From 'Baby Shah' to Bond villains, Iran war coverage has reached new heights of absurdity
From 'Baby Shah' to Bond villains, Iran war coverage has reached new heights of absurdity
Submitted by Tanya Goudsouzian on Fri, 05/22/2026 - 16:27
The insertion of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad into the narrative is just the latest telenovela-worthy twist
Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is pictured in Tehran on 2 June 2024 (Atta Kenare/AFP) Off Media coverage of the Iran war has reached full telenovela levels of absurdity. One moment, audiences are told the “Baby Shah”, Reza Pahlavi, is on the verge of a triumphant return to Tehran.
The next, Kurdish “irregulars” - wait, is this 1914 or 2026? - are supposedly preparing to cross the Iraqi border in support of regime-change operations, as the Islamic Republic teeters on the brink of collapse.
Within hours, news emerges that the supreme leader has been killed, followed by a plot twist: his son and anointed successor is described, like a James Bond villain, as a horribly disfigured and
