In its latest issue, the periodical expressed shock over a news story by IRNA which was quoted from the Intercept about the origin of the extremist terrorist group self-named as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) which is usually referred to as Daesh, an Arabic acronym for the same title.
"Time" termed the IRNA news piece which was also published by the Iranian English daily "Tehran Times" as fabricated, without making any references to the original source of the story, the Intercept.
IRNA had covered a story by the Intercept quoted from Edward Snowden that the intelligence services belonging to the US, the UK and Israel cooperated in a project dubbed as "Beehive" to establish a terrorist group which could gather extremists from all parts of the world into a single spot.
In an article by Aryn Baker on July 19, 2014, the magazine said "Iran’s English-language daily newspaper, the Tehran Times, recently ran a front-page story describing the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria’s (ISIS) June offensive in Iraq as part of a U.S.-backed plot to destabilize the region and protect Israel. The story was an English translation of a scoop by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), which cited a purported interview with National Security Agency (NSA) leaker Edward Snowden.
According to the article, Snowden had described a joint U.S., British and Israeli effort to “create a terrorist organization capable of centralizing all extremist actions across the world.” The plan, according to IRNA, was code-named Beehive — or in other translations, Hornet’s Nest — and it was devised to protect Israel from security threats by diverting attention to the newly manufactured regional enemy: ISIS."
The magazine of course declined to mention the source of IRNA news story but noted that "in its previous incarnation as an Iraqi al-Qaeda affiliate, ISIS has been responsible for thousands of Shi‘ite deaths in terrorist attacks since its formation in 2013".
Several other news outlets including the London based Al-Hayat newspaper had also published the Intercept story on the origin of Daesh, quoting the Snowden remarks published in the website.
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Tehran, July 25, IRNA – The US international magazine "Times" hastily reacted to a story carried by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on Daesh terrorist group.
