BBC News spurs outrage after commentator defends Hezbollah, Iran: 'Openly pro-terrorist'

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BBC News was accused of being a "pro-terrorist" news organization after a guest on the British network defended Iran following its attack on Israel on Tuesday.

Iran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles towards targets in Israel, according to U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. The strikes were "ineffective" but a "significant escalation" in the ongoing regional conflict. Iran says the attacks were in response to the deaths of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders. The move comes after weeks of Israeli strikes against Tehran’s proxies in the region. 

Middle East expert Dr. Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer in security studies at King's College in London, cautioned Israel about escalating violence in its response to the attack during an interview on BBC World News. 

He spurred outrage on social media after suggesting that Israel had been the aggressor and Hezbollah and Iran had been "fairly rational" in the ongoing conflict.

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Middle East expert and senior lecturer at King's college, Dr. Andreas Krieg on BBC News on Tuesday. (BBC/Screenshot)

"Something’s gotta give. I mean, Israel has to send a response, but — this is not for Israel to decide. I think the international community has to make sure that whatever Israel does is not upending the regional order, as we know it. And the U.S. has a responsibility. So we’ve been in this cause for 12 months now of, constantly red lines being crossed, mostly by the Israelis," he argued.

"Hezbollah and Iran have played it fairly rationally, trying to always be very cautious in how they respond, trying to leave off-ramps where they could," he added. "The Netanyahu government has kind of lost the opportunity at every sort of junction to use an off-ramp that was given to them."

BBC Radio 5 Live contributor Lee Harris shared part of the interview on X, calling the lecturer's comments "disgraceful."

"Thought I would check out how the BBC are reporting on what's happening. I would say I can't believe what I'm hearing, but it's pretty much what you would expect from them. The anti-Israel bias is insane. Disgraceful," he wrote.

"This is unf—believable. Enough is enough. The BBC is now an openly pro-terrorist organization," UK presenter and The Sun columnist Julia Hartley-Brewer reacted.

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Rockets fly in the sky, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from Tel Aviv, Israel, October 1, 2024.  (REUTERS/Ammar Awad)

"And there I was thinking the BBC couldn’t stoop any lower," musician and former Mumford & Sons guitarist Winston Marshall said about the clip. 

"In today's episode of 'No Matter How Much You Hate The Media, You Don't Hate Them Enough' @BBC is taking the side of Islamic fundamentalist terror groups and jihadist regimes," radio host Ari Hoffman reacted.

A BBC spokesman gave the following statement to Fox News Digital.

"The BBC is committed to reporting impartially and to featuring a wide range of different voices in its coverage of the complex political situation in the region. Dr Krieg is an academic who was analyzing the military strategies of those involved in the conflict and we would encourage people to watch the interview in its entirety."

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Fox News' Michael Dorgan contributed to this article.