Free Republic

Adviser to parliamentary speaker rejects British foreign secretary’s suggestion that Rouhani indicating ‘more nuanced approach’ to Jewish state Hussein Sheikholeslam (screen capture: YouTube) A senior Iranian official on Tuesday said Israel “should be annihilated,” and that the thawing relations with the West would not translate into a shift in Tehran’s position concerning the Jewish state. Hussein Sheikholeslam, a foreign affairs adviser to parliament speaker Ali Larijani, told Iranian media that contrary to remarks by British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, “Our positions against the usurper Zionist regime have not changed at all; Israel should be annihilated and this is our ultimate...

LAS VEGAS — There are the people on his side on the Iran deal, President Barack Obama said Monday evening. Then there are “the crazies.” Back from a notably uneventful and restful two-week vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, Obama was immediately on the road for a short trip here, first to speak at a green energy conference hosted by retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, then to raise money for his preferred successor, former Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto. Ruddy from the sun, Obama described himself as “refreshed, renewed, recharged — a little feisty.” And he delivered, recounting the ride...

If a senior US senator can so quickly become the target of a widespread campaign of anti-Semitism from both the Right and the Left, we should all increase our vigilance. The social media site Twitter offers an extraordinary form of communication. But perhaps because of its scope and anonymity, it is also a hotbed of racism, bigotry and anti-Semitism. This has never been clearer than in the wake of Senator Chuck Schumer’s announcement that he will oppose President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. In doing so, Schumer became guilty of heresy in the eyes of many on the progressive...

In 2012, Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann questioned the wisdom of then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton furnishing her Muslim Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin with all of the sensitive/secret information a reputed Muslim Brotherhood operative could possibly desire. Below is the take of prolific writer Jerry Todd as he describes the contempt heaped upon Bachmann by the Republican Party elite for her “Muslim Insensitivity.” The article first appeared in June of 2012. “Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, R. MN, brought down the wrath of Allah” Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, R. MN, brought down the wrath of Allah on herself for noting the role,...

The kidnapping of a group of U.S.-trained moderate Syrians moments after they entered Syria last month to confront the Islamic State was orchestrated by Turkish intelligence, multiple rebel sources have told McClatchy. The rebels say that the tipoff to al Qaida’s Nusra Front enabled Nusra to snatch many of the 54 graduates of the $500 million program on July 29 as soon as they entered Syria, dealing a humiliating blow to the Obama administration’s plans for confronting the Islamic State.

VIENNA - The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday it will run out of money next month to monitor implementation of nuclear accords with Tehran and asked countries to increase funding the costs of its Iran work, which will rise to $10 million a year. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Yukiya Amano said he had asked member states for contributions to ensure its work can go ahead. Under the agreement reached between Tehran and six world powers on July 14, sanctions relief for Iran hinges on IAEA reports on its past and present nuclear program. So far, costs for...

Mainstream media might want to reconsider their blind support for this flawed, unworkable deal. More Democrats are falling in line to support the Iranian nuclear deal, despite recent revelations further exposing the farcical nature of the inspections regime on which it depends. And according to The New York Times, nearly everyone they talk about in this article who either is or might be opposing the deal is doing so because of their loyalty to Israel, or because they come from a state where “anti-Obama sentiments” are “feverish.” It’s never based on the merits. That’s only the people who support the...

The more one knows about the Iran Deal, the more obvious it becomes that it is not a deal so much as it is a fraud. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of a fraud is “something that is meant to look like the real thing in order to trick people.” That precisely describes the Iran Deal. Virtually every claim made for it is either not true or insignificant. There are no “anytime, anywhere” inspections, as Americans were promised during the negotiations.No American or Canadian inspectors will be allowed into Iran.The agreement obligates all the parties, including the...

Senator Markey has announced his support for the Iran deal that will let the terrorist regime inspect its own Parchin nuclear weapons research site, conduct uranium enrichment, build advanced centrifuges, buy ballistic missiles, fund terrorism and have a near zero breakout time to a nuclear bomb. There was no surprise there.

The US military is drawing plans for a potential "comprehensive attack" against Iran as President Barack Obama has threatened to "act militarily" if Tehran violates the recent nuclear agreement, says a report. A possible military action would involve a wave of attacks spearheaded by the 30,000-pound bunker buster known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, according to two senior US military officers familiar with the planning, who spoke to USA Today on condition of anonymity. The attack would be aimed at targeting Iran's "air defenses" and its "deeply buried nuclear facilities," one officer said.

Stupefying that we and our fellow western nations have instilled elected and appointed officials with a will to forego their own freedom in an effort to be "fair" The West is burning in more ways than one Stationed in eastern Oregon, we are circled by wildfires to the point that the few access roads teeter on the edge of closure, smoke haze hangs low in the sky and floating ash stings eyes and hampers breath. Despite the poetic license above, geographically speaking, the description isn’t overblown. Hundreds of fires are blazing in California, Idaho, Washington and Oregon, where this little...

The Associated Press released a bombshell report on Wednesday that revealed that Iran will be allowed to use its own inspectors to investigate a military site where it is suspected of conducting nuclear weapons work, under the terms of a secret agreement it signed with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Although some supporters of the Iran nuclear deal sought to discredit the initial Associated Press report, the news organization stands by its reporting and the Obama administration has not denied the story.

791 (at least count) American rabbis - more than double the number who signed a petition in favor - have signed a petition against President Obama's sellout to a nuclear-armed Iran. PLEASE SIGN ONLY IF YOU ARE AN ORDAINED RABBI —THANK YOU!We, the undersigned rabbis, write as a unified voice across religious denominations to express our concerns with the proposed nuclear agreement with Iran.For more than 20 months, our communities have kept keen eyes on the nuclear negotiations overseas. As our diplomats from Washington worked tirelessly to reach a peaceful resolution to the Iranian nuclear challenge—we have hoped, and...

A high profile marriage of an Iranian American doctor to actress Gina Davis was already reported (Link). But news now reveals that John Kerry's son-in-law is also an Iranian-American doctor. The news comes out shortly after Kerry faced staunch opposition from right wing pro-Israeli Republicans to his nomination as Secretary of State. In 2009 Dr. Vanessa Bradford Kerry, John Kerry’s younger daughter by his first wife, married Dr. Brian (Behrooz) Vala Nahed, an Iranian-American physician.

(Originally posted to the author’s website, Abu Yehuda} As many of you know, I returned to live in Israel a year ago after 26 years in the place I consider my beloved hometown, Fresno California, located in the large valley that runs down the center of the state. It is more or less equidistant from Los Angeles and San Francisco; politically it is on a different planet. Its establishment is solidly socially and politically conservative, although Democrats have a slight edge in voter registration. The main industries are agriculture and related occupations, and there is a branch of the California...

The Iran deal has potential, both because of public opinion and the way the administration is positioning itself, to hurt Democrats in much the same way that the Iranian hostage crisis did in 1980 and 1981. Should New York Senator Chuck Schumer succeed in killing the deal, he will be saving the Democrats from what appears to be a grave political mistake. President Obama has branded opponents of the deal as either ideological extremists or ignorant. In his speech at American University, he compared the agreement’s opponents with Iranian extremists chanting “death to America.” He pointed out that most of...

Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid gave a forceful endorsement Sunday to the nuclear deal with Iran, a key boost that provides continued momentum for preventing Congress from blocking President Obama’s pact. The Nevada Democrat said the deal, which lifts economic sanctions against the rogue nation for pledges to limit its nuclear program, is the “best way” to curtail Iran’s military ambitions, and he pledged to round up more support to thwart its opponents. “I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure the deal stands,” he said in a telephone interview with The Washington Post from his...

Omri Ceren talked by video from New York City and about the Iran nuclear deal, his opposition to the deal, and the lobbying effects of other groups who were supporting the deal. He responded to a video clip from Daniel Kalik speaking August 16, 2015, and an ad from his J Street organization supporting the deal. Mr. Ceren responded to telephone calls and electronic communications, with the telephone lines divided between those who supported and opposed the deal. Let's go to the videotape.

The signing of a Munich-class agreement with Iran that hands it more than it ever hoped to pull off represents a shocking, craven American capitulation to an apocalyptic crazy state: a North Korea with oil. Nothing in Western history remotely approaches it, not even Neville Chamberlain's storied appeasement of another antisemitic negotiating partner. But it also augurs the possibility of a nuclear war coming far sooner than one could have imagined under conventional wisdom worst-case scenarios. Following the US's betrayal of Israel and its de facto detente with Iran, we cannot expect Israel to copy longstanding US doctrines of no-first-nuclear-use...

American Jewish singer Matisyahu performed at a Spanish music festival late on Saturday, three days after organizers apologized for canceling his appearance due to pressure from the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. While he faced catcalls from some pro-Palestinian protesters, Reuters reported, the concert passed calmly despite its tense build-up. Video from the event shows Matisyahu singing his famous song "Jerusalem," even as protesters wave the flags of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) terrorist group in the crowd.