Free Republic

A senior Iranian military commander claimed that U.S. officials are quietly encouraging the Islamic Republic to keep its illicit ballistic missile tests a secret so as not to raise concerns in the region, according to Persian language comments. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace and Missile Force, said in recent remarks that the Obama administration does not want Iran to publicize its ongoing missile tests, which have raised questions about the Islamic Republic’s commitment to last summer’s comprehensive nuclear agreement. “At this time, the Americans are telling [us]: ‘Don’t talk about missile affairs, and if...

A top Iranian official says that Iran will be able to annihilate Israel within a day. According to The Jerusalem Post, Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Shirazi, representative to Iran’s Qods Force for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, claims that all they need is “24 hours and an excuse” to attack the Jewish state. “If such a war does happen, it would not be a long war, and it would benefit the entire Islamic umma [the global community of Muslims],” Shirazi said, according to the Post. “We have expertise in fighting wars of attrition and Israel cannot fight a war of attrition.”...

When Iranian President Ahmadinejad ascended the podium to speak on the rule of law at the UN today, Israeli UN envoy Ron Prosor rose from his seat and walked out while the U.S. envoys remained, according to Fox News. Update: Raw video from the UN confirms that U.S. representatives attended the entire speech. (Snip) He also bore down on those who have revolted at Holocaust revisionism. He did this by calling attention to those who "infringe upon other's freedom and allow sacrilege to people's beliefs and sanctities, while they criticize posing questions or investigating into historical issues." Throughout all of

For the umpteenth time, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday publicly declared that the primary foreign policy goal of his government is to see the Jewish state erased from the map of the Middle East. "The Zionist regime [is] a cancerous tumor," Ahmadinejad told millions who took to the streets of Tehran to mark Iran's Quds Day, an angry commemoration of Israel's sovereignty over Jerusalem. The Iranian leader continued: "Even if one cell of them is left in one inch of (Palestinian) land, in the future this story (of Israel’s existence) will repeat. The nations of the region will soon...

Their relationship, almost from the outset, has been frostier than not, a mutual antipathy palpable in many of their previous encounters. Two years ago, Barack Obama reportedly left Benjamin Netanyahu to kick his heels in a White House anteroom, a snub delivered to show the president's irritation over Israel's settlement policy in the West Bank. In May, the Israeli prime minister struck back, publicly scolding his purse-lipped host for the borders he proposed of a future Palestinian state. When the two men meet in Washington on Monday, Mr Obama will find his guest once more at his most combative. But...

This column was co-authored by Bob MorrisonPresident Obama responded calmly and masterfully to a heckler at one of his New York fundraisers this week. “Hold on there, young lady, nobody’s announced a war just yet,” he said. The protester demanded the U.S. not take military action against the escalating threat of Iran’s nuclear arms program. No such action is in the offing. Mideast adviser Dennis Ross, who is forever counseling administrations of both parties on how to make nice with Israel’s not-so-nice neighbors, assures us that Iran will not be able to “surprise” the West during any negotiations. He says...