The Islamic Republic of Iran has played a decisive role in the Syrian conflict, and its steadfast support for the Syrian state has arguably enabled the regime to maintain power. Iran’s strategic status as an actor in the Syrian conflict – as well as its larger geopolitical significance – necessitates a better understanding in the West of how global conflicts are addressed in the public sphere of mainstream news media. To this end, this report presents an analysis of mainstream Iranian news media coverage of the Syrian conflict between the beginning of October 2013 through the end of March 2014. Qualitative and quantitative methods are utilized to identify patterns in themes of interest and sentiment, as well as the ways in which these sentiments are communicated. These patterns are analyzed in a framework of a careful context analysis of news media in post-Revolutionary Iran, and the political dynamics that impact – and are impacted – by the press.
