Historical And Cultural Significance Of U.S-Iran Ties

Discuss about the Historical and cultural significance of U.S-Iran ties.

The Turbulent History of the U.S-Iran Relationship

Tehran: The recent developments within the political arena of Iran indicate that its relations with the West, specifically the U.S. is not likely to improve very soon. With the diplomats of both nations engaging in war of words, it is less likely that there would be any end to hostility between the two countries. Iran’s turbulent history and disturbed relationship with the U.S. has caused much detriment to the culturally rich nation. Reuters on Wednesday published a report on Iran ‘threatening’ the U.S. of an attack if the latter makes any plans to attack it (Reuters.com, 2018). John Bolton, the U.S. National Security Adviser while airing his view stated that the U.S. wants to resolve tensions with Iran peacefully but it is prepared to confront any trouble that Iran creates. However, a look back at the history of the Iran-U.S. relationship, it could be observed that both countries had good ties with each other. In 1957, it was the U.S that had helped Iran begins its nuclear program by signing the “civil nuclear corporation deal” with the Shah of Iran, Mohammed Mossadegh (Duncombe, 2016). After the 1979 revolution, the relations became sour again and the 1983 and 1988 incidences further made the relationship bitter. Around 240 U.S military personnel were killed in the 1983 attack at the U.S Marine barracks in Lebanon that was led by the Hezbollah militia, known to be backed by Iran (Rotter, 2000). This attack was retaliated by the U.S in 1988 when its warship, the USS Vincennes shooting down an Iranian passenger plane resulting the death of around 300 Iranian passengers. The beginning of the 21^st century although brought some ray of hope for the two countries, it was short-lived as moves by the then U.S President George W. Bush like lumping Iran in the “axis of evil’ along with Iraq and North Korea (Ferrero, 2013). This move resulted in the collapse of talks that was supposed to be held with the Khatami government over the nuclear program. Although Barack Obama and Hassan Rouhani did try to mitigate tensions between their nations, it failed after the election of Donald Trump as the new President of the U.S. the steps taken by the Trump administration like scrapping of numerous economic sanctions to Iran have escalated tensions between the two countries.

Further, the representation of Iran in the U.S. media also contributed to the worsening relationships between the two countries on ground level as well. Majority of Western countries perceive Iran as a volatile nation that is pursuing nuclear program posing severe threat to security globally. As Barzegar (2014) notes, the perception of most Americans against Iran is that it is, like most other Middle Eastern nations, “half Islamic and half-extremist country”. The Iranians on the other hand, think that Americans have a lavish lifestyle and are free to do anything and that makes them egoistic. These misconceptions about each other’s nation allow the opportunistic politicians and other power holders to influence the minds of the common people. Amidst all these tensions, few artists from Iran are challenging the misconceptions the world has against their country. The artists are coming up with works of art that demonstrates the culturally diverse Iran devoid of any hostility against any nation. Taheri and Ansari (2013) have pointed out that on the cultural front, Iran has rich heritage and its demonstration on the international front could clear the wrong notions the westerners have about Iran. Recently, in the U.S., two art exhibitions were held in Los Angeles and New York where some Iranian artists displayed their artworks. The artists used this platform to dismiss the misconceptions the world has about their country. The paintings and photographs were, in no way, expressions of protests. Instead, those acted as windows into the world of Iran’s culture including the lives led by Iranian women exhibited at New York. The Los Angeles exhibition portrayed the intersection between the past and present of Iranian culture, politics and the social life. To the Iranian artists living in different parts of the world, art is one thing that they believe could enlighten people about the actual culture of Iran and would help in uprooting the stereotypical views about the country.

Iranian Representation in Western Media

These artistic creations could serve as interventions to end the long and ongoing tensions between the two countries. The instance of Iranian artists exhibiting their works of art in America is proof that better solutions to end the conflict are available. The main problem though, is the power hungry mindset of the politicians of both countries who would not let such interventions come in way of their distorted mindset. Moussavi-Aghdam (2014) however notes that artistic interventions have the least influence on political leaders in changing their hostile attitude towards each other’s nation. It is evident from the 2016 work of famous Iranian artist Mehdi Ghadyanloo in the streets of the U.S. His murals on the walls of Boston titled “Spaces of Hope” portrayed the dreams of many Iranians who were hopeful of improved ties with the U.S (Usnews.com, 2018). However, these dreams are yet to turn into reality as the relationship has anything but improved in the last two years. While Iran blames the U.S of taking a U-turn in supporting Iran’s nuclear program as reason for its aggression, the U.S blames Iran for defying international nuclear norms. The third important factor in it, Israel, also plays a significant role in the issue. According to Esfandiary and Tabatabai (2017), Israel, as the closest neighbor to Iran, must act sanely in this regard and find ways to peacefully mitigate the tension. Israel has had a wary relationship with Iran with initial phase during 1940s and 50s being friendly and the later years of 20^th and 21^st century being hostile (Daneshvari, 2013). Israel and Iran are two of the most significant powers of the Middle East and to ensure the region’s progress and reduce dominance of the West, they must unite to find peaceful solutions. The problem for Iran is not the U.S., it is its sour relations with Israel that has hampered its progress (Rotter, 2000).

The news article on Iran was reported in Reuters on 22 August this year. Reuters used the headline “Iran threatens to hit U.S., Israel after Trump aide warns of ‘maximum pressure’” to report on the development of Iran’s nuclear program and United State’s opposition. The report used summary lead to provide the most important details of the development to the readers. The lead followed from the headline stating Iran’s warning to U.S. and Israel and the reasons for this warning. The report followed the inverted pyramid structure while informing the readers about the developments with the most important information being at the top and least important at the bottom. The report first emphasized the causes that led Iran to ‘threaten’ U.S. and then put forth the statement made by John Bolton, the U.S. National Security Adviser. Next, the article highlighted United State’s position on Iran nuclear program and its turnaround as well. It further highlighted U.S.’s stern warning to European countries to back U.S. against Iran or face consequences in terms of business deals.

Challenging Misconceptions Through Artistic Interventions

The reporting of the issue is purely in line with War Journalism. Several characteristics make this reporting an example of War journalism, some of which shall be discussed. War Journalism, first, pays much importance to violence and least importance to peaceful solutions. Secondly, it makes claims like “we are under threat”, “we are taking on evil-doers”, we have the support of”, “we are left with no alternative” and so on to justify war as the only feasible solution (Lynch, McGoldrick & Heathers, 2015).  Now, in the chosen news article published in Reuters, of the above-mentioned claims, “we are left with no alternative” and “we are under threat” are evidently visible. The headline itself presents a great example of war journalism where the writer uses “threatens” to describe Iran’s stand on the issue and the word “warning” to explain U.S.’s stand. The selection of words to here is questionable as the writer uses the noun ‘warn’ to describe the action taken by U.S. while ‘threaten’ to define Iran’s actions. Thus, it clearly shows that the article makes an attempt to show one party as hostile and other party has having no other option. In one section, the article incorporates the statement of John Bolton where he says, “there should not be any doubt that the United States wants this resolved peacefully, but we are fully prepared for any contingency that Iran creates”. Here, both the claims are clearly visible. Another section of the article uses the sentence, “Iran’s revolutionary guards have said it could strike Israeli cities with missiles if it were threatened. Iran also has proxies in the region including Lebanon’s Hezbollah”. Here, the writer constructed the latter sentence in such a way as to depict that Iran will use Hezbollah, a designated terror group to attack Israel. A clear indication of War Journalism, this sentence shows Iran in a negative light. The article not for once mentions any peaceful negotiation or solution for the problem.

In order to operationalise Peace Journalism model to carry out content analysis on the chosen news coverage, it is important to focus on those aspects that demonstrate positive outcome. The first criteria would be to segregate the coverage into sections where Iran’s views and U.S’s views are mentioned and observe whether both views received equal importance or not (Leverett & Leverett, 2015). Second criteria would be to list out the words – nouns, adjectives – that have been used to describe the response of both the parties involved. If the words show bias towards one party, then these must be replaced with better words. Third criteria would be to check how true the facts of the article are and how credible are the sources from which the information has been taken.

Israel's Role in the U.S-Iran Conflict

When news reporters engage in reporting where concepts and ideologies of war are emphasized more, the readers develop the tendency to side with one party and resent the other. The WJ pattern of reporting influences the psychology of the audiences in the way that it makes them develop hatred for those different from them. To cite an example, reading the chosen news article would shape a view amongst Americans that Iran is a rogue nation and supports terrorist groups. While on the other hand, the Iranian readers would feel that the Americans are the reason for their country’s isolation and poor economic condition. The WJ pattern of reporting discourages the efforts of those who want to make peaceful changes by disillusioning their minds.

War journalism also influences the parties involved to take actions or say things that might further escalate the tensions. The chosen news article on Iran could be presented as a good example of this influence. The words used in the report, the construction of sentences, views of diplomats and leaders included in the report have the power to instigate the Iranian and American extreme thinking groups to act violently. Including statements like the ones of Ali Khamenei, “The price of a war with Iran is very high for America” in the report could heavily influence the actions of the opposite party. Further, American diplomat’s statement on European Union where he states, “We expect Europeans will see, as businesses all over Europe are seeing, that the choice between doing business with Iran or doing business with the United States is very clear to them” could be taken in a wrong way. The Europeans might feel that the U.S. is trying to dominate and to retaliate they might take actions that could prove harmful.

The Peace Journalism report written on same parties – the United States and Iran – is markedly different from the news report published in Reuters. The PJ report has presented news on the historical and cultural significance of the relationship between U.S and Iran. In the report, both parties have been made accountable for the present situation. Further, the report has focused on the cultural richness of Iran and the ways the American art lovers are helping them promote their culture through art. This makes the report objective as it does not incline towards any one party but gives equal space to both the parties involved (Thiel & Kempf, 2014). Further, the report also emphasizes on the role of Israel as the third most important factor in the issue and the way it could help find peaceful solution to the problem. In addition to that, the PJ news article has provided options like artistic interventions to end the conflict between the two parties rather than focusing only on negative statements. These aspects of the report make it different from the chosen article that was clearly an example of War journalism.

Most articles including the one presented here that incline more towards PJ are more likely to have a positive influence on the parties involved and their action and motivations. Peace journalism incorporates the aspects of conflict theory and thus has the power to provide solutions that have least violence (Peleg, 2006). According to the theory, every conflict whether it is a family feud, office turf, battles or war, all follow the same pattern of “situation-attitude-behavior”. The method that PJ follows is that it explores the conflict formation – x parties, y goals and z issues where there is a win-win situation to resolve the conflict (Lynch, McGoldrick & Heathers, 2015). Further, the peace-oriented journalism gives voice to each party involved, demonstrates empathy for each and understanding as well (Galtung & Fischer, 2013). The news article written on the history and cultural significance of Iran-U.S. relationship has this aspect. Therefore, news reports where issues of two parties involved in conflict are reported shedding light on the losses or benefits of both, induce a positive influence. Apart from that, when the parties involved in the issue read news where they find that their stand has been supported and better options have been provided, they are motivated to act peacefully. For example, the news about Iranian artists exhibiting their work of arts in the U.S. and the American art gallery owners encouraging these artists would encourage citizens from both countries to find a peaceful solution. Providing a new scope for journalists to report wars from a peace perspective, PJ gives the media an opportunity to play the role of a moderator between the conflicting parties (Ersoy, 2010). In this way, this pattern of reporting creates an ambience where the parties involved have a chance to resolve their issues peacefully.

Further, it is also important to note that the news article on the historical and cultural significance of Iran-U.S. relationship discusses the work of artists like Mehdi Ghadyanloo. Ghadyanloo’s surrealistic painting in Boston titled ‘Spaces of Hope’ on request from the American municipal authority shows the kind of respect the common citizens have for each other. Mentioning this in the article would enable the governments of both countries to realize the potential of art as a peaceful resolution to their issues. This positive effect might be transmitted through increased reporting of events and stories like these. It is but important that all journalists and news agencies realize this and work towards achieving the goal rather than focusing only on selling their news.

Press Release

Australia must join Syrian conflict to restore peace

Amidst doubts concerning Australia joining the conflict, people believe it should join for peace

Sydney, Australia: The Australian involvement in the Syrian conflict has been mostly to combat the Islamic State forces through air strikes. The involvement began in 2014 as the Air task Group (ATG) launched air strikes in Iraq and then extended to Syria in 2015. Although the request from United States to extend commitment to the war was rejected by the Australian Government, it did increase its personnel in the coalition headquarters. In 2017, a report in the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) raised questions whether fresh conflicts in Syria would draw Australia into it again. The report stated that involving in the conflict again would mean a fruitless outcome, as the conflict is no longer meant to deter chemical attacks on civilians but to remove dictator Bashar al-Assad. However, it is not enough to refrain from engaging in conflict but to make efforts to find a better, more peaceful outcome. Australia must involve in the conflict, but not through air strikes and combat teams but with a strong resolution to influence peace works. The Australians are in doubt whether Australia will be forced to join the conflict if it extends to remove al-Assad. “Apart from anything else, Australia’s legal basis for air strikes against the Islamic State in Syria – defending Iraq at the request of its government – does not extend to attacking the Assad regime”, reported SMH. To state that Australia does not have the legal bindings to attack the Assad regime simply does not indicate peace journalism.

“The Australian Government must step forward and make efforts to bring peace in Syria”, said Malcolm McCarthy, a respected Australian citizen. “Australians know the importance of preserving lives and culture as it has also suffered due to conflicts”, Mr. McCarthy added. John Slater, member of an NGO stated that if Australia could launch air strikes to fight the IS militants, it surely has the power to launch peace works to bring peace in that region. The report expressed inevitability of further escalation of the Syrian conflict with major players sure to hit back compelling Australia to involve. The common citizens however, think otherwise. According to them, even if other major players decide to attack Syria, Australia need not do the same. It could use tactics to actively participate in the war and then reveal its plans for peace efforts. “Australia has international obligations true but it must not compel it to take sides for violence”, states Ralph, a university student studying international affairs. Ralph has closely followed the Syrian conflict and believed that more peaceful and better solutions for the conflict are in abundance but none has looked at those. He states that Australia should set an example for others to follow by implementing peace plans in Syria. The air strikes could be food supplements, chocolates and other items for the Syrian civilians rather than bombs, he further added. Therefore, it is evident that the Australian citizens want a different kind of involvement in the Syrian conflict ensuring peace in that region, which result in better outcomes for Australia as well than war would would.

Peace journalism campaign

The news reports that have been published over the period of the Syrian War have mostly indulged in blaming the parties involved. These induce negative effects on the minds of the people and the parties are further instigated to take violent actions. Media outlets and journalists worldwide are busy finding and reporting news that have the slightest element of conflict. Then, they take this slightest element of conflict and project it as a big issue thus escalating tensions. It is therefore important that campaign strategies for advancing and promoting more Peace Journalism (PJ) should be devised (Blizzard, 2017). The following section presents a news media campaign outline urging journalists to indulge in PJ more and avoid War Journalism (WJ).

Campaign title: Strike with Love, Combat violence with Peace

Goal: To aware journalists the benefits of Peace Journalism

Target: The media personnel across the globe and the common public

Key messages: The prime messages the campaign aims to convey include the importance of Peace Journalism while reporting on the Syrian conflict and showing positive news rather than blaming parties. Another important message the campaign aims to disseminate is to the common masses reading and listening news about Syria not to form their opinions based on the news reported but to think positively about the issue and come up with better, peaceful options.

Media: The Social Media, chiefly Facebook and Twitter

Execution: The campaign will use visual aids like video, posters and graphics to convey the key messages about the Syrian conflict. The video will feature the Syrian people expressing their dreams, aspirations and concerns about their country. It will also feature Australian citizens and some from the West as well who will share their thoughts about the Syrian issue and better options to resolve it. Further, the campaign will have journalists actively promoting PJ providing insights into the ways to promote this pattern of reporting and the impact it would have on the audiences and the parties involved. The video will be posted on YouTube and shared across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

A poster depicting the title of the campaign and its meaning shall be prepared and posted on social media platforms mainly Facebook and Twitter. The poster will have pictures of Syrian people; their quotes depicting their potential and desire to do something better for the country. Further, the poster will also have quotes from Australian people and journalists who believe in the positive influence of PJ over WJ. A Twitter hash tag with the campaign title shall be posted inviting people to share their experiences and thoughts on the issue.

With the use of the social media, the campaign will be made viral across the globe urging the mainstream media to pay attention to it and act. The campaign will be put to trial prior to launch to be sure that none of the messages, words used, statements made, hurt the sentiments of the people involved and causes problems. After examining the contents, then only the campaign shall be launched.

The existing coverage on the Syrian conflict stresses heavily on threatening and warning comments made by the parties involved. It also emphasizes on violent future outcomes of the conflict and presumes that escalation of Syrian conflict is inevitable. The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reported on Australia’s possible involvement in the Syrian war stating that it might be forced to involve again in the conflict (Wroe, 2018). The report further demonstrates that Trump’s unpredictable stand on Syria will force Australia to engage in combat in Syria again. Apart from that, the report also makes predictions about the possible extension of the conflict due to America’s changing stance. In addition, the report uses the word ‘dictator’ to address Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian leader that is not correct because the media is supposed to maintain neutrality and not take sides or use terms that shows biasness. Further, the news article makes assumptions that indicate violence in the Syrian state and neglects the more peaceful interventions and possibilities. It states that America’s sudden change of intentions to intervene Syria on humanitarian grounds to bring peace by removing Assad, would require Australia to provide military support. Here, the report is wrong in assuming that Australia has to involve militarily in the conflict if situation arrives as it neglects other better options.

War Journalism is that kind of reporting where issues of violence and conflict are given more prominence than responses that are non-violent and peace-oriented (Lee & Maslog, 2005). Lynch, McGoldrick and Heathers (2015) have identified many characteristics of WJ that could be used to identify news reports following this pattern. Claims like we have no other alternative, we are under threat, we must save them, all indicate WJ reporting. The coverage by SMH on the Syrian issue is an example of War Journalism because it has most elements of this pattern including words and nouns used, sentence construction and statements included. Several characteristics of War Journalism are present in the article. The headline, “Syria missile attack: Will Australia be drawn into a fresh conflict in the Middle East?” itself is WJ based. Other examples that make the report WJ include the use of words like ‘dictator’ to address Bashar al-Assad, assumptions like “that would take a major military intervention requiring air power and ground troops, including Australia’s” also make it a WJ report.

To operationalize Peace Journalism model into the present coverage of the story, it is important learn about the concepts that make a PJ report. Instead of focusing on the profits and losses of the parties, PJ highlights the possibility of profit for both. Hence, instead of assuming that Australia will have to involve in the conflict due to its close ties with America, the report could present ways for both the countries to gain from indulging in peace efforts. Further, peace-oriented news gives everyone involved a chance to express their opinions rather than presenting just one side of the story. Therefore, the coverage of the Syrian story should have the opinions of the Syrian public as well whether they want any further combat or not.

When journalists engage in WJ reporting, they do not realize the influence it would have on the psychology of the readers or audiences. They just focus on selling their news item without attempting to investigate even the entire truth. The report published in one of the most read English dailies in Australia is sure to have an impact on the minds of the readers. As the readers go through the headline, they are most surely to develop doubts regarding the stance taken by their country on the Syrian issue. In addition, to those who have little knowledge about the Syrian conflict, the headline would certainly instill some kind of fear. Further, the report might even prompt the readers belonging to the Syrian region, who are in support of Bashar al-Assad react aggressively because of the word ‘dictator’ being used to address him. When the readers will read the lines, “He (Trump) is saying that he will not hold all the might of the US military on a tight leash when there are such deliberate and cruel provocations”, they are surely to respond in fear and anger.

Apart from affecting the psychology of the audiences and readers, the WJ reporting also affects the actions and motivations of the parties involved in the conflict. The Syrian conflict has a myriad of parties involved and each party has its own motives and interests. Apart from Syria itself, the US, the UK, Iran, Iraq, Russia and Australia, all have their stake in the issue. However, the U.S. and Russia are major conflicting parties here with Australia trying to have a neutral stand. As these parties read the lines of the report, they might be prompted to respond to the statements made by the leaders and retaliate accusations made against them. For example, when the Syrian leaders read words like ‘dictator’, ‘punish’ and such other provocative words, they might react with stronger words and challenge the opposing parties to attack. Further, when the Russian leaders will read the lines “Russia can tolerate this attack on its ally”, “it may be so frustrated by this chemical attack that it ditches Assad for a new leader…” they would not just sit in silence and accept everything said against them. It would have a psychological affect on the leaders involved that would further escalate the matter.

The campaign for more Peace Journalism about this issue would help in spreading awareness amongst journalists and reporters worldwide to indulge in peace-oriented reporting. The use of videos and visuals in the campaign would make it easier for the journalists and the common masses as well to look closely, the reasons behind the need for PJ. When the video will be streamed online and played in mainstream media, it would have a positive influence on the people because it would not contain any blaming and accusations, just the true feeling of people. Further, the campaign would be made viral through social media hence, it would reach most number of users and the message shall be conveyed clearly and in quick time. the coverage on Syria has always been WJ and that is why the campaign would have no mention of the war but would provide a different perspective.

It is but imperative to state that selling the campaign to the media is going to be a tough task because the media would not take any criticism against it. Moreover, it has to be remembered that the media does have some priorities and protocols to maintain and hence, they might not be willing to buy the campaign. The media agencies have some obligations to the governments and parties that fund them and that are why they cannot feature anything that goes against their beneficiaries. It is for these reasons that the campaign has been designed to fit in to all forms of media. It does not feature nay criticism against the government or any other party. The campaign would not directly aim at the mainstream media; the social media platforms will be utilized first. After the video, the poster and other visual elements become viral, and then the campaign shall be launched in the mainstream media.  

The news coverage of the conflict in Syria and Australia’s involvement in it is in all sense based on WJ and some reasons justify it. The coverage does not provide any viable solution to the issue and just focuses on the vague possibilities. The reason is its inclination towards the country’s ally, America and opposition towards Russia. As mentioned above, the construction of sentences, the nouns and adjectives used to describe people and actions make this coverage a WJ report. With the help of the campaign, this pattern could be changed. The campaign involves the voices of the people from each party involved in the conflict and despite it; no negative word, statement or thought will be used. Thus, it would counteract the SMH coverage without being aggressive or negative.

In order to make the campaign more effective, it would be good to work on the media as well. Working on the media would help understand the possibilities of the campaign being covered by it. The intention is to promote the campaign in SMH as well where the WJ report covering Syria was published. Therefore, working on this media agency would be a good way to sell the campaign because the codes and principles, the undertakings of the agency shall be learnt that would allow the campaign to fit in. Fairfax Media own the SMH. The conditions of advertising in the media includes that the advertiser must abide by all the laws that govern the media. These include “any copyright, trademark, obligation of confidentiality” and such other laws that should be strictly followed (Fairfaxmedia.com.au, 2018). In regards to these, the media can cover the campaign for Peace Journalism because it abides by all these. Apart from that, the corporate governance codes and principles state that the media company promotes diversity and fairness and hence, they might cover the campaign for this reason.

Barzegar, K. (2014). Iran–US Relations in the Light of the Nuclear Negotiations. The international spectator, 49(3), 1-7.

Blizzard, E. (2017). Peace Journalism in Palestine's BDS Campaign. Peace Review, 29(4), 467-474.

Daneshvari, A. (2013). Seismic Shifts Across Political Zones in Contemporary Iranian Art: The Poetics of Knowledge, Knowing and Identity. Performing the Iranian State: Visual Culture and Representations of Iranian Identity, London, 103-4.

Duncombe, C. (2016). Representation, recognition and foreign policy in the Iran–US relationship. European Journal of International Relations, 22(3), 622-645.

Ersoy, M. (2010). Peace journalism and news coverage on the Cyprus conflict. The Muslim World, 100(1), 78-99.

Esfandiary, D., & Tabatabai, A. M. (2017). A Comparative Study of US and Iranian Counter-ISIS Strategies. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 40(6), 455-469.

Fairfaxmedia.com.au. (2018). Corporate Governance - Fairfax Media Limited. Retrieved from https://www.fairfaxmedia.com.au/Company/corporate-governance

Ferrero, C. (2013). The Iran narrative: The ideational context of US foreign policy decision-making toward the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran and the Caucasus, 17(1), 41-76.

Galtung, J., & Fischer, D. (2013). High road, low road: Charting the course for peace journalism. In Johan Galtung (pp. 95-102). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.

Lee, S. T., & Maslog, C. C. (2005). War or peace journalism? Asian newspaper coverage of conflicts. Journal of Communication, 55(2), 311-329.

Leverett, H. M., & Leverett, F. (2015). American hegemony (and hubris): The Iranian nuclear issue, and the future of Sino–Iranian relations. In The Emerging Middle East-East Asia Nexus (pp. 148-171). Routledge.

Lynch, J., McGoldrick, A., & Heathers, J. (2015). Psychophysiological audience responses to war journalism and peace journalism. Global Media and Communication, 11(3), 201-217.

McGoldrick, A. (2006). War Journalism and'Objectivity'. Conflict & communication, 5(2).

Moussavi-Aghdam, C. (2014). Art History,‘National Art’and Iranian Intellectuals in the 1960s. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 41(1), 132-150.

Peleg, S. (2006). Peace Journalism through the Lense of Conflict Theory: Analysis and Practice. Conflict & Communication, 5(2).

Reuters.com. (2018). Iran threatens to hit U.S., Israel after Trump aide warns of... Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-usa/iran-threatens-to-hit-u-s-israel-after-trump-aide-warns-of-maximum-pressure-idUSKCN1L70GC

Rotter, A. J. (2000). Saidism without Said: Orientalism and US diplomatic history. The American Historical Review, 105(4), 1205-1217.

Taheri, H., & Ansari, S. (2013). Measuring the relative efficiency of cultural-historical museums in Tehran: DEA approach. Journal of Cultural Heritage, 14(5), 431-438.

Thiel, S., & Kempf, W. (2014). Audience reactions to peace journalism: How supporters and critics of the Israeli policy process escalation and de-escalation oriented media frames. Conflict & communication online, 13(1).

Usnews.com. (2018). The Art of Detente. Retrieved from https://www.usnews.com/opinion/world-report/articles/2016-12-15/artist-mehdi-ghadyanloo-paints-a-hopeful-vision-of-us-iran-relations

Wroe, D. (2018). Syria missile attack: Will Australia be drawn into a fresh conflict in the Middle East?. Retrieved from https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/syria-missile-attack-will-australia-be-drawn-into-a-fresh-conflict-in-the-middle-east-20170407-gvfx0y.html