War spirals as information control tightens | The Listening Post

March 21, 2026 · 25 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the escalating war on Iran, the impact on media coverage, and the consequences for Lebanon.

The war on Iran has entered a much more damaging phase with more assassinations of the leadership in Tehran, the continued blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and major strikes on energy infrastructure across the region. As the war has escalated, pressure on news organisations in the United States, Israel and Iran is increasing. Contributors: Branko Marcetic – Writer, Jacobin Arta Moeini – Institute for Peace and Diplomacy Mouin Rabbani – Co-editor, Jadaliyya Mairav Zonszein – Senior Analyst, International Crisis Group On our radar This week, three more senior Iranian political leaders were killed by Israel. Coverage followed a familiar pattern - awe at the Israeli intelligence operation’s "sophistication", and little scrutiny of the legality of the actions. Meenakshi Ravi reports on how these killings have been reported in Israeli and Western media. War in Lebanon: Interview with Jean Kassir Millions of people in Lebanon are enduring the consequences of the Iran war with little media attention. Israel has now begun ground operations there and is openly boasting it will turn the country into a new Gaza. The cofounder and managing editor of Lebanese news website Megaphone spoke to us…

People in this episode

Guests: Branko Marcetic, Arta Moeini, Mouin Rabbani, Mairav Zonszein, Jean Kassir

Topics covered

Iran war
media coverage
assassinations
information control
Lebanon conflict
Israeli operations

Keywords

Iran
Israel
assassinations
media
Lebanon
information control
war

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Jacobin, Institute for Peace and Diplomacy, Jadaliyya, International Crisis Group, Megaphone

Places: Iran, Israel, Strait of Hormuz, Lebanon, Gaza