Free Republic

A council of three Iranian officials with mixed beliefs is governing Iran after the US-Israeli assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and 40 of his top lieutenants left a gaping power vacuum in the Middle Eastern nation. But the country’s notorious top nuclear and security official — Ali Larijani, the man allegedly behind Iran’s vicious crackdown on anti-regime protesters of recent months — could emerge as the most powerful man in the nation after the weekend’s chaos dies down, according to reports. Larijani is not one of the three men currently running the country. The three-person council was convened...

AFTER DONALD TRUMP was sworn in as president on January 20, 2025, he issued a flurry of executive orders that eventually saw online information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scrubbed from the Internet. Thousands of pages and datasets disappeared. Resources like “RSV Vaccine Guidance for Pregnant People,” “Preventing HIV with PEP,” and more, vanished. Suddenly, Americans could no longer turn to the nation’s premier public health organization for reliable information.

Is it finally lights out for the Council on American-Islamic Relations? Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO), chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, has sent a letter to the Treasury Department and IRS calling for scrutiny of the tax-exempt status of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and its California chapter—citing evidence of prohibited election interference that I detailed in May 2024. Rep. Smith’s letter primarily focuses on the California chapter of CAIR, which was accused of improperly applying for and spending $7.2 million in federal taxpayer money granted by the state of California. However, the letter also draws attention to...

Six Polymarket accounts earned roughly $1.2 million after correctly betting that the U.S. would strike Iran on Feb. 28, according to blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps. In a post on X, blockchain analyzer Bubblemaps said most of the wallets were funded within the last 24 hours before the attack and bought “Yes” shares in the “U.S. strikes Iran by February 28, 2026?” market just hours before explosions were reported in Tehran and other cities. The accounts had no activity beyond these predictions. The strikes followed a televised address by U.S. President Donald Trump announcing what he called “major combat operations,” targeting...

Okay, okay. Rita Panihi is an Iranian news anchor in Australia. Sue me. She posts the videos the Fake News Media won't show in this country. Iranians dancing in the streets and in their homes doing the Trump Dance to the YMCA and marching behind banners that say We Stand With Trump and many other celebratory celebrations.... ...

What will the war to give Iranians the chance to ‘seize control’ of their destiny mean for U.S. homeland security? We’re about to find out. As of late Sunday, at least three U.S. military members will be coming home in caskets — among the first casualties of the Trump administration’s “regime change” campaign in Iran. There will “likely be more” to come in the days ahead, President Donald Trump warned. He said U.S. operations in Iran will continue continue until all of the administration’s objectives are met. The details of those objectives remained foggy Sunday. While the days-old military operation...

First, a request to President Trump:Sir, may I humbly request you stop doing awesome stuff on Saturday. This humble meme gatherer would like her afternoons off. Thank you for your attention to this matter — SAH.To the people belly aching about war with Iran: BITCHES, I watched our country be humiliated by the taking of hostages. My 12 th grade class song was “And I Ran, I ran so far away” and no, it wasn’t talking about aerobics. We’ve watched Iran finance destruction against the US and Israel and taunt our presidents. We watched them arguably interfere with our elections...

More than 30 arrests for charges of rape, malicious wounding, assault, firing a weapon. Virginia just decided that the way to go is with the ‘free all the illegal alien criminals’ party. And that leads to women being stabbed to death at bus stops. By Muslim illegal aliens with 30 priors because arresting them and handing them over to ICE interferes with what is currently the supreme cause of the movement after previous stints with ‘BLM’ and ‘Hamas’ (not to mention the drag queens). It’s not good for America. It wasn’t good for Stephanie. But it’s working out pretty well...

Khamenei should have learned from Maduro. He didn't. He's now in the past tense.President Trump promised the people of Iran the United States would help them overthrow the Islamic dictatorship, and on Saturday he delivered. A joint attack with Israel killed the ayatollah and 7 of his henchmen generals. The bombing continued. We added to the list of the unalive a few other generals and of course our old friend, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the original Holocaust Denier.The lightning swift initial victory calmed my nervousness about this turning into another Iraq. The reality is this will not turn into a wider war....

Forty-seven years after the mullahs seized power, the countdown ended in fire, and Trump wagered that decisive force—not talk—would finally clear the path to Iran’s liberation.On January 25, just over a month ago, I wrote here that “The Countdown to Iran’s Liberation Has Begun.” Yes, there were peace talks. Donald Trump’s negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, jetted off to talk to Iran’s agents. Had Iran acceded to Trump’s key demands—above all, the abandonment of its efforts to acquire nuclear weapons—war might have been averted. As Churchill almost put it, it is better to jaw-jaw than to war-war. But the...

“A 1798 law is being used right now to defend American sovereignty. John Adams wrote it. Jefferson tried to repeal it the moment he took office. He couldn’t. It had no expiration date. Donald Trump invoked it on March 15, 2025 — 227 years after Adams signed it. Same law. Same fight. Same establishment screaming the same names. Here’s the documented history.”

The Jewish Representative Council of Ireland has expressed “deep concern” about the number of anti-Semitic incidents recorded here over a six-month period up to January this year. A community reporting mechanism established by the JRCI has reported 143 such incidents in that time period. The JRCI has called for the development of “a dedicated national plan to counter growing anti-Semitism”. The incidents were recorded through a JRCI online reporting form between July 2025 and January 2026. The report says some incidents were recorded by JRCI staff acting as intermediaries, based on information received through direct contact, email, or follow-up conversations....

The U.S. military confirmed on Monday that Kuwait “mistakenly shot down” three American F-15E Strike Eagles flying in support of Operation Epic Fury during active combat as Iran attacked the country. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) described the incident as “an apparent friendly fire incident.” "During active combat—that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones — the U.S. Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses," a statement read. CENTCOM said all six aircrew were able to eject safely and were recovered in stable condition. The cause of the incident is under investigation. "Kuwait has...

One of the most important oil facilities on the planet — Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery — has reportedly been hit. Fires. Shutdowns. Export disruption. This isn’t just another strike. This is an attack on the world’s energy lifeline. Ras Tanura is the artery through which vast amounts of global oil flows to Europe and Asia. If that artery is threatened, the economic consequences ripple across the entire planet — fuel prices, markets, supply chains, everything. The conflict has now crossed a dangerous threshold. This is no longer regional escalation. This is global economic warfare.

"Men ought always to pray" (Luke 18:1, KJV). Prayer should never be limited to certain times, places, or circumstances. As a child I was taught to pray with my head bowed, eyes closed, and hands folded. Even as a young man I thought that was the only acceptable mode of prayer. In my seminary days I sang in a quartet that traveled to various churches throughout the United States. The first time I traveled with them we had a prayer meeting in the car, and the driver prayed with his eyes open. All of us were glad he did, but...

In the span of a few days, the public has witnessed two events that have made it abundantly clear just where Democrats stand, or rather, sit, these days. Anyone who is remotely reasonable should consider looking for another political party to join. The first came during the State of the Union when President Donald Trump invited lawmakers “to join with my administration in reaffirming a fundamental principle. If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support: The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.” Democrats sat on their...

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced on Monday that the government has rejected any military or security actions launched from Lebanese territory outside the framework of state institutions. Speaking after an emergency Cabinet session at the presidential palace in Baabda, Salam said, "The state announces its absolute rejection, without any ambiguity or interpretation, of any military or security actions launched from Lebanese territory outside its legitimate institutions." The Cabinet session was chaired by President Joseph Aoun and attended by Salam, government ministers, and Military Chief of Staff General Rodolphe Haikal. Salam stated that the Cabinet had decided on the "absolute...

2 March 2026 Monday of the 2nd week of Lent St. Agnes of Bohemia, ChicagoReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Violet. Year: A(II).First readingDaniel 9:4-10Yours is the integrity, Lord; ours the shameO Lord, God great and to be feared, you keep the covenant and have kindness for those who love you and keep your commandments: we have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly, we have betrayed your commandments and your ordinances and turned away from them. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, our ancestors, and...

As President Trump pointed out, it isn’t rare earths that are critical to national security, it's the “rare processing” industry. ...In a Chinese plant, this process requires over 200 workers managing chemical tanks and adjusting valves manually. The Saskatchewan facility was able to reduce this by approximately 80 workers and an AI that receives thousands of data points every second and can make the necessary adjustments that no human team could coordinate.

Increasingly, countries that were once U.S. allies are aligning themselves with America’s enemies. The signs were obvious two decades ago, and the insightful Mark Steyn—the conservative Canadian author—addressed them then. In numerous books, written in his sharp, convincing style, he warned that America would soon become isolated in its fight against Islamist jihad. Today, that loneliness appears to be fully realized. His 2006 book America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It, convincingly argued that much of the Western world would not survive the 21st century. Europe, with its declining birthrate, would be the first to go—thanks...