What's happened
Pro-Iran supporters attacked the Baghdad offices of Saudi broadcaster MBC following a controversial report linking Iranian-backed figures to terrorism. The Iraqi government suspended MBC's license amid rising tensions in the region, particularly after the deaths of key Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.
Why it matters
What the papers say
According to the South China Morning Post, the attack on MBC's Baghdad offices involved 400 to 500 people who vandalized equipment and set fire to parts of the building. The Iraqi Communication and Media Commission justified the suspension of MBC, stating it violated national values. In contrast, the New York Times highlighted the complex dynamics in Iraq, where many view the figures named in MBC's report as martyrs, complicating public discourse around media freedom and criticism of Iranian-backed groups.
How we got here
The incident follows a year of escalating conflict involving Iranian-backed groups like Hamas and Hezbollah against Israel. MBC's report, which included figures deemed terrorists by the U.S., sparked outrage among pro-Iran factions in Iraq, leading to the attack on its offices.
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Iran, also called Persia, and officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered to the northwest by Armenia and Azerbaijan, to the north by the Caspian Sea, to the northeast by Turkmenistan, to the east by Afghanistan a
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Hamas is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist militant organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
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Hassan Nasrallah is the third and current Secretary General of the Lebanese political and paramilitary party Hezbollah since his predecessor, Abbas al-Musawi, was assassinated by the Israel Defense Forces in February 1992.
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Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in Western Asia, bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Kuwait to the southeast, Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the southwest and Syria to the west.