Free Republic

Russian-American cooperation on the Iran nuclear deal could pave the way for an agreement on Syria, Barack Obama has said, despite the current confrontation between Moscow and the West over Ukraine. Mr Obama praised Vladimir Putin for his role in the agreement and said there could now be an “opening” for further detente in the worst crisis in American-Russian relations since the Cold War. Speaking shortly after a historic agreement to curb Iran's nuclear programme was signed in Vienna, Mr Obama said that there was now an opportunity for a "serious conversation" with Mr Putin about the fate of Bashar...

Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas was rushed to a Ramallah hospital Sunday, after he complained of chest pains and a high fever. Abbas, 82, was hospitalized last week for a “minor surgery”, the PA’s mouthpiece WAFA reported last week. On Sunday, Abbas was rushed to a Ramallah hospital for treatment of “pneumonia and fever” a source close to the PA chief said, Yediot Ahronot reported. According to a source which spoke with AFP, the PA leader also suffered from chest pains. .....

President Mahmoud Abbas was hospitalized with fever Sunday just days after undergoing surgery on his ear, an official said. The 83-year-old Abbas has endured a series of recent health scares which have revived anxiety over who will succeed him. A senior Abbas aide, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with protocol, said the Palestinian leader was diagnosed with a fever on Sunday. Abbas had an ear operation last week, and returned to the hospital late Saturday for a follow-up. Saed Sarahneh, of Istishari Arab hospital, said late Sunday that “all tests are normal and his condition is reassuring.” He...

Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday warned that “true civil discourse” is under threat around the world while speaking to graduates at NYU Abu Dhabi, an event that the school blocked journalists from filming. While obliquely criticizing President Donald Trump, Kerry did not mention the 2015 Iran nuclear deal he secured with other world powers, an accord of which Trump now has pulled America out. […] While never naming Trump, Kerry began his remarks by saying: “Given what’s going on today, I’m glad to be invited anywhere, folks.” He quickly added that the U.S. “needs to build...

Doomed? Why Iran's Economic Mess Will Get Worse Simon Constable The matter at hand is the decision earlier this month by the Trump administration not to certify the so-called nuclear deal, and that means Iran will soon be subject to harsh U.S. sanctions. Overall the result will be a squeezed economy. Current situation Even the latest official statistics for the Iranian economy don't look good. The unemployment rate stands at 11.9% and the inflation rate at 8.3%, according to TradingEconomics.com. However, at least some of the government figures may be more aspirational than actual. Take, for instance, the inflation rate....

GERMAN BANK TO HALT IRAN TRANSACTIONS IN JULY BY REUTERS MAY 18, 2018 21:25 BERLIN - Germany's No. 2 lender DZ Bank said on Friday it will suspend financial transactions with Iran in July following U.S. President Donald Trump's pullout from the nuclear deal with Tehran. Trump's withdrawal of the United States from the accord and his order that sanctions be reimposed have led several European companies to announce their exit from Iran, including French oil major Total earlier this week. "We will completely suspend our foreign payment transactions related to Iran starting July 1st," said a spokesman for Frankfurt-based...

This year, 27% of Democrats said their sympathies lied with the Israel over the Palestinians in their conflict, while 25% said the Palestinians. The rest said both or neither. Just two years ago (when the Democrats adopted more pro-Palestinian positions in their plank), 43% of Democrats said their sympathies aligned with Israel compared with 29% who said the Palestinians. It's not just that Democrats are split, it's how they're split. Establishment Democrats have been fighting off an insurgent progressive wing, and it's not any different on this issue. Liberal Democrats who pushed for the more pro-Palestinian language are far more...

While the Trump administration backed Israel’s right to defend its border with as much force as necessary, most Democrats didn’t agree. Many responded as the Obama administration would have been expected to, denouncing the supposedly “disproportionate” tactics of the Israel Defense Forces but also noting the role of the Hamas terrorist group, which rules Gaza, in fomenting the violence. Representative Joseph Kennedy III, a rising star in the party who gave the official Democratic response to Trump’s State of the Union address earlier this year, provided a good example of this two-faced approach when he managed to cram criticism of...

Iran and Russia Discuss Transacting in Crypto to Avoid International Sanctions Molly Jane Zuckerman Iran and Russia could start using cryptocurrencies to avoid Western sanctions, Russian news portal RBC reported yesterday, May 17. Mohammad Reza Pourebrahimi, the head of the Iranian Parliamentary Commission for Economic Affairs, referred to cryptocurrencies as a promising way for both countries to avoid US dollar transactions, as well as a possible replacement of the SWIFT interbank payment system. At a meeting with Dmitry Mezentsev, the Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy, Pourebrahimi said that they have “engaged the Central Bank of Iran...

China urges North Korea to proceed with Donald Trump summit China has urged its ally North Korea to proceed with a historic summit between its leader, Kim Jong Un, and US president Donald Trump amid threats from Pyongyang to scrap the meeting. Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the sides should ensure the meeting runs as planned and yields “substantial outcomes”. Mr Kim and Mr Trump are due to meet in Singapore on June 12, but Pyongyang has threatened to withdraw, saying it has no interest in a “one-sided” affair meant to pressure it into abandoning its nuclear weapons. Mr...

Deadly protests in the southern Iranian city of Kazerun continued for a second day following the deaths of two protesters Wednesday... parts of the city looked “war-torn.” ...“Reports from a variety of sources are indicating anti-regime rallies and protests throughout the country, staged by people from all walks of life” “Whenever the Iranian regime becomes the target of a firm policy, this plays into the interests of the Iranian people and revives a nearly four-decade dispute,” he said. “(The) principle here is the fact that the Iranian people want regime change and are taking major steps towards this objective.”

On Tuesday Daniel Sugarman wrote an article on the clashes at the Gaza border. Today he acknowledges that he was wrong. It’s never easy to say you’re sorry. To admit you’re wrong. To announce publicly, “I made a mistake”. But to apologise when that apology comes bound up with what is, perhaps, the most intractable conflict on earth, makes it a thousand times harder. But that is what I am. Sorry. A few days ago I wrote a column about the latest round of violence on the border with Gaza. It was a cry from the heart. I love Israel....

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called for an investigation into why Israeli soldiers shot a Canadian doctor in Gaza. Dr. Tarek Loubani was in the Gaza Strip Sunday providing medical services to protesters when Israeli soldiers shot him multiple times in his legs. Loubani, who was wearing clothing that identified him as a medical services provider, survived the shooting, The incident happened during a protest against the U.S. embassy opening in Jerusalem in which Israeli soldiers killed at least 59 Palestinians and wounded many others. "Canada deplores and is gravely concerned by the violence in the Gaza Strip that...

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Recep AkdaÄŸ has ruled out returning the Syrian district of Afrin, captured by Turkish troops and their allies from Syrian Kurdish forces in March, to the Syrian government, Turkish pro-government newspaper Daily Sabah said. "A free and democratic Syria can only be built without (Syrian President Bashar) Assad. He has killed many of his fellow citizens and brought much suffering to his country," the newspaper quoted AkdaÄŸ as saying. He said that Turkey did not wish to remain in the area for the long term and wanted to return it soon to the Syrian people. "We...

Universities must pay a price for sheltering professors who support terrorism. Julio Pino aka Assad Jibril Pino, had tenure at Kent State, and the university had No problem with him smearing America, shouting “Death to Israel”, calling Osama Bin Laden “the greatest”, nor even for his open support for terrorism. But now that the FBI has charged him for lying to them, as he told them that he didn’t know a Facebook friend of his by the name of “J.E.” who threatened to kill hundreds of people, the corrupt Kent State University has finally found a reason to part with...

Amidst the screaming headlines about “massacre” and “war crimes” and unsettling pictures of Arab casualties, keep in mind the central question: When is it the right time to do the right thing? That’s the question President Trump faced when considering whether to move the American Embassy to Jerusalem. His three predecessors had used a loophole in the 1995 law requiring the move to give a consistent and increasingly cynical answer of, “Not now, maybe later.” That dodge lasted 22 years, until Trump cut through the nonsense last December with a statement of resounding moral clarity. Now, he said, is the...

Byline: IRANIAN Mullahs have violently cracked down on protesters who mounted a defiant stand against the oppressive regime. Anti-government marches in the city of Kazeroon against the Islamic fundamentalist regime ended in violence after Tehran forces reportedly killed two. Protesters took the streets over the governments plans to change the city’s boundaries, which aims to give more power to recently-elected MP Hossein Rezazadeh. Residents took to the streets in a bid to halt to move over the past few weeks, leading to stronger anti-government slogans and speeches to become more prominent. On Wednesday the government said it would shelve the...

Yazan Tubasi was one of the Palestinians killed in the newest Gaza rioting. His father is happy that his son is a martyr. That, in a nutshell, is what's wrong with Palestinians. Numerous media outlets have referred to what happened in Gaza as a "protest", but it was not a protest. It was a riot. It was violence planned by Hamas. The media coverage of terror group Hamas’ deliberately-crafted border assault on Israel has been egregious: from CNN to MSNBC to The New York Times, mainstream outlets have acted as propaganda vehicles for one of the worst regimes on the...

Tuesday, May 15, 2018 How Not To Get Shot by a Soldier Posted by Daniel Greenfield The following is intended to serve as a useful guide to various activists, protesters and other completely non-violent folk who happen to be packing knives, guns, rocks and grenades. You will encounter various law enforcement and military personnel-- this is how not to get shot by them. First of all it's important to remember that if you attack an armed man in a uniform, he will very probably shoot you. Even given the most restrictive Rules of Engagement in the world which forbid him...

A Hamas official on Wednesday acknowledged that 50 of the 62 Palestinians reported killed during Gaza border riots on Monday and Tuesday were members of the Islamist terrorist group, bringing the total number of known members of terror groups among the fatalities up to 53. “In the last rounds of confrontations, if 62 people were martyred, 50 of them were Hamas,” said Hamas official Salah Bardawil in a television interview. The Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad had said on Tuesday that three members of its Saraya al-Quds military wing were killed by Israeli forces in Khan Younis. The Israeli military shared...