British journalist Bushra Shaikh targeted by Western media for exposing US-Israeli war crimes in Iran

The Guardian newspaper has launched a crude propaganda assault against UK journalist and activist Bushra Shaikh after she traveled to Iran and documented the deadly consequences of US and Israeli aggression on Iranian civilians.

During her recent visit to Iran as part of a foreign media delegation invited by the Sobh Media Center, Shaikh visited several cities, met with victims of the war, and reported directly from the ground on the devastating effects of American and Israeli illegal aggression.

This included a criminal attack on a girls’ school that killed nearly 170 children. Her unfiltered reporting brought the horrific human cost of these criminal strikes to international attention, shining a light on the barbarity of the US-Israeli alliance and its repeated violations of international law.

Instead of defending press freedom, The Guardian, which is now little more than a mouthpiece for British state and intelligence interests, accused Shaikh of spreading Iranian government messaging and amplified demands that she be investigated for alleged “sanctions violations.”

Award-winning British journalist Jonathan Cook, recipient of the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism and a former staff writer for The Guardian and The Observer, dismantled the paper’s attack, describing it as a desperate attempt to smear an independent voice that refuses to echo Western narratives.

In a post on X on Sunday night, Cook exposed how The Guardian twisted basic journalistic practice into something sinister. The paper complained that Shaikh’s posts appeared at the time of critical events in Iran, including the escalation of war, ceasefire talks and nationwide anti-war protests in January -- in other words, she reported newsworthy developments as they happened.

He added that her posts, according to the paper, showed a “highly calculated pattern of social media manipulation,” meaning she effectively reached a wide audience with the truth.

Cook noted that her work attracted “disproportionately high engagement” because people around the world were eager to hear the real story from Iran.

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In this edition of the program we have with us Bushra Shaikh, a political commentator who is visiting Iran for the second time.

Shaikh offered her followers “unmediated, citizen journalist-style access to a war zone,” Cook wrote, because she bypassed Western editors who routinely censor or soften information that might embarrass Washington and Tel Aviv.

The Guardian further demonized Shaikh for being “aligned with anti-imperialist, anti-colonial frameworks,” a clear admission that her real offense was refusing to regurgitate British and American state propaganda like much of the corporate media.

“This Guardian hit-job isn't about getting to the truth. It's the paper desperately trying to protect its traditional information monopoly for ‘liberal-left’ audiences, and thereby remain useful for the security services,” Cook wrote.

During her visit, Shaikh also interviewed senior Iranian officials, including Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei and Chairman of Parliament’s Foreign Policy and National Security Commission Ebrahim Azizi, and shared these conversations on her social media platforms.

British journalist faces ‘anti-terror probe’ after Iran visit, reporting on US-Israeli crimes

In a politically motivated move, a UK-based independent journalist and activist faces an “anti-terror probe” after her recent visit to Iran, where she reported on post-war developments, including massive rallies against the US-Israeli war coalition.

Shaikh’s work stands as a powerful example of genuine journalism. By traveling to Iran and exposing the human suffering caused by US-Israeli airstrikes, particularly the massacre of children at a girls’ school, she has played a vital role in breaking the Western information blockade and holding the aggressors accountable.

In recent years, many British journalists, activists and academics have faced draconian charges in their own country simply for visiting Iran to attend conferences or media festivals, including the Sobh International Media Festival organized by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) World Service.

As Iran continues to defend its sovereignty against foreign aggression and terrorism, independent voices like Bushra Shaikh’s remain essential in the global battle for truth against empire and its media servants.

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