Polarized: Iranian Media React to Paris Attacks
On Sunday morning, in response to ISIS' latest crime in Europe, Reformist, pro-Rouhani and moderate newspapers adopted a sympathetic tone and focused on the enormity of the catastrophe and the number of casualties. Principlist, conservative and hardliner media were blunt however, calling the massacre a natural outcome of Western policies in the Middle East, particularly Syria. They also strongly criticized the vigil held in front of the French Embassy on Saturday by a number of Iranians, accusing the participants of hypocrisy and asking if they reacted to the Beirut bombings which took place on Thursday and killed almost 40 Lebanese in the Shia-majority district of Dahiyeh.
The most extensive coverage among the Reformist newspapers belonged to E'temad. "The Whole World Is Frightened This Time" the top headline read. The newspaper also published three French headlines. "L'horreur" (Horror) read the most prominent. The front page of Iran, the government's organ, was decorated with a cartoon depicting a lady shedding a tear on the Eiffel Tower ablaze. The newspaper spoke of "The Dreadful Night of Paris". Bahar, another Reformist paper, reported of "Tehran's Sympathy with Paris," publishing the photo of an Iranian woman lighting candles in front of the French Embassy in Tehran.
The body of a victim covered by a white sheet was placed in the center of Shargh's front page. The newspaper reported of "Iranians' Sympathy with Parisian Victims of Violence". The op-ed of the newspaper was by political commentator Sadegh Zibakalam who is always on alert to express sympathy with Western countries. "Refusing to sympathize, express condolences or pay a visit to the French Embassy … has no moral or human justification and will not serve Iran's national interests," Zibakalam said.
Principlist media were less friendly towards Paris' terrorist attacks. Javan, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, had a sarcastic headline: "Back Home", associating ISIS with France. "Predictions by Bashar Assad and other Middle Eastern leaders that selective combat with terrorism will eventually inflict Europe were realized," read the subtitle. "We Believe in the Superior Race!" The newspaper also published an article slamming sympathetic reactions by the Iranian art community to the Paris terrorist attacks and compared it to their preceding silence regarding similar incidents in Muslim countries. "The Boomerang of ISIS" has finally returned to France, claimed Khorasan. "The terrorist attack in Paris negated the false belief that the US and its allies can cooperate with terrorists with masks and gloves and not get stained," the op-ed of the newspaper asserted.
The most hostile headline, which faced strong responses in the Iranian cyberspace, belonged to the hardliner Vatan-e Emrooz. The picture on the front page of the newspaper was similar to Shargh's, yet accompanied with a completely different headline. "Befarmayeed Sham" had a double meaning: it could be translated either as "Experience Sham!", referring to the gore situation in Sham, the Levant, and invite the West to "finally taste its own medicine in Syria.", or as "Come Dine with Me", referring to a popular TV program on the Iranian Manoto satellite channel.