Latest news with #Spyer
Sky News AU
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘Hard to predict' if the US will become involved in Middle East war
Middle East Forum security analyst Jonathan Spyer analyses whether the United States will become directly involved in the Middle East war. 'Certainly, there's clearly a coordinated attempt to place very, very heavy pressure on the Iranians right now,' Mr Spyer told Sky News host Chris Kenny. 'As to whether the United States will in fact come in or not, it is very, very hard to predict … we should not rule anything out.'
Sky News AU
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘Just maybe': Israeli attacks on Iran missile launches making an ‘impact' on war
Middle East Forum security analyst Jonathan Spyer discusses the Israeli attacks on Iran's missile launch facilities. 'There have been alerts … in the last hour, I just received them a few minutes ago on my phone as we all do here,' Mr Spyer told Sky News host Chris Kenny. 'Just maybe our air forces attacks on the missile launches in Iran are having an impact on the Iranian's ability to launch.'
Hindustan Times
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Full interview: 'Pakistan's proxy Islamist terror…'- Jonathan Spyer slams West media Sindoor
Amid rising hostilities between India and Pakistan, an analyst has blamed Pakistan's homegrown terror outfits for the entire conflict. Jonathan Spyer, a British-Israeli analyst, slammed Western media for not shedding light on Pakistan's terror backing while speaking to news agency ANI on May 09. Spyer's comments came as India bombed 9 terror hideouts in Pakistan, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on May 07. Watch Spyer's full interview here.
India Gazette
10-05-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
'Terrorism when West targeted, neutrality when Non Western nations targeted', Expert shuns reporting of Western media on Pahalgam attack
London [UK], May 10 (ANI): Jonathan Spyer, Director of Research at Middle East Forum, condemned the coverage of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack by the Western media. Spyer, in conversation with ANI, said that when Western civilians or countries are targeted by terror outfits, the media brands them as 'terrorists', but that is not the case with non-Western countries. 'It is unfortunate regarding Western coverage that when terrorist organisations, including Islamist organisations, target Western targets and Western civilians, then there's no shyness about describing them as terrorists. But when they're targeting non-Western populations, then the desire for objectivity, so-called neutrality and seeing the views of both sides suddenly comes onto the agenda. I think it's very mistaken,' he said. He called the act as being ommissive and ignorant of the fact that Pakistan was behind the attacks. 'Not only is it incorrect, but it's also not good reporting, because the fact of the matter is that the reason for the current escalation is because of Pakistani support and sponsorship of Islamist terror organisations. So to miss that out, in fact, is to be doing poor reporting. It's not big objective, it's simply being ommissive of a major in the picture,' he said. He added that although everyone wants a de-escalation, the act also reflects Western bias where non-Western countries are expected to show restraint. As per him, the media must paint the real picture. 'I think it reflects also Western policy where we see an instant jump towards the need for de-escalation, the need for both sides to behave responsibly, and so on and so forth. This is all very well, of course nobody wants escalation, but it's very vital, I think, to present a clear picture here as to what the factors actually are, which have led to the escalation in the first place,' he said. The comments were made in reference to a recent controversy where a US Government panel on foreign affairs pulled up a media house in the US for calling Pahalgam terrorists as 'militants'. 'Hey, New York Times, we fixed it for you. This was a TERRORIST ATTACK plain and simple. Whether it's India or Israel, when it comes to TERRORISM the NYT is removed from reality,' the post on X read. (ANI)
India Gazette
09-05-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
Middle East Forum researcher blames Pakistan's use of terror proxies for India-Pakistan escalation
London [UK], May 9 (ANI): Amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan, Jonathan Spyer, Director of Research at the Middle East Forum, emphasised that much of the media coverage is missing the real reason behind the current India-Pakistan tension. He said the root cause is Pakistan's long-standing practice of using Islamist militant groups as tools of state policy. Spyer further said that India's strong response is a reaction to this pattern, and while efforts to reduce tensions are important, one should not forget what triggered the conflict in the first place. In an interview with ANI, Spyer said, 'It is clear that there has been a very serious escalation over the last few days, and it is notable that the US administration, now, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, are becoming involved in efforts to de-escalate. I think alarmism would be mistaken, the kind of reports which are saying, well, two nuclear armed powers are now on the edge of warfare, this is exaggerated. We have seen in the past episodes of back and forth, the response between the sides, and this is another of those.' He added, 'I think a lot of the coverage is missing -- the origins which led to this escalation, namely the apparent practise by Pakistan of the use of proxy Islamist terror groups actually as tools of policy, and this, I think is what India is reacting against, and I think it's important that that crucial point should not get lost in terms of the way of reporting. De-escalation is good, but it's important to remember also why the escalation is taking place in the first place.' Spyer said that during conflicts, there is often confusion, and it can take time to get a really clear picture of exactly what is going on. He pointed to the Pahalgam terror attack, which started the current crisis and said that it appears that Pakistan continues to use extremist groups as part of its official strategy, which is a major reason behind the escalation. On India targeting terror infrastructure while Pakistan attacking civilians, Spyer told ANI, 'First of all, it's, it's worth noting that Pakistan, of course, is denying that, and Pakistan is also claiming that a mosque has been hit and so on. So there's a certain sense of the fog of war in these situations where it can take some time before we get a really clear picture of exactly what is going on. Having said that, I would like to add that obviously, in the case of Pahalgam terror attack, which triggered this whole episode, there we saw the deliberate targeting of civilians and deliberate butchery and murder of civilians actually and the most brutal of ways, and it does appear that the Republic of Pakistan is willing to make use of these kind of organisations as a tool of policy.' On Thursday night, Pakistan launched a series of coordinated drone and missile attacks along India's western border, targeting regions in Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan. According to Indian defence officials, the attacks were intercepted mainly by India's air defence systems, including the S-400 missile defence system, preventing significant damage. Pakistan strikes were reportedly in retaliation to India's Operation Sindoor conducted earlier this week, which targeted terrorist camps in Pakistan following a deadly terrorist attack in Kashmir that killed 26 tourists on April 22. The situation remains volatile, with international calls for restraint and diplomatic engagement to prevent further escalation. (ANI)
