- U.S./Israeli War On Iran.

30 May 2026
https://the307.substack.com/p/the-guardian-runs-a-smear-piece-against

Lede: The MI6 Media Is Again Smearing An Anti-War Journalist.

Of all the media around the world, there is no country's media that is more
controlled and infiltrated by its security state than the British media.

This is best underscored by a recent smear piece published in the Guardian by
tech reporter Aisha Down, which slanders British journalist Bushra Shaikh, who
has reported on the U.S./Israeli war on Iran from the ground.

The article alleges Bushra Shaikh "went on two state-sponsored tours of Iran
this spring where she met senior officials and was 'active' in spreading the
regime's message" only to later admit to having no evidence to back up this
claim, writing, "It is unclear whether Shaikh and others covered their own
expenses or were paid to do the trip".

The Entire Piece Is Based On A Blog Post Smear Piece.

The entire smear is based on a "report", in reality a blog post, by a shady
outfit which claims to be a "fact-checking" organisation called "Factnameh".

The "report" that the article entirely bases its claim on is in reality a blog
post on Substack, which baselessly smears the few Western journalists who
reported on the ground on the U.S./Israeli war crimes committed in Iran.

The blog post claims that Bushra Shaikh's on-the-ground reporting on Iran
"demonstrates how the (Iranian) state utilises these figures to manipulate
Western algorithms" without giving a shred of evidence to back this up.

In the most bizarre section of the blog post, Factnameh claimed that Bushra
Shaikh was engaging in "a highly calculated pattern of social media
manipulation" because she tweeted about Iran, "almost exclusively during
critical events, such as the intensification of military conflicts, ceasefires,
and nationwide protests."

In other words, she engaged in "social media manipulation" because she covered
news topics while they were happening.

The blog post also claimed she achieved a high social media following "by
routinely targeting controversial topics and engaging in confrontational
discussions that drew attention to her videos" (in other words, using social
media the same way anyone else would).

It also complained that "Her online narrative consistently framed Western media
and elites as hypocritical and corrupt, while portraying Iran as a rational,
restrained country merely defending itself against Western aggression" a.k.a the
truth.

The rest of the blog post simply complained that her reporting on the ground in
Iran did not match up with CIA/Mossad narratives, such as when "she filmed
herself walking unveiled through the bazaars of Tabriz and Tajrish", "visited an
Armenian monastery in Isfahan" and reporting from protests which showed "that
the crowds did not want war".

In other words, debunking the cartoonish Western portrayal of Iran's treatment
of women and religious minorities, and showing that maybe Iranians aren't
cheering to have their country carpet bombed by the U.S. and Israel.

Cont'd