On The Listening Post this week: Hyped-up headlines, 'anonymous' sources and unspecified threats - Iran is back in the news in the US. Plus, the online horrors faced by female journalists. And our own network - Al Jazeera - comes under fire. We set the record straight.

This wouldn't be the first time the US media have made the case for war on the basis of vague, anonymously sourced intelligence.

In 2003, it was Iraq - in 2019, it's Iran. Much of American news reporting on US-Iran relations glosses over President Donald Trump's role and the history of American aggression against Iran.

While Islamic Republic - ruled by authoritarians and involved in wars in Syria and Yemen - is far from an innocent player, inflammatory headlines, unnamed sources, and decades of misinformation in the US media over Iran don't help.

Contributors

Negar Mortazavi - Consultant editor, The Independent
Ali Vaez - Iran Project director, International Crisis Group
Narges Bajoghli - Middle East Studies, Johns Hopkins University
Monalisa Freiha - Associate editor, An-Nahar Newspaper