The newspaper published a tweet expressing sympathy for the Iranian position, according to which the nuclear program is "for peaceful purposes only" • "Does the ayatollah write them the tweets?"
The New York Times Headquarters // Photo: AFP
Stumbling or deliberate policy?
The well-known American newspaper The New York Times received harsh criticism from the right after it published a tweet in which it stated that Iran claims its nuclear program for peaceful purposes only, without adding any detail about the enormous amount of evidence that the Islamic Republic is working on developing nuclear weapons.
The tweet, which led to a newspaper article on the assassination of Iranian nuclear program chief Muhsin Fahrizadeh, read: "Iranian officials, who have always insisted that their country's nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, not weapons, have expressed outrage at the assassination, calling it a terrorist act."
Iranian officials, who have always maintained that their nuclear ambitions are for peaceful purposes, not weapons, expressed fury and vowed revenge over the assassination, calling it an act of terrorism and warmongering https://t.co/8JdtG2Syqb
- New York Times World (@nytimesworld) November 28, 2020
House Spokesman Tom Cotton, who has criticized the paper in the past after downloading an opinion piece he wrote due to pressure from progressive groups, expressed disgust at the tweet and wrote: .
"Washington Examiner" correspondent David Donnelly wrote on his Twitter page in response, along with asterisks indicating the text correction: "Iranian officials, who have always lied about their nuclear program."
The Texas Conservative Youth Organization wrote a mocking tweet published on the American news network Fox News that read: "Did the ayatollah himself write the tweet for you?".