Al Hadath News Channel is one of TV networks belonging to Saudi Arabia and has recently claimed in a news report that Iran is trying to transfer millions of dollars to Lebanon’s Hezbollah Resistance Movement via Mahan Air flights from Tehran to Beirut. The news was a major source of tension at Beirut International Airport and unprecedented security measures against Iranian passengers which also sparked protests in Lebanon as well.
Fake news means news that is untrue, fabricated, fraudulent, incorrect, wrong and unreliable. The term "fake news" is defined as: "News that are intentionally false and are identifiable as false, and are disseminated with the aim of misleading the audience."
Sometimes fake news has roots in reality, but reporting of its occurrence has been mixed with lies.
News of this kind is similar to the fake news, rumors, or untrue and fabricated subjects that existed in the era of booming of mass media such as television and radio.
What has caused fake news to become more prevalent is political and communication approaches and also people's access to new tools that have provided the opportunity for fake news to spread virally, or go viral. The characteristics of fake news can be summarized in the following three cases:
- Inconsistency with the truth: Inaccuracy of all or part of the text or lack of objectivity while presenting the truth.
- Intent to deceive: Deliberate production and dissemination of news with the intention of deceiving the news audience.
3- Purposefulness: Having individual or non-individual political, economic, or cultural motives and interests
Media Hypes by Al Hadath
Al Hadath News Channel is one of Saudi Arabia's soft power tools in the West Asian region. This media outlet, along with networks such as Al Arabiya, is considered a tool with a special function for reproducing the country's media and ideological hegemony in the Islamic world and against other countries such as Qatar.
Al Hadath News Channel started broadcasting on January 12, 2012. Al Hadath is actually a subsidiary channel of Al-Arabiya which has focused largely on the political news of the region since its inception including the Arab revolutions and support for the Syrian crisis.
Along with Al-Arabiya, Al Hadath News Channel has been Al-Jazeera Qatar's main competitor in covering the regional developments since 2012.
Al Hadath has been considered as one of the most controversial Arab news networks for more than a decade, and has repeatedly broadcast fake news and caused media controversies.
Each country in the region has been targeted by the network's media controversies in some way. For example, during the initial period of the Saudi military invasion against Yemen, Al Hadath news network, along with Al Arabiya, claimed the martyrdom of Leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah Resistance Movement Abdul Malik Al-Houthi. This news was published in order to weaken the resistance movement.
The mentioned news eventually led to ridicule of these two networks in other media outlets, as they announced, "Al-Houthi was martyred by Al-Arabiya and Al Hadath."
In November 2019, the Iraqi government suspended the operations of Al Hadath and Al-Arabiya networks for not having the necessary licenses and blocked their news coverage. The Iraqi government was embroiled in domestic protests that year and suspended their licenses for three months for violating professional principles and inciting protesters.
On January 2, Lebanese security authorities confiscated Iran’s Mahan Air plane after it landed at Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport.
Prior to this move, Al Hadath news network announced that Iran was planning to transfer millions of dollars via Mahan Air flight from Tehran to Beirut for Hezbollah in Lebanon.
In reaction to the news, Lebanese security officials searched the passengers and luggage on the flight. According to the Lebanese interior minister, nothing suspicious was found in the luggage or on the plane. This action was met with protests from some Lebanese people.
The fake news of the incident, which occurred at a time when Hezbollah and the Zionist regime are in a ceasefire period, is an example of deliberate dissemination with the intention of deceiving the target audience. In recent years, Al Hadath has been pursuing a hostile news line in connection with Hezbollah.
For example, in Lebanon during the years 2019-2020, in the midst of popular protests, Al Hadath tried to portray the people's livelihood protest against Hezbollah. Also, in the midst of the Zionist regime's aggression against Lebanon in October 2024, Al Hadath reported the Zionist aggression against the Batroun region, citing sources within Hezbollah.
However, in reaction to this news, Hezbollah announced, "There are no sources in Hezbollah or sources close to Hezbollah. These alleged sources cannot provide information to this network or its affiliated networks that are openly and hostilely present and participating in the Zionist propaganda machine against the resistance and the Lebanese people."
According to the report, when news from different fronts of the war continues, the Zionist media frequently cites the Saudi media outlets. Thomas Friedman, an analyst for the New York Times, said that during the war, the Saudi media acted as an exclusive source of information for official Israeli sources to reveal the names of people who were targeted by warplanes. Israeli sources even preferred these media to the Israeli media.
Al Hadath Network's news about the transfer of money from Iran on Iran’s Mahan Air plane to Hezbollah in Lebanon was an example of deliberate publication with the intention of deceiving the audience.
Al Hadath network's history in recent years shows the publication of fake news about Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, and Iran. This type of news from Al Hadath, especially in relation to Hezbollah, has increased after the Israeli regime's attacks on Lebanon, and even the Israeli media has emphasized the network's closeness to Tel Aviv.
Such an approach towards Iran, in a situation where Iran and Saudi Arabia have been trying to improve relations for the past two years, will only result in undermining relations between the two countries.
In today's world, the media can play a facilitating role in improving relations between countries. In the current situation, Iran and Saudi Arabia are seeking to improve and promote bilateral relations with a mutual understanding of common interests and respect for contradictions and differences. However, Al Hadath news network has acted in exactly the opposite direction and seems to be pursuing a mission to undermine Tehran-Riyadh relations.
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