Free Republic

AMMAN (Reuters) – Opposition activists again accused President Bashar al-Assad’s forces of using poison gas in Syria’s civil war on Thursday, and said victims had been discovered with swollen limbs and foaming at the mouth. The activists told Reuters two shells loaded with gas hit a rebel-held area in the town of Nabak, 68 km (40 miles) northeast of Damascus, on a major highway in the Qalamoun region. They reported seven casualties. Separately, the Syrian Revolution Coordinators Union also accused Assad’s forces of using poison gas.

The gunning down of Hajj Hassan Hollo al-Laqqis, a high-ranking Hizballah commander and close crony of Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, raised the stakes of the clandestine war running between Saudi Arabia and Iran, two weeks after two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the Iranian embassy in Beirut. The Hizballah officer was killed by five shots to the head and throat in the underground parking lot of his home in the Hadath neighborhood southwest of Beirut, when he returned home from work after midnight Tuesday, Dec. 3. The Hizballah statement, which said: “Israel is automatically held responsible for the crime,” described...

The European Union (EU) is apparently fed up with the lack of progress in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) and is threatening to take action against both sides if the talks fail. A senior EU official said Tuesday that the bloc was considering cutting its annual aid to the PA if the current round of talks fails to end in an agreement. The EU provides the PA with about 300 million Euros in aid per year. As well, the official was quoted by Israeli media as having said, the 28-nation bloc was considering reviving its plan...

Senior officials in the White House have said that Israel Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu “is desperate and weak,” in reaction to Netanyahu's remonstrations against the deal struck with Iran over its nuclear weapons program. Israeli television Channel 10 quoted the officials as saying “His pronouncements show a lack of self-confidence,” in an unusually harsh personal attack on Netanyahu. “We are not perturbed by his vocal opposition.” .....

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu clarified on Sunday evening that he has no intention of stopping his warnings against a nuclear Iran. Netanyahu’s comments came shortly after he was criticized by his predecessor, Ehud Olmert, who accused Netanyahu of “declaring war” on the United States administration. "In contrast to others, when I see that interests vital to the security of Israel's citizens are in danger, I will not be silent,” declared Netanyahu during a Hanukkah candle-lighting at the Great Synagogue in Rome. “It is very easy to be silent. It is very easy to receive a pat on the shoulder from...

In Geneva, Switzerland, the United States and other major powers appeared close to a deal with Iran to curb its nuclear program in exchange for lifting some economic sanctions against the terrorist-sponsoring state. Negotiations, however, fell apart at the last minute when France and Iran balked at the final wording on the interim draft. Talks are expected to resume within a few weeks, but it is worth pausing to consider what was nearly agreed to and what the outcome could likely be. President Obama has pledged to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that America has Israel's "back." Who knew he...

Sorry for the corny title of this article — I was going to call it “It’s the Centrifuges, Stupid!” — but as a Hollywood movie executive famously said in a script meeting, “Obviousness is your friend.” He was right about screenplays and he’s right here. No one believes Barack Obama about anything anymore. Why should they? The new Iran deal is Obamacare II, only worse, a thousand megatons worse. So many things are wrong with the agreement coming out of Geneva, it’s hard to know where to begin (for an excellent overall go to The Israel Project’s Tower website or...

Why is Iran working on Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles? There is no possible peaceful purpose for ballistic missiles. Iran may claim that their nuclear program is peaceful, but they cannot possibly make that claim when it comes to ballistic missiles. The only reason to have ballistic missiles is to target enemies with high explosives and WMD. Iran’s Shehab-3 Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles have sufficient range to hit Israel, Saudi Arabia and US bases in Afghanistan, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait and Turkey. Why are the Iranians working with the North Koreans on multi-stage Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs)? Who might the Iranians be...

Report: Obama Arranging Tehran Visit for Next Year Daniel Halper December 2, 2013 10:46 AM The Kuwaiti news outlet Al-Jarida reports that President Obama is seeking to arrange a trip to Tehran, Iran next year. The headline of the article reads, "Obama would like to visit Tehran, official invitation after details resolved." "Al-Jarida has learned from a U.S. diplomat that President Barack Obama is seeking to visit Tehran in the middle of next year," the report reads, based on a translation using Google Translate. "The source said that the desire to visit is shared, and that Tehran and Washington are...

U.S. military authorities dispatched the first of six top-tech submarine-hunting jets to its Okinawa post near the disputed East China Sea, a move sure to ratchet up tensions among China and the United States. The Navy plans to send in a total of six P-8 Poseidon patrol craft, aimed at bolstering the United States’ ability to root out submarines in the area, Reuters reported. The deployment was planned months ago, but nonetheless comes as China declared an air defense zone above islands that it’s fighting Japan to control.

Officials close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday evening criticized former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who attacked Netanyahu for airing his objection to the deal reached by world powers last week on Iran's nuclear program. "Not everyone has experience as a continuous failure like Olmert does in the disengagement and the Second Lebanon War,” said the officials. “If we do not talk about the Iranian issue with the international community, what will we discuss with it?” “Does Olmert expect us to send faxes to Washington about the Iranian issue?” they added. …

Iran will decide the level of uranium enrichment in its nuclear programme based on its energy and other civilian needs, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in remarks reported Saturday. His remarks appeared to conflict with the landmark nuclear deal struck with world powers in Geneva last weekend, which states that the enrichment level must be mutually defined and agreed upon by both sides in further negotiations. "Iran will decide the level of enrichment according to its needs for different purposes," Zarif said late Friday night, according to the official IRNA news agency. "Only details of the enrichment activities are...

House Intelligence Committee member Michelle Bachmann said that Iran’s nuclear facilities “must be bombed.” In a speech at a Zionist Organization of America gala on Sunday night, Bachmann said that the Geneva deal reached between Iran and world powers at the weekend will severely limit Israel’s ability to operate freely in the interests of its self defense. Bachmann said, “It may be incumbent upon the Prime Minister to make a decision he has no desire to make, and that would be to bomb facilities, that must be bombed, in Iran.” The former presidential candidate framed the deal as a deliberate...

(Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear agency said on Thursday it had seen releases of steam and water indicating that North Korea may be seeking to restart a reactor that experts say would be capable of making plutonium for atomic bombs.

U.S. President Barack Obama has reportedly asked Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to stop being so vocal with his criticism of the deal reached between Iran and the West, reports The Washington Post. The newspaper’s columnist David Ignatius wrote on Thursday, “Obama has asked Netanyahu to take a breather from his clamorous criticism and send to Washington a team that can explore with U.S. officials a sound end-state strategy.” .....

A local deputy from Switzerland’s populist Geneva Citizens’ Movement (MCG) was excluded from the regional party on Friday for supporting Israel’s destruction, AFP reports. Denis Menoud wrote on his Facebook page Tuesday that following Iran’s historic nuclear deal with the West, “the key thing is that Israel is on the path to being incinerated.” … Menoud, who later deleted the post from the page, told the Swiss newspaper Tribune de Genève his remarks had been taken out of context. “The point was the agreement with Iran… Israel is the loser, strategically and politically, from this plan. Anything else is a...

Well, yes -- courtesy of Barack Obama. "Chairman of Iran's Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Policy and National Security: We Have Emerged Victorious Heroes over the West," from MEMRI, n.d.:Following are excerpts from an interview with Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chairman of the Iranian Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Policy and National Security, which aired on Al-Alam TV on November 25, 2013: Alaeddin Boroujerdi: [The nuclear deal] is very important, because by now, the Islamic Republic controls all aspects of nuclear science, from A-Z, from the very beginning all the way to uranium enrichment. This is why the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution...

Complete Headline: Iran's Rouhani: "We Are Not Dismantling Our Nuclear Facilities; Iran Will Maintain Its Uranium Enrichment Programme" In case there was any confusion just how "historic" last week's agreement with Iran, loudly trumpeted by the Obama administration as the most "historic" since Syria in a, well, long time, truly was in terms of curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions, here is the explanation straight from the horse's mouth i.e., Iran president Hassan Rouhani who spoke today in an interview with the FT. "Mr Rouhani struck a tough line on Iran’s expectations over a comprehensive nuclear deal to be negotiated following...

Entire sanctions regime ‘will collapse within months,’ unnamed sources tell Israeli TV; US has shown it has ‘no red lines’ on Tehran Unnamed Israeli officials denounced US President Barack Obama on Friday night for presiding over failed negotiations with Iran under which they said the sanctions pressure on Tehran is collapsing and the Islamic Republic has been granted the right to enrich uranium. The entire wall of sanctions, painstakingly constructed over years, is already crumbling and “will collapse within months,” the officials were quoted as saying. In comments reported by Israel’s Channel 2 news and attributed to unnamed senior Israeli...

Complete Headline: Japan Dispatches F-15s, E-767s And P-3 Into China's Air Defense Zone, China Scrambles Su-30 In Response China's escalation and re-escalation described in detail yesterday, has just been met with a corresponding re-re-escalation by Japan. China's Ministry of Defense reports that the nation identified Japanese military planes that entered into Chinese air defense identification zone today. 7 batches of 10 Japanese planes consisting of E-767, P-3 and F-15 entered into the zone China has also identified 2 batches of 2 U.S. surveillance planes consisting of P-3 and EP-3, without specifying whether the planes entered into the zone China scrambled...

Chinese state media say China has sent two fighter planes to investigate flights by a dozen U.S. and Japanese planes in its newly established maritime air defence zone over the East China Sea. It is thought the incident is separate to China's announcement that it would carry out regular patrols in its air zone.

Two explosions were heard near the US Air Force base located near the Japanese capital of Tokyo. Japanese police and US officials reported that remnants of two IED's (Improvised Explosive Device) had been found in the area. No caualties...

Police arrested overnight Thursday four Arabs, aged 15-20. on suspicion of throwing the rocks that seriously injured a baby... The suspects, who fled the scene after the attack, were arrested when they arrived home.

TOKYO — China sent its fighter jets into its newly declared air defense zone Thursday on what state media called the country’s first air patrol since it declared control of the airspace. The announcement came hours after Japan and South Korea sent their own military planes into the airspace over the East China Sea, testing China’s resolve to enforce its declaration. The announcement of the flights came just days after unarmed American B-52 bombers flew through the same zone in defiance of China. Beijing later said that it had monitored the American bombers but had chosen not to take action...

TOKYO — China sent fighter jets into its newly declared air defense zone Thursday on what state media called the country’s first air patrol since it declared control of the airspace. The announcement came hours after Japan and South Korea sent their own military planes into the airspace over the East China Sea, testing China’s resolve to enforce its declaration. The announcement of the flights came just days after unarmed American B-52 bombers flew through the same zone in defiance of China. Beijing later said that it had monitored the American bombers but had chosen not to take action even...

Iran could be armed with a nuclear weapon within just over a month, Maariv reports Thursday. The report was forwarded to diplomats and international experts this week. Israeli experts have estimated that Tehran’s schedule for nuclear enrichment has only been delayed for up to two weeks, according to the report, less than one week after a deal has been reached between Western powers and the Iranian government regarding the nuclear program. … The concern in Israel is that Iran will wait for an international crisis, or an internal crisis in the United States, as a prime opportunity to drop a...

In what is supposed to be a message to Iran, Israel and the United States plan a joint military drill in the coming months, TIME magazine reported Wednesday. A high-ranking Israeli officer told the magazine that the joint drill will take place in six months, just as the interim agreement signed between Iran and the West on Sunday is due to expire. “The strategic decision is to continue to make noise,” the official, who asked to remain anonymous, told TIME. “In May there’s going to be a joint training exercise with the Americans,” he added. “It’s going to be big.”...

Iran's six-month temporary rollback of its nuclear activities agreed to in the recent deal has not begun and the start date has not yet been set, a spokesman for world powers' chief negotiator said Wednesday. "The actual date for the beginning of the six-month period of the first step has yet to be decided," Michael Mann, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, told AFP.

According to the interim agreement regarding Iran's nuclear program that was reached this weekend in Geneva, not one centrifuge will be destroyed. Not one pound of enriched uranium will leave Iran. Not one American unjustly detained in Iran's notorious prisons will be released. But Iran will start to receive, in a matter of days, $7 billion in relief from international economics sanctions. This appears to be an unfortunate case of history repeating itself. As happened with North Korea in 1994, fascination with the negotiation process has blinded American diplomats to the true nature of their negotiating partners. Substantive sanctions relief...

- FrontPage Magazine - http://www.frontpagemag.com - Underneath the DealPosted By Shoshana Bryen On November 26, 2013 @ 12:15 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | No Comments The Obama administration is entitled to be furious with Israel.  Although the U.S. got bragging rights for its (one-sided-not-in-our-favor) deal with Iran, Prime Minister Netanyahu remains determined publicly to say what the President wants to hide: Iran’s nuclear program could not be negotiated away, rolled back significantly or inspected properly. The only means to a signed document was for the U.S. to abandon its principles and pressure its allies. The U.S. has done that.It was...

It isn't surprising that the US and the other five powers signed a deal with Iran on Saturday. Over the past few weeks, US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry made it clear that they were committed to signing a deal with Iran as quickly as possible. >>SNIP<< The negotiations with the Iranians that culminated in Saturday night's agreement went on for a year. And yet, the final deal reflects Iran's opening positions. That is, over the course of the entire year, American and European negotiators were not able to move Iran's positions one iota. So what...

The US and Hezbollah are in secret indirect talks managed by London dealing with the fight against al-Qaida, regional stability and other Lebanese political issues. Senior British diplomatic sources, quoted in a report in Kuwait newspaper al-Rai on Wednesday, said British diplomats are holding discussions with leaders of the Lebanese organization and transferring the information to the Americans. The discussions “are aimed at keeping tabs on the changes in the region and the world, and prepare for the upcoming return of Iran to the international community,” according to diplomatic sources in Washington. Because the US, unlike the UK, recognizes both...

It didn't take long to escalate Iran-Saudi relations, or the lack thereof, following this weekend's nuclear (non) deal. Moments ago Iran's Fars news agency reported that Iran’s coast guards have seized two Saudi fishing vessels after they entered the Islamic Republic's territorial waters, a provincial official announced on Wednesday. “Yesterday, the coast guards deployed in the country’s Southern waters came to spot two vessels in Iran’s protected waters in the South using electronic and optic tools and equipment,” Commander of Bushehr province Coast Guards Qalandar Lashkari said. He said that the Iranian coast guards rushed to the scene and were...

In a speech marking his 100th day in office, Iran’s president vowed Tuesday to continue enriching uranium, despite the historic Geneva deal with the United States and other world powers to halt its nuclear program for six months, The Hill reported on Tuesday. In a series of tweets, President Hassan Rouhani boasted that Iran got the best deal; the loosening of limited sanctions and the continuation of its nuclear enrichment program. …

Iranian officials say that the White House is misleading the public about the details of an interim nuclear agreement reached over the weekend in Geneva. Iran and Western nations including the United States came to an agreement on the framework for an interim deal late Saturday night in Geneva. The deal has yet to be implemented The White House released a multi-page fact sheet containing details of the draft agreement shortly after the deal was announced. However, Iranian foreign ministry official on Tuesday rejected the White House’s version of the deal as “invalid” and accused Washington of releasing a factually...

The security cabinet held a special meeting Tuesday to consider the implications of the new nuclear accord with Iran, the Syrian war, Hizballah and other current threats to national security. The session was unusually long and is expected to be carried over to Wednesday. IDF and intelligence chiefs gave the ministers special briefings.

A US citizen, who joined the Al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams (ISIS) in Syria, has sent a video message to the West expressing his desire to wage total war against the “infidels” and impose Islamic rule over the entire world. The video features “the American Abu-Dj’ana,” brandishing a Kalashnikov assault rifle and a bayonet, who says the following: “This is a message to people in the West from the Mujahideen (lit. ‘holy warriors’) in Syria. We came here from different countries to protect this land, this Islamic land; to spread the Law of Allah on earth; and...

Ninety percent of the American opinion elite will fall for the old "historic breakthrough" conceit every time. The appeal of getting enemies in a room together, where they will shed their animosity and "reason together," is so profound that nothing as tiresome as experience can diminish its allure. Don't talk to Secretary of State John Kerry or President Barack Obama of the League of Nations (which enjoyed such success ensuring world peace) or the Kellogg-Briand Pact, the 1928 treaty that outlawed war as an instrument of national policy. Fifty-four countries, including all the major belligerents of World War II, signed...

In case you had any doubts as to whether the “interim” agreement with Iran on nuclear technology that Barack Obama and John Kerry foisted on the world in the dead of night over the weekend was a terrible development, the world’s foremost Shia Jihadist terrorist organization has provided confirmation.

How shambolic of a smoking ruin is the Obama presidency? When Tina Brown surveys the wreckage, the best—the best!—thing she sees, the thing she believes will be Barack Obama's shining legacy, is his handling of Iran and Syria, which she declares to be "smart," and of course, "nuanced." The Obamacare catastrophe? Not to worry. On today's Morning Joe, Brown assured us that those problems are "transient." No, look over here, at President Obama's masterful handling of foreign policy! Yes, years from now, when the minor hiccups of the Obamacare rollout will be long forgotten, people will still be marvelling at...

The Obama administration has more trouble with its diplomacy than just regarding Iran. Last week, the White House let it be known that they had all but concluded a pact with Afghanistan to keep as many as 15,000 troops, mostly American, in place until 2024, a decade longer than Barack Obama promised when he launched his own surge strategy in late 2009. Almost immediately after going out on that political limb, Hamid Karzai began to saw it off, insisting that the issue had to be brought before tribal elders and that Karzai himself wouldn’t sign it either way, a direct...

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has refused to sign a security deal with the United States, the White House said, and Washington may have to resort to the "zero option" of withdrawing all American troops from the strife-torn country next year, as it did in Iraq. Karzai told U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice in Kabul on Monday that the United States must put an immediate end to military raids on Afghan homes and demonstrate its commitment to peace talks before he would sign a bilateral security pact, Karzai's spokesman said. The White House said Karzai had outlined new conditions in...

The American Center for Law and Justice says the Obama administration should never have struck a deal with Iran without part of the terms being the release of imprisoned pastor Saeed Abedini and other Americans being held in Iranian prisons. ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow says basically, President Barack Obama and Secretary of John Kerry turned their back on their fellow Americans. "It is outrageous and a betrayal of American Pastor Saeed Abedini who has spent more than a year in an Iranian prison simply because of his Christian faith," Sekulow said following word of a deal with the Islamic...

A Gurkha soldier has been flown back to the UK after hacking the head off a dead Taliban commander with his ceremonial knife to prove the dead man’s identity. The private, from 1st Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles, was involved in a fierce firefight with insurgents in the Babaji area of central Helmand Province when the incident took place earlier this month. His unit had been told that they were seeking a ‘high value target,’ a Taliban commander, and that they must prove they had killed the right man. Deadly: A platoon of Gurkhas demonstrate their skill with their kukri knives...

Just picture the scene as a soldier returns from hunting an arch-enemy. Commanding officer: 'Did you get him?' Soldier: 'Yes, sir.' Commanding officer: 'Are you sure?' Soldier: 'Yes, sir.' Soldier reaches into rucksack and places severed head on table. Commanding officer: ' ****!' If it happened in a Hollywood movie, the audience would either laugh or applaud. But there was no laughter the other day when this happened for real in Babaji, Afghanistan, current posting for the 1st Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles. The precise circumstances will not be determined until an official report has been completed, but reliable military sources...

U.S. President Barack Obama called Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday to discuss an international nuclear deal with Iran that has threatened to raise tensions between the close allies, the White House said. "The two leaders reaffirmed their shared goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon," deputy White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters aboard Air Force One As Obama headed to the U.S. West Coast, reported AFP. "Consistent with our commitment to consult closely with our Israeli friends, the president told the prime minister that he wants the United States and Israel to begin consultations immediately...

Canada is "deeply skeptical" about Iran's intentions, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said on Sunday. "Every diplomatic [effort] should be taken to ensure that Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon," Baird said. He added that effective sanctions brought the Iranian regime to its more moderate front, and led to the interim deal signed in Geneva. Canada will therefore continue to impose its sanctions on the Islamic Republic in full force, Baird said. "A nuclear Iran is not just a threat to Canada or its allies but it would also seriously damage the integrity of decades of work for nuclear...

Shortly after the historic nuclear agreement was reached with Iran in the early hours of Sunday morning, John Kerry, US secretary of state, took to Twitter to announce a “first step that makes the world safer”. In one of those gestures that would have been unthinkable a few weeks ago, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani promptly retweeted his comment. Yet within hours, both men had also revealed substantial disagreements over the nuclear negotiations in Geneva which served to expose the very large gaps that still lie between this initial deal and a final agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme over the next...

Oil prices are likely to drop, analysts said, as the nuclear accord between Iran and six world powers potentially paves the way for more crude oil to reach the global market.

The Iranian government stuck it to President Barack Obama today with government run television broadcasting "Down with America" during live coverage of the return from Geneva to Iran of Foreign Minister Javir Zarif after completing a deal on Iran's nuclear program with the U.S. and leading world powers, according to a BBC reporter.Ali Hamedani, Persian reporter for the BBC, posted on Twitter:IRIB is covering Zarif's arrival in Tehran with a montage of anti American pictures. Subtitle is down with America in Persian and English.When asked if "down with America" is a step up in anti-American rhetoric from the Iranian government's...