Free Republic

By unleashing war in the Middle East and targeting Israel, Iran may soon learn that Israel, or America, or both might retaliate for a half-century of its terrorist aggression. The theocracy of Iran has been the world’s arch-embassy attacker over the last half century. So it has zero credibility in crying foul over Israel’s April 1 attacks on its “consulate” in Damascus and the killing of Iran’s kingpin terrorists of the Revolutionary Guard Corps there. Remember, the world was first introduced to the Iranian ayatollahs by their violent takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1980. Iranian surrogates next...

In joint statement, the Permanent Representatives of 48 countries at the UN condemn Iran’s drone and missile attack on Israel: It could have caused significant damage and loss of life.) The Permanent Representatives of 48 countries at the United Nations on Wednesday issued a joint statement condemning Iran’s drone and missile attack on Israel. “We unequivocally condemn the April 13 attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran and its militant partners on the State of Israel, which involved launching several hundred ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and attack drones against multiple targets, and note this large-scale attack could have caused significant...

Numerous foreign policy experts are urging Israel to deliver a “disproportionate” military response to Iran’s attacks over the weekend and are warning that time is winding down to deal with the Islamic Republic before it becomes a nuclear state. Part of what is driving the concern from foreign policy and military experts is that Iran has strengthened its relationship with Russia and may soon acquire more advanced military hardware from the Russians that will make it much harder for the U.S., Israel, and Arab allies in the region to counter Iranian threats. The Washington Post reported on Monday night that...

On the eve of the October 7 massacres, National Security Advisor bragged in an essay that his Mideast portfolio was “quieter than it has been for decades”. Now we are on the verge of a multifront Middle East war. How did Joe Biden inherit a decades-long regional calm and turn it into a precursor to a gargantuan war? [1] Talk loudly and carry a twig. Issue hollow Obama-like “redlines” or serial Biden threats to aggressive enemies like the vapid “Don’t!” Witness a U.S. President who works a 3-day week, struggles to read a teleprompter, and shouts more at conservative Americans...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left no doubt in a statement on Wednesday, regarding what his Jewish country might do should current tensions with Iran escalate further. "Israel will do whatever it needs to defend itself," Netanyahu said in a statement. The comment came after separate meetings with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in Israel on Wednesday, where the ministers discussed actions Israel could pursue to retaliate for Iran’s unprecedented, direct attack on Israel over the weekend. "They have all sorts of suggestions and advice. I appreciate that. But I want to be clear:...

Half of the Iranian missiles launched at Israel over the weekend were duds, misfiring because of “technical issues” — while US forces shot down nearly all of the rest, a report said Tuesday. Of the more than 330 missiles and armed drones fired by the Iranian military Saturday night, only about 165 actually got airborne and headed toward their target, Israel, a senior US Air Force officer told the outlet the Intercept, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “US intelligence estimates that half of the weapons fired by Iran failed upon launch or in flight due to technical issues,” the...

Reagan promoted missile defense and Biden opposed it in the Senate. But it's what is defending IsraelIran fired more than 320 warheads at Israel on Saturday. The explosives were carried by about 170 propeller-driven drones of the kind Iran has sold Russia for use against Ukraine, more than 30 cruise missiles, and more than 120 ballistic missiles — mostly fired from Iranian territory at least 1,100 miles away to the east with a few launched from more distant Houthi-controlled Yemen to the south. The attack failed to deliver any meaningful damage, though a 10-year-old girl was injured, as 99% of...

Seven were injured by a direct hit by an explosive UAV in a communal building in the settlement of Arab al-Aramshe in the Western Galilee. in the artillery for the launch sources. Ader Gitsis | Branu Tegene | N12 | Published 13:34 17.04.24 Seven injured, two of them in a serious condition, from a direct hit today (Wednesday) in a populated community center in Arab al-Aramsha in the Western Galilee. Another injured is in moderate condition, and four are in light condition. MDA teams, along with IDF medical teams, evacuated the seven to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya.

Lebanon's Hezbollah said it launched missiles and drones on an Israeli military facility in Arab al-Aramshe on Wednesday, in response to the Israeli killing of Hezbollah members and commanders in Lebanon. This escalation comes as tensions between Israel and Iran are reaching new heights after a series of strikes and counterstrikes.

Something extraordinary happened above Israel over the weekend. It wasn’t that Israel repelled a massive Iranian rocket and drone barrage, although that was sufficiently miraculous. Nor was it that amazing that Saudi Arabia helped defend Israel against Iranian incursions because it’s been rumored for decades that Saudi Arabia occasionally lends a hand in those matters. What was truly extraordinary was that Saudi Arabia openly admitted to helping Israel fight back against Iran’s attack. It shows the truth of the ancient proverb that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Many people are pointing to President Trump’s Abraham Accords as...

"If this ends up being true, this will be an absolute outrage and a scandal the likes of which I haven't seen before," David Friedman said. (April 17, 2024 / JNS) Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said he believed “there’s some truth” to reports that U.S. President Joe Biden negotiated in advance with Iran on the extent of its massive missile attack on Israel on Saturday night. During the Tuesday edition of the New York City-based radio show, “Sid & Friends in the Morning,” host Sid Rosenberg said he believed that Biden was “behind the whole thing” referring...

The European Union will "start the necessary work" to hit Iran with heavier sanctions after Saturday's aerial attack on Israel, the bloc's top diplomat has said. Speaking following an exceptional virtual meeting of EU foreign ministers on Tuesday, Josep Borrell said he would ask his services to study the possibility of expanding existing EU sanctions against Iranian drone technology. It would see the current sanctions regime - established in July 2023 to punish Iran for aiding Putin's war machine with unmanned drones - expanded to include missiles and to also cover Iran's proxies in the region. The bloc would also...

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his War Cabinet are leaning towards ordering the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to launch a retaliatory strike against Iran in the coming days, according to Israel’s Channel 12 news. A final decision has apparently not been made. The War Cabinet is expected to convene again tomorrow. But as war clouds form over the region, the stakes could not be higher. This is a big deal. I think that the War Cabinet is signaling that they will probably order a strike on Iran, but leaking word of their deliberations so the Israeli...

Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted last August that a drop in the importance of the U.S. dollar was "irreversible"—but there appears to be no sign that the global economy is turning its back on the greenback. "The U.S. Dollar was used in 48% of international payment transactions last year, the highest level in more than a decade. But Brics...," it said next to the graph, which showed the euro making 23.2 percent of transactions and the Chinese yuan way behind at 3.47 percent. "BRICS countries would like their currencies to be used in world trade, but each has a major...

Israel has decided to hit Iran “clearly and forcefully” and is already preparing its warplanes to carry out the strike, according to a report on Monday. The reported decision comes after two war cabinet meetings in which leaders of the Jewish nation debated how to respond to Saturday’s barrage of 350 suicide drones and missiles. Israel’s Channel 12 news carried the report — which was widely picked up in local media. Channel 12 said the country’s air force — which includes US-made F-16, F-15 and F-35 fighter jets — is already gearing up to deliver a retaliatory counter-strike against the...

Iran is reportedly getting a terrifying arsenal from Russia, including anti-aircraft launchers and fighter jets — and is threatening to fire weapons it has never before used in “a severe, extensive and painful response” to the “slightest action” by Israel. Abolfazl Amouei, a spokesperson for the Iranian Parliament’s National Security Committee, told a local news station Monday that the Islamic Republic “will confront any Israeli aggression and respond to it.” “We are ready to use weapons that we have not used before,” the official told Al-Mayadeen News, according to the Economic Times. “We have plans for all scenarios, and we...

“In fact, it shows Louis Tomlinson fans near Four Seasons Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina last week,” a fellow BBC fact-checker said of the 32-year-old singer and one-time Harry Styles bandmate in One Direction. The footage, also shared by numerous online influencers, was just one of a number aired by Iran’s state TV claiming to show scenes of devastation from the weekend’s air strikes, despite Israel shooting down around 99% of the drones and missiles fired at the Jewish state. Another that IRINN claimed to be the fiery aftermath of a missile strike was actually from a February forest fire...

Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, Major General Hossein Salami. Major General Hossein Salami, Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), on Sunday insisted he had received reports showing that part of the weapons fired by the force toward Israel had directly hit their targets, IRNA reported. “Our information on all of the hits is not complete yet but on that part of the hits that we have accurate, documented, and field-related reports show that this operation has been carried out with a success that exceeded the expectation,” Salami said.

العربية عاجل @AlArabiya_Brk رئيس وكالة الطاقة الذرية: إبعاد مفتشي الوكالة عن مواقع المنشآت النووية الإيرانية #العربية_عاجل 12:21 AM · Apr 16, 2024 linkArabic Urgent @AlArabiya_Brk: Head of the Atomic Energy Agency: IAEA inspectors are removed from the sites of Iranian nuclear facilities. #Al-Arabiya_Breaking.

The Iranian regime has chosen suicide. True, it will take some time for the logical conclusion of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s fatal and probably irreversible course of action to play out. Like a pre-AI automaton incapable of adapting to the input of new information, the BBC will continue to blather about Iran’s capacity for “strategic patience” and the risks of Israel “dragging” the US into a regional war. But one thing seems clear: the Iranian theocracy has now entered a death loop. Unless Israel throws it a lifeline, it is increasingly likely that Tehran faces either a Soviet-style collapse amid...