Trump’s Iran war doom loop: Escalate, retreat, repeat | The Listening Post

For decades, much of the United States media adopted Washington’s framing of US conflicts in the Middle East. But the US-Israel war against Iran is defying that trend. US news outlets are increasingly challenging President Donald Trump on his declarations of victory and absence of a clear strategy.

Meanwhile, Iran’s military remains operational, Tehran retains control of the Strait of Hormuz and fears are mounting that the disruption to global energy supplies will drag on.

Contributors: 
Mohamad Elmasry - professor of media studies, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies
Negar Mortazavi - host, Iran Podcast
Maral Karimi - lecturer, Toronto Metropolitan University
Sultan Barakat - senior professor in public policy, Hamad Bin Khalifa University

On our radar

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign trips are usually tightly choreographed affairs. But his trip to Norway did not go according to plan when a journalist named Helle Lyng asked him an unscripted question.

Lyng was later criticised by Indian news outlets for that exchange. Norway’s news media also came under fire after the country’s largest newspaper published an orientalist caricature of Modi.

Tariq Nafi has been following the story.

The dark side of Kenya’s digital age

Kenya is the tech hub of East Africa and has built a thriving digital economy. But alongside that growth has come an expanding surveillance apparatus. After antigovernment protests in 2024, President William Ruto’s administration is accused of intensifying its monitoring of civilians. Critics say the government is trying to quell online dissent before it reaches the streets. Nicholas Muirhead reports on how surveillance tools designed to combat \