The capacity of authoritarian states to manipulate narratives and undermine the authority of western democracies is increasingly emphasized in International Relations research. Far less scrutiny has been paid to the ways in which the media environment creates communication vulnerabilities for these same repressive states. We address this research gap through a case-study of Persian-language commentary on the targeted assassination of Qasem Soleimani—a crescendo in the conflict between Iran and the United States. We examine how commentators on the two popular satellite channels interpreted Soleimani's killing and subsequent developments, and specifically, whether they rallied around the Iranian flag. The research method employed is qualitative media content analysis. The investigation reveals that the Islamic Republic did not benefit from a significant surge in patriotism among Iranian commentators; in fact, some openly applauded the attack. It was only when President Trump threatened to bomb Iranian cultural sites that the commentators rallied around the flag. The Islamic Republic faced a two-front narrative battle as communication attacks from within the national community intensified the information war with the US. The article concludes that authoritarian states are at a disadvantage when they require communication strategies beyond disinformation and distortion.

中文翻译：

---

传递苏莱马尼被杀消息：独裁国家的沟通漏洞

国际关系研究越来越强调独裁国家操纵叙事和破坏西方民主国家权威的能力。对于媒体环境为这些同样的专制国家制造沟通漏洞的方式，人们的审查要少得多。我们通过对卡西姆·苏莱曼尼定点暗杀事件（伊朗与美国之间冲突的加剧）进行波斯语评论的案例研究来弥补这一研究空白。我们研究了两个热门卫星频道的评论员如何解读苏莱马尼被杀和随后的事态发展，特别是他们是否团结在伊朗国旗周围。采用的研究方法是定性媒体内容分析。调查显示，伊斯兰共和国并没有从伊朗评论员爱国主义的大幅高涨中受益；事实上，一些人公开赞扬这次袭击。只有当特朗普总统威胁要轰炸伊朗文化遗址时，评论员才聚集在国旗周围。由于来自国家社会内部的通信攻击加剧了与美国的信息战，伊斯兰共和国面临着两条战线的叙事之战。文章的结论是，当威权国家需要虚假信息和歪曲事实之外的沟通策略时，它们就会处于劣势。由于来自国家社会内部的通信攻击加剧了与美国的信息战，伊斯兰共和国面临着两条战线的叙事之战。文章的结论是，当威权国家需要虚假信息和歪曲事实之外的沟通策略时，它们就会处于劣势。由于来自国家社会内部的通信攻击加剧了与美国的信息战，伊斯兰共和国面临着两条战线的叙事之战。文章的结论是，当威权国家需要虚假信息和歪曲事实之外的沟通策略时，它们就会处于劣势。