The story: Media platforms across the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) dedicated significant coverage to the first anniversary of the U.S assassination of Iranian Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani and deputy chief of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU) Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis. The two were killed in a US drone strike close to Baghdad international airport on January 3 2020.

The coverage: Both Saudi and Kuwaiti outlets criticise the marking of the “martyrdom” of Soleimani and Muhandis in the strongholds of Hezbollah in Lebanon...