NY Times reporter walks back post about 'randomness' of Israeli strikes on Iran
A New York Times reporter walked back her X post after facing backlash for suggesting that Israeli strikes on Iran randomly hit residential neighborhoods.
"A friend in Tehran sent me this video, apartment complex housing university professors attacked directly across the street from her house," Farnaz Fassihi, United Nations bureau chief for The New York Times, said in a Friday X post.
"The randomness of strikes in residential neighborhoods have terrified Iranians," she added.
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On Thursday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched extensive strikes on Iran's military infrastructure and nuclear program, killing Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Hossein Salami and the country's chief of staff of the armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri.
While Fassihi called the strikes random, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the strikes were targeted, writing in a Thursday X post that, "Moments ago, Israel launched Operation 'Rising Lion', a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival. This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat."
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In a later post on Friday, Fassihi said, "About my tweet yesterday, I meant to say the sense of randomness caused by the strikes in residential neighborhoods has terrified Iranians. As we've reported, Israel has said the strikes are targeted."
Fassihi faced strong pushback on X at first for suggesting the strikes were random. She eventually prevented users from replying to the post, although people could still "quote" the post and comment on it.
Podcaster and writer Stephen Miller posted on X, "There is absolutely nothing random about these strikes but that doesn't stop New York Times reporters. Comments off."
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Guy Benson, Townhall political editor, also took to X to address Fassihi's post, saying, "Using the word 'randomness' to describe the precision of what is happening is quite a choice."
Noah Rothman, a senior writer at National Review Online, said, "Look. Nobody likes it when their city is bombed. But in the light of day, amid evidence of the surgical precision with which Israel targeted regime figures, many of whom are not exactly beloved, the Iranian public's perspective should be expected to evolve."
Radio host Tony Katz said her post did not live up to journalistic standards.
"This is not journalism," Katz said. "This is propaganda."
In a statement to Fox News Digital, The New York Times said that it is "aggressively reporting on Israel's strikes on Iran, one of the most oppressive countries for journalists to access in order to report and verify facts in breaking news moments." The paper added, "One of the ways we provide insight into what's happening with the rest of the world is to share videos taken by people on the ground, including their perspectives."Original article source: NY Times reporter walks back post about 'randomness' of Israeli strikes on Iran
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Timeline of tensions and hostilities between Israel and Iran
Israel and Iran opened a new chapter in their long history of conflict when Israel launched a major attack with strikes early Friday that set off explosions in the Iranian capital of Tehran. Israel said it targeted nuclear and military facilities, killing Iran's top military and nuclear scientists. Israel's attack comes as tensions have escalated over Iran's rapidly advancing nuclear program, which Israel sees as a threat to its existence. Here is a timeline of some significant events in the hostilities between the two countries: 1967 — Iran takes possession of its Tehran Research Reactor under America's 'Atoms for Peace' program. 1979 — Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fatally ill, flees Iran as popular protests against him surge. Pahlavi maintained economic and security ties with Israel. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran and the Islamic Revolution sweeps him to power. Students seize the United States Embassy in Tehran, beginning the 444-day hostage crisis. Iran's nuclear program goes fallow under international pressure. Iran's new theocracy identifies Israel as a major enemy. August 2002 — Western intelligence services and an Iranian opposition group reveal Iran's secret Natanz nuclear enrichment facility. June 2003 — Britain, France and Germany engage Iran in nuclear negotiations. October 2003 — Iran suspends uranium enrichment. February 2006 — Iran announces it will restart uranium enrichment following the election of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Britain, France and Germany walk out of stalled negotiations. June 2009 — Iran's disputed presidential election sees Ahmadinejad reelected despite fraud allegations, sparking Green Movement protests and violent government crackdown. October 2009 — Under President Barack Obama, the U.S. and Iran open a secret backchannel for messages in the sultanate of Oman. 2010 — The Stuxnet computer virus is discovered and widely believed to be a joint U.S.-Israeli creation. The virus disrupted and destroyed Iranian centrifuges. July 14, 2015 — World powers and Iran announce a long-term, comprehensive nuclear agreement that limits Tehran's enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. 2018 — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel obtained tens of thousands of pages of data showing Iran covered up its nuclear program before signing a deal with world powers in 2015. An ex-Mossad chief confirms the information was obtained by more than a dozen non-Israeli agents from safes in Tehran in 2018. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdraws from Iran's nuclear deal with world powers. 2020 — Alleged Israeli attacks against Iran's nuclear program are stepped up significantly after the disintegration of the 2015 nuclear deal meant to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons. July 2020 — A mysterious explosion tears apart a centrifuge production plant at Iran's Natanz nuclear enrichment facility. Iran blames the attack on Israel. November 2020 — A top Iranian military nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, is killed by a remote-controlled machine gun while traveling in a car outside Tehran. A top Iranian security official accuses Israel of using 'electronic devices' to remotely kill the scientist, who founded Iran's military nuclear program in the 2000s. April 11, 2021 — An attack targets Iran's underground nuclear facility in Natanz. Iran blames Israel, which does not claim responsibility, but Israeli media widely reports the government orchestrated a cyberattack that caused a blackout at the facility. April 16, 2021 — Iran begins enriching uranium up to 60%, its highest purity ever and a technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%. June 2022 — Iran accuses Israel of poisoning two nuclear scientists in different cities within three days of each other, though circumstances remain unclear. Oct. 7, 2023 — Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip storm into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage, beginning the most intense war between Israel and Hamas. Iran, which has armed Hamas, offers support to the militants. Feb. 14, 2024 — An Israeli sabotage attack causes multiple explosions on an Iranian natural gas pipeline running from Iran's western Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province to cities on the Caspian Sea. April 1, 2024 — An Israeli airstrike demolishes Iran's Consulate in Damascus, Syria, killing 16 people, including two Iranian generals. April 14, 2024 — Iran launches an unprecedented missile and drone attack on Israel, firing over 300 missiles and attack drones in response to the Israeli airstrike in Damascus. Working with a U.S.-led international coalition, Israel intercepts much of the incoming fire. April 19, 2024 — A suspected Israeli strike hits an air defense system near an airport in Isfahan, Iran. July 31, 2024 — Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is assassinated by an apparent Israeli airstrike during a visit to Tehran. Israel had pledged to kill Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders over the Oct. 7 attack. Sept. 27, 2024 — Israeli airstrike kills Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Formed by Iranian Revolutionary Guard members who went to Lebanon in 1982 to fight invading Israeli forces, Hezbollah was the first group that Iran backed and used as a way to export its brand of political Islam. Oct. 1, 2024 — Iran launches its second direct attack on Israel, though a U.S.-led coalition and Israel shoot down most of the missiles. Oct. 16, 2024 — Israel kills Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the Gaza Strip. Oct. 26, 2024 — Israel openly attacks Iran for the first time, striking air defense systems and sites associated with its missile program. April 30, 2025 — Iran executes a man it said worked for Israel's Mossad foreign intelligence agency and played a role in the killing of Revolutionary Guard Col. Hassan Sayyad Khodaei in Tehran on May 22, 2022. Friday, June 13, 2025 — Israel launches blistering attacks on the heart of Iran's nuclear and military structure, deploying warplanes and drones previously smuggled into the country to assault key facilities and kill top generals and scientists. Saturday, June 14, 2025 — Israel expands its airstrikes to include targets in Iran's energy industry as Iranian missile and drone attacks continue on Israel. Sunday, June 15, 2025 — Israel unleashes airstrikes across Iran for a third day and threatens even greater force as some Iranian missiles evade Israeli air defenses to strike buildings in the heart of the country. Planned talks on Iran's nuclear program in Oman between the United States and Tehran, which could provide an off-ramp, are called off.
