Press TV, on Iran, 24 October 2026

Press TV reports an Iranian Foreign Ministry post as if its verdict were established fact: the headline says Baghaei "exposes German hypocrisy", and the body writes "illegal US naval blockade", "unprovoked" strikes and "Western double standards" in the outlet's own voice rather than as Tehran's case. It closes with Iran's own account of the Strait of Hormuz unchallenged, and leaves out that the Istanbul ministers it cites also demanded Iran open the strait. It also calls the Israeli government "the regime" in its own narration.

8.2

Serious

out of 10

What we found

  1. States one side's claim as fact

    Serious

    “the illegal US naval blockade”

    What the words do
    Press TV puts the word "illegal" in its own narration, with no court, no body and no source attached to the legal verdict.
    What a reader comes away believing
    That the US blockade of Iranian ports has been established as unlawful, as a matter of settled fact.
    What is actually the case
    The article elsewhere presents the blockade as Tehran's grievance, and other coverage of the same standoff reports the blockade without any legal finding attached to it. No ruling naming it illegal appears anywhere in the material.

    How we know

    Show it in the article

    “unprovoked strikes”

    What the words do
    Press TV applies the verdict "unprovoked" to the June 2025 Israeli strikes in its own voice, with no fact in the article supporting the characterisation beyond the label itself.
    What a reader comes away believing
    That the article has established, rather than asserted, the character of the strikes.
    What is actually the case
    The article gives no account of what preceded the strikes; the word carries a judgement the surrounding facts do not supply, and the same sentence's actor is named only as "the Israeli regime".

    How we know

    • Elsewhere in the article“condemned the comments as an attempt”

    Show it in the article

    “Iranian officials have long highlighted Western double standards”

    What the words do
    The verb "highlighted" treats the double standards as a thing that exists and was merely pointed out, instead of as Tehran's charge.
    What a reader comes away believing
    That Western double standards are an established fact the article is reporting, not an Iranian allegation.
    What is actually the case
    The only material in the article for this is Baghaei's own post and earlier Iranian statements; no European government's position is set against it anywhere in the piece.

    How we know

    • Elsewhere in the article“In a post on X on Saturday”

    Show it in the article

  2. Gives a contested claim the last word

    Serious

    “while the Islamic Republic has maintained its defensive posture and control over the strategic waterway”

    What the words do
    Press TV closes the article by stating Iran's own description of its conduct in the Strait of Hormuz, in its own voice, with nothing set against it.
    What a reader comes away believing
    That Iran's role in the strait has been purely defensive and that this is uncontested.
    What is actually the case
    Coverage of the same standoff reports Iran attacking vessels in the waterway and the strait blockaded by Iranian ships and drones, with eight European and Middle Eastern governments demanding it be reopened. None of that appears in the article.

    How we know

    Show it in the article

    Written straight

    Iran says it has kept to a defensive posture and retained control of the Strait of Hormuz; the Istanbul ministers, and reporting on the waterway, describe Iranian ships and drones blockading it and Iranian attacks on shipping.

  3. Leaves out what changes the picture

    Serious

    What is missing

    The same ministers demanded an immediate opening of the Strait of Hormuz, which they say Iranian ships and drones are blockading, and an end to Houthi assaults on Saudi Arabia. Without this a reader believes the summit's only message was directed at the US and Israel.

    How we know

    Show where it belongs

  4. Uses a loaded word

    Minor

    “the Israeli regime”

    What the words do
    Press TV calls the Israeli government "the regime" in its own narration, not inside a quotation from anyone.
    What a reader comes away believing
    That this is the outlet's neutral descriptor for the state that carried out the strikes.
    What is actually the case
    "Regime" carries a verdict rather than a description; naming the Israeli government or Israeli forces states the same fact without the outlet's judgement attached.

    How we know

    • Elsewhere in the article“German Chancellor Friedrich Merz”

    Show it in the article

  5. Leaves out what changes the picture

    Minor

    What is missing

    The Istanbul meeting the article uses as proof of a German reversal was initiated by Turkey and Germany together. Without this a reader believes Berlin was being warned by others, rather than co-convening the warning itself.

    How we know

    Show where it belongs

Every underline is part of a finding. Press one to see why.

Baghaei exposes German hypocrisy: From cheering Israels ‘dirty work’ against Iran to warning of escalation

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has highlighted a stark shift in Berlin’s rhetoric, contrasting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s open endorsement of Israeli aggression in June 2025 with recent warnings by Germany’s foreign minister and other European officials against renewed attacks on the Islamic Republic.

In a post on X on Saturday, Baghaei recalled Merz’s remarks during the early phase of the US-Israeli war of aggression: “This is the dirty work Israel is doing for all of us.”

He then noted that by October 2026, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and counterparts from other European and regional states were cautioning against further military escalation and stressing the need to prevent a new round of attacks on Iran.

Baghaei accompanied the observation with a line from Friedrich Schiller’s The Maid of Orleans (Act III, Scene VI): “O exalted Reason, bright daughter of the divine mind, wise architect of the universe and guide of the stars—who are you, then, if, bound to the tail of the wild horse of madness, you must watch helplessly, crying out, as you are dragged alongside that drunken rider into the abyss?”

June 2025: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, speaking about Israel’s aggression against Iran, said: “This is the dirty work Israel is doing for all of us.”

— Esmaeil Baqaei (@IRIMFA_SPOX) October 24, 2026

October 2026: German Foreign Minister (and others) warn against renewed attacks on Iran and stress the need to prevent…

. In June 2025, launched on Iranian nuclear, military, and civilian sites, killing commanders, scientists, and ordinary citizens. Merz publicly framed the aggression as beneficial “dirty work” for the West.

Iranian authorities at the time condemned the comments as an attempt to justify clear violations of the UN Charter and international law, accusing Germany of complicity through political and material support for the aggressors.

More than a year later, amid ongoing tensions over the Strait of Hormuz, , and threats of renewed strikes, European and regional foreign ministers meeting in Istanbul on October 23 warned that further military action against Iran would produce only losers and must be avoided.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated that none of the participating countries endorsed another attack, while French and Italian officials emphasized that the crisis cannot be resolved by force and called for utmost restraint and dialogue.

Iranian officials have consistently maintained that the root cause of regional insecurity lies in the US-Israeli aggression that began in late February 2026, the failure of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding due to Washington’s non-compliance, and continued illegal actions including the blockade of Iranian ports.

Tehran has insisted that any path to de-escalation must begin with an end to hostilities, the lifting of the blockade, and full implementation of prior commitments, not new demands or threats.

Baghaei’s invocation of Schiller appears to frame the German shift as a belated recognition that endorsing aggression has dragged its advocates toward greater instability, even as Berlin continues to criticize Iran over shipping disruptions that Tehran attributes solely to the aggressors’ actions.

Iranian diplomats have repeatedly noted that countries which once applauded or enabled the “dirty work” now face the economic and strategic consequences of the war they helped fuel, .

Read the original article on presstv.ir (opens in a new tab)

How other outlets reported it

Spot something we missed? Report this article

More from Press TV

Everything we scored from Press TV