The Republic of Azerbaijan sued CNN for defamation Tuesday, saying the network put the country in Iran’s crosshairs by falsely reporting it had allowed Israel to stage military operations from its territory.
The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Delaware, concerns a June 5 article posted on CNN’s website that stated Israel had deployed commandos to Azerbaijan to perform reconnaissance and launch attacks, including a March 4 assault that killed the intelligence chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The report threatened to “recklessly exacerbate geopolitical tensions in an already volatile region,” compromising Azerbaijan’s posture of neutrality and worsening tensions with Iran over its friendly relations with Israel, according to the court complaint.
The article was written by a reporter with a history of anti-Azerbaijani bias, according to the legal filing, a circumstance CNN was “fully aware” of that suggests the false statements were intentional. The online post reflects “far more than irresponsible reporting,” the suit says. “CNN’s false claims are precisely calibrated to draw Azerbaijan into a regional war.”
When Azerbaijan disputed the reports both on the record and through legal counsel, the network responded with “a promise to investigate, followed by radio silence,” according to the lawsuit.
A CNN spokesperson told Bloomberg Law via email Tuesday that the network stands by its reporting.
The dispute in the US District Court for the District of...
White House border czar Tom Homan fired back on Sunday's "State of the Union" after Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., accused U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") of targeting parents at sch...