A dispute between United States President Donald Trump and CNN has drawn international attention.
The US leader cited a Nigerian source in a disagreement over coverage of the recent ceasefire with Iran.
The controversy erupted on Wednesday after Trump announced a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran.
The ceasefire wasintended to create space for diplomatic negotiations.
In the wake of the announcement, a report aired by CNN suggested that Iran had claimed a significant advantage in the conflict, a claim Trump rejected.
In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump dismissed the CNN report as false.
He said that it originated from “a fake news site from Nigeria” before being amplified by the network.
He described the report as misleading and said it did not reflect Iran’s official position.
“The alleged statement put out by CNN World News is a fraud, as CNN well knows,” Trump wrote, emphasising that the official Iranian statement had been shared separately.
He further called on CNN to retract the report and apologise, warning that the matter could involve serious consequences.
CNN, however, defended its coverage, stating that the report was based on verified communications from Iranian officials and corroborated by multiple state media sources.
A network spokesperson stressed adherence to journalistic standards, noting that statements from Tehran were widely circulated in both English and Farsi.
The dispute has attracted attention in Nigeria due to Trump’s claim linking the story to a Nigerian source, though no evidence supporting this assertion has been presented.
Supporting the president, Brendan Carr, head of the US Federal Communications Commission, criticised CNN’s reporting and called for accountability over what he described as a misleading headline.
The disagreement comes amid global reactions to the ceasefire agreement, which is being viewed as a tentative step towards easing tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Both nations continue to claim success in the conflict while diplomatic efforts proceed. [GWG]
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