Fox News mistakenly swaps Iran, Iraq on live map

During a live broadcast, Fox News mistakenly displayed a map of the Middle East showing Iran in the place of Iraq.

This error is part of a history of geographical mistakes by the network. In 2009, Fox News reportedly placed Egypt where Iraq should have appeared, and in 2019, it referred to El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala as “three Mexican countries.” Separately, in 2013, CNN mistakenly placed Hong Kong in South America.

Observers note that confusion between Iraq and Iran is common among Americans due to the similarity of their names. Street polls conducted in US cities suggest that, in the public mind, these countries are often conflated as part of a single, distant region.

By Vafa Guliyeva