Tehran Times · Iran · 6 Sept 2026

The headline editorialises, passive voice hides who attacked, and the civilian cost of sanctions is ignored.

/ 10 · article score

scored on 4 of 11 measures · thin coverage

The double standard

The article consistently names the United States and Israel as active, responsible agents of violence and pressure while Iran's actions are framed as reactive resilience, so the same journalistic decision about agency and attribution is applied differently depending on whose conduct is being described.

How it builds, in Opening three paragraphs establishing the war's origins and both sides' conduct

Named actors, named date, named intent for US/Israel aggression
The United States and Israel launched their war against Iran on February 28, apparently expecting that sustained military pressure would weaken the Islamic Republic and compel its leadership to make far-reaching concessions.
Full attribution with named agents, named date, and stated motive
Iran's actions framed as maintenance and challenge, not aggression
Iran has maintained its political and military footing while continuing to challenge US pressure, particularly around the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.
Reactive framing: Iran described as holding ground, not initiating
Iran cast as absorbing, not inflicting, harm
Iran has repeatedly demonstrated that it can absorb severe pressure while retaining significant leverage over the course of the confrontation.
Victim-of-pressure framing with no named Iranian aggressive act
US named as imposing costs; Iran named as resisting
Despite the heavy economic costs imposed by US sanctions and the naval blockade, Tehran has rejected demands that it sees as compromising its sovereignty
US given active verb 'imposed'; Iran given defensive verb 'rejected'
No actor named for military exchanges near strait
Recent military exchanges around the waterway have further demonstrated the risks of trying to resolve the dispute through force.
Agentless noun phrase conceals who initiated military exchanges

The same decision, both sides

Whether the initiating actor is named and held responsible

The United States and Israel are named as the parties who launched the war, given a specific date, and assigned a stated strategic motive.

The United States and Israel launched their war against Iran on February 28, apparently expecting that sustained military pressure would weaken the Islamic Republic and compel its leadership to make far-reaching concessions.

Iran's own military conduct around the Strait of Hormuz is described without a named actor or attributed motive, dissolved into a mutual-sounding noun phrase.

Recent military exchanges around the waterway have further demonstrated the risks of trying to resolve the dispute through force.

Whether economic harm is attributed to a named agent

US economic measures are attributed directly to Washington with an active construction that names the instrument of harm.

the heavy economic costs imposed by US sanctions and the naval blockade

Iran's leverage over shipping, which is the economic pressure Tehran applies to the world, is described in abstract terms with no named cost to any party.

Tehran has maintained that the strait cannot simply be treated as an instrument of US power.

What a reader is left with. A reader is left believing that the United States and Israel bear clear, named responsibility for starting and sustaining a war, while Iran is a resilient, sovereignty-defending party whose own military and economic pressure around the strait is either invisible or neutrally described.

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Aggressor framingHeadline analysisSanctions framing

Dennis Ross: Iran’s resilience during US war continues to ‘surprise’

TEHRAN — The clearest path to a deal to end the US war on Iran may lie in the dispute over shipping fees through the Strait of Hormuz, according to former US negotiator Dennis Ross, as Washington confronts the reality that months of military and economic pressure have failed to force Tehran into submission. The United States and Israel launched their war against Iran on February 28, apparently expecting that sustained military pressure would weaken the Islamic Republic and compel its leadership to make far-reaching concessions. Instead, Iran has maintained its political and military footing while continuing to challenge US pressure, particularly around the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz. Iran has repeatedly demonstrated that it can absorb severe pressure while retaining significant leverage over the course of the confrontation. Despite the heavy economic costs imposed by US sanctions and the naval blockade, Tehran has rejected demands that it sees as compromising its sovereignty and has continued to insist that any settlement must address the consequences of Washington’s military campaign. Ross said Iran could abandon any demand for a formal toll on shipping while retaining the right to charge for legitimate navigational, security or environmental services. Such an arrangement, he argued, could give both sides a way to claim a political victory, allowing Tehran to step back from its demand without appearing to capitulate. “The Iranians have consistently surprised us in terms of their resilience,” Ross said, adding that he doubted economic and military pressure alone would force an Iranian retreat. The Strait of Hormuz has become the central pressure point in the confrontation. Washington has sought to use its naval power and economic blockade to restrict Iran’s oil exports, while Tehran has maintained that the strait cannot simply be treated as an instrument of US power. Recent military exchanges around the waterway have further demonstrated the risks of trying to resolve the dispute through force. “If you could announce that the strait were reopened, I think Trump would do a deal,” Ross told The Associated Press. For Washington, such a deal could provide a face-saving way to end a costly confrontation. For Tehran, reopening the waterway while preserving its sovereign rights and securing an end to the pressure campaign could equally be presented as a victory. After months of war, the emerging lesson is that Iran’s resilience has become one of the central factors pushing the US to search for an exit from the conflict.

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