of four more American soldiers. Trump has since paused the airstrikes in favor of diplomacy, but the president has threatened all-out war if Iran does not submit to his demands. 4 Trump said the pause was to help advance cease-fire talks with Iran, but warned that war would resume if Tehran did not submit to his demands. AARON SCHWARTZ/POOL/EPA/Shutterstock Kennedy, however, insisted that diplomacy should not be the priority while Iran maintains its terror infrastructure. “I think we ought to tighten the sanctions on the sale of Iranian oil. I think we ought to continue the blockade and starve them out. I think we ought to bomb Pickaxe Mountain and try to reach what’s underneath it,” he said. “I don’t think we ought to just cut and run,” Kennedy added. “If we can stand the pain of the rising cost of energy, we need to stay the course, at least for a few more months.” 4 US strikes mainly targeted Iran’s terror infrastructure used to attack ships along the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM / SWNS Oil prices surged back to more than $100 per barrel last week after Iran’s repeated strikes in the Strait of Hormuz and its Houthi terror proxies threats in the Red Sea, both critical chokepoints that transport nearly a third of the world’s crude supply. Prices fell below $97 per barrel after Trump ended the daily strikes on Friday and reports emerged that Pakistan was once again working to restart peace talks between Washington and Tehran. The scope of the current talks remains unclear after Iran reportedly rejected a cease-fire offer on Thursday presented by Iraq’s prime minister on behalf of Trump.

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