Iranian media silent on Israeli victims of Istanbul suicide bombing

Three Israelis and one Iranian were killed by the suicide bomber in Istanbul on Saturday.

Iranian English-language media have been covering the story closely, but based on coverage in state-run PressTV and IRNA, not one article has mentioned that Israelis were victims.

I see six articles in IRNA English and at least five more in PressTV that discuss the terror attack.

The idea that Israelis could be terror victims is anathema to Iran, which styles itself as a major player fighting terrorism. Which is funny for a major world power behind terrorism.

Now, Turkish media is reporting that the Israelis were the targets of the bombing, and the bomber tailed an Israeli tour group, waiting for them to exit a restaurant before blowing himself up.

Iran tries to paint ISIS as an Israeli organization. Last year the regime held an ISIS cartoon contest, modeled after their cartoon contests making fun of the Holocaust. One of the winning cartoons associated ISIS with Jews.

So the idea that ISIS is anti-Israel or antisemitic cannot and must not be mentioned in Iranian media, and Israeli victims of terror are stripped of their nationhood.

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