Why Iran named its Islamabad talks mission ‘Minab-168’?
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Why Iran named its Islamabad talks mission ‘Minab-168’?")
Iranian Speaker of the Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf Photograph: (X| @mb_ghalibaf)
Why Iran’s delegation to Islamabad talks is called “Minab-168” and how it reflects the narrative battle over the war.
The Iranian delegation to the US-Iran high-stakes peace talks has adopted the name “Minab-168”. Iranian Speaker of the Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf explicitly identified the aircraft of the mission as “Minab-168”. The front row of the aircraft was arranged with blood-soaked bags, children's shoes, and their photograph with white roses. He posted a picture of the arrangement with the caption, “My companions on this flight #Minab168.” The Iranian embassy in South Africa re-shared the picture with the caption, “We will never forget the children of Minab" It also posted an AI-generated video emphasising that association. Iranian officials and state media have used the name consistently to highlight the human cost of the conflict as they enter peace negotiations in Islamabad.
Also Read: Inside high-stakes US-Iran negotiations: Structure, agenda and delegations, all you need to know
Why is the Iranian delegation calling itself “Minab 168”?
The Western framing of news and information is unilateral. The New York Times, which is considered left-liberal, features headlines reflecting this bias: Putin "annexes" Crimea, but "emboldened" Israel is “seizing opportunities to remake” the West Asia region in its own image. It is the narrative of the Western media that “Minab 168” is fighting. The legacy media frames the Iranian retaliation in its neighbouring country as "aggression" and calls it a “terror regime”. Hezbollah, which is ill-equipped, is the only force that is somewhat capable of defending Lebanon; Hamas is the only resistance in Palestine; they are framed as terrorists. According to the Cost of War analysis by Brown University, since the start of the 21st century, the total number of people killed by the US is somewhere between 4.5 million and 4.7 million, which is astronomical when compared to Iran and its proxies, which is less than 50,000. Still, the US is the defender of democracy and free speech.
The Iranian delegations are in Islamabad, trying to end a war that the US and Israeli forces have started. Iran has faced attack for 40 days on more than 800 schools, more than 30 universities, hospitals and other civilian infrastructures. On the first day of the war, a missile struck the Hajareh Tayyibeh girls' school in Minab, killing over 160 children and teachers. US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said that they are investigating it. Trump blatantly lied that Iran targeted itself.
NYT framed it as a “devastating military error” taking away human accountability, CNN framed it as "likely hit" due to "outdated intelligence", explaining the mechanism, Fox News, framed it as “Hegseth announces probe of US role” doesn't define responsibility. The language obsucures the responsibility in the euphemism, mechanics and explanation. But now, as the whole world anxiously looks at the Islamabad peace talks, the Iranian delegation is trying to highlight "Minab 168" as the human cost of war in the entire region, which has roots in US imperialism and European colonialism.
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