Representation of the US Withdrawal of JCPOA in Iranian Newspapers: A Critical Discourse Analysis of News in Keyhan, Resalat, Shargh, and Etemad Newspapers

United States withdrawal from JCPOA has been one of the top headlines of the news media, specially the press, during the recent years. This research aims to study the representation of US withdrawal from JCPOA in the Iranian newspapers (Kayhan, Resalat, Shargh, and Etemad). The study has been conducted using critical discourse analysis and is based on discourse, framing and representation theories. The study results indicate that the dominant discourse in reformist newspapers is identifiable under the “interaction discourse”, and these newspapers have asserted the necessity of cooperation with the European Union, commitment to the JCPOA agreement, multilateralism, and various diplomatic agenda regarding different related countries. This range of newspapers have used various documents to refer to Iran's commitment to the nuclear deal, and in contrast, have written about the unilateral violation of the JCPOA by the United States. On the other hand, dominant discourse in fundamentalist newspapers has been identifiable under “resistance discourse” which aims to represent this event in accordance with their media policies, by emphasizing on the signs like focusing on national capacities, necessity of reciprocal action against the US and resistance against the enemy. These media seek to influence the audience and instill their intended concepts by highlighting the other party’s negative characters and referring to the history of the US disloyalty and hostility toward Iran, and insisting on despicability of reliance on the US, and finally, representing “the Idea of Resistance” for audience.