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An Iranian nuclear scientist was killed yesterday morning in a car bomb explosion near a University campus in Northern Teheran. The killing is the latest in a string of violence targeting Iranian nuclear scientists since 2010. On state television on Wednesday, Iranian officials implied US and Israeli responsibility for the killing and one Parliamentarian responded, “[t]his is not the first time arrogant powers adopt such futile measures.” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denied any U.S. involvement while U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland strongly condemned the attack. Meanwhile, Israeli Chief Military spokesman Yoav Mordechai made a Facebook statement saying that while he didn’t know who “settled the score with the Iranian scientist,” he certainly wouldn’t “shed a tear.” Mordechai’s comment fueled speculation that foreign governments opposed to Iran’s nuclear development program are behind the killings. The news of the Iranian scientist’s death comes just days after Iran announced that it had sentenced a US citizen of Iranian origin to death for spying, accusing him of working for the CIA. US-Iran relations have become severely strained in recent weeks, fueled by media coverage alluding to an impending conflict. In November of last year an International Atomic and Energy Agency (IAEA) report gave opponents of Iran, as well as mainstream media outlets, fodder for speculation that Iran is harboring nuclear weapons. The media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) has refuted a number of claims made by the media about the IAEA’s findings. A January 6th New York Times article described the Iranian nuclear program as having a “military objective.” FAIR issued an action alert on the New York Times saying the article contained “misleading assertions.” On January 10th, the Times public editor conceded to FAIR’s criticism writing, “[the IAEA report] falls short of making such a clear and conclusive statement.”

GUEST: Peter Hart is the activism director at FAIR. He writes for FAIR’s magazine Extra, and is also a co-host and producer of FAIR’s syndicated radio show CounterSpin.

Visit www.fair.org for more information.

Read FAIR’s latest analysis of media coverage on Iran here: http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4454