Earlier quoted context omitted.
It did enhance aspects of the US narrative, and diminished others. This is a good thing, since it added to the overall truthfulness of the narrative. US strategy has been to hide the proxy war it's fighting with Iran from the American public, while increasing the rhetoric/rancor against Iran, so that eventually if/when there is more open conflict, the American people already view the Iranian people as barbaric subhum…
Your second paragraph doesn't make any sense to me. It seems to suggest that Americans would look more favorably on Iranians if we knew they were helping kill American teenagers. I feel bad for taking even a baby step further into this political tar pit, but my nerd brain lacks an exception handler for the weirdness it just encountered.
Military power = technology * money * public will
Since the public would not accept the sacrifices necessary to engage in an all-out war with Iran, the US is hamstrung. How to fix this? Simple, increase the public will toward war with Iran. Since the American public is growing skeptical of warmongering claims, and Iran actually has the moral high ground in this case, the US has no choice but to keep from the American people information that would cause some parties to demand a war that could not actually happen.