Free Republic

For forty-seven years, a shadow has stretched across the Plateau, cast by a regime that traded the brilliance of a thousand-year civilization for the darkness of a medieval theocracy. As the currency collapses and the cries of “Woman, Life, Freedom” echo from the Alborz mountains to the shores of the Persian Gulf, a singular truth has emerged from the chaos: The time for half-measures is over. Iran’s chains do not need “reform”; they need breaking. And in this terminal hour, Reza Pahlavi stands not merely as a figure of history, but as the only bridge to a future.For the Iranian...

The final form of Iran’s future system whether a parliamentary constitutional monarchy or a republic should be determined through a free and fair referendum, without coercion or external imposition. Only the Iranian people have the sovereign right to shape their destiny through democratic processes. However, the international community has a moral and strategic obligation to listen to the voices from Iran’s streets and respond appropriately… Decisive policy is essential: combining “maximum pressure” on the regime through targeted sanctions, isolation, and accountability for human rights violations, with “maximum support” for the people. This includes moral encouragement through public channels, political backing...

Rumours invariably become one of the main sources of public unrest. The line between news and speculation can become blurred quickly, and social media can aid in the quick spread of false narratives. Euronews takes a look at some of the most viral rumours surrounding the Iranian protests. Rumours have been particularly widespread throughout the two weeks of mass protests across Iran. Many of those rumours originate from anonymous users on social media platforms, and are being covered by media outlets, purely for headline purposes. And although some of these rumours carry an element of truth, they should, at large,...

A Brown University assistant professor and doctor was deported over the weekend from Boston to Lebanon after federal agents found photos of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Iran’s supreme leader on her cell phone, a source familiar with the case told CNN. Following Dr. Rasha Alawieh’s return Thursday from a visit to Lebanon, federal agents at Boston Logan International Airport found the photos, the source familiar said. It was not immediately clear why officers were examining her phone. The existence of the photos was outlined in a court filing Monday obtained by CNN affiliate WCVB. “In explaining why these multiple...

Golem Salami, spokesman for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, announced that Rouzbeh Vadi, one of Iran's top nuclear scientists, was hanged this week. "The fact that Vadi was not taken out by the Israeli air attacks like our six other nuclear scientists were raised our suspicions," Salami said. "Vadi was arrested and interrogated. Despite the rigorous torture applied by our best experts he would not confess. However, our offer to spare his family from execution if he would admit to being a spy for the Mossad persuaded him to admit his guilt. We are also pleased to confirm the arrest...

(Expletive deleted) around the middle east Always thought I’d do what I please Do what I please With Hezbollah and Hamas guys The kind of guys to terrorize the Jews Terrorize the Jews And I ran Iran in my own way I just ran Iran all night and day Couldn’t get in my way A cloud appears above my head A bomb or bolt of lightning comes right through Something comes right through The cloud is moving nearer still Seventy-two virgins come in view Many virgins in view And I ran Iran in my own way I just ran Iran...

Iran is in trouble, and the theocratic clique that has ruled the country for 46 years is worried. Who is Israel going to target next? There's no protection for anyone in Iran. Politicians, scientists, bureaucrats, and military leaders are all looking over their shoulders or watching the sky anxiously, wondering if there's a bomb or a drone with their name on it. Paranoia has gripped the Iranian elites. This has resulted in what Reuters describes as a "campaign of widespread arrests." There's also an "intensified street presence" as authorities attempt to head off any kind of mass protests, such as...

President Trump has launched the United States into the spiraling Israel-Iran war, ordering strikes on the latter Middle Eastern country in the middle of the night Saturday in an attempt to crush its nuclear program. “We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” Trump announced on Truth Social just before 8 p.m. ET, 3:30 a.m. Iran time. The president’s move to get the US involved in Israel’s military operations — now in their second week after large-scale airstrikes on June 13 took out 20 of Iran’s senior military leaders...

President Trump has launched the United States into the spiraling Israel-Iran war, ordering strikes on the latter Middle Eastern country in the middle of the night Saturday in an attempt to crush its nuclear program. “We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” Trump announced on Truth Social just before 8 p.m. ET, 3:30 a.m. Iran time. The president’s move to get the US involved in Israel’s military operations — now in their second week after large-scale airstrikes on June 13 took out 20 of Iran’s senior military leaders...

KhameneiUntergang (Downfall, 2004) is a movie about the last days of the Hitler regime, including Hitler's nine-millimeter-and-cyanide honeymoon with Eva Braun. We are now looking at the final days of Iran's theocracy, which is likely to collapse by the end of the week; one week after Israel began military action. It is well known from history that, when a country's leaders flee the battlefield, the war is over for them. At Gaugamela in 331 B.C.E., the massive Persian army collapsed when King Darius turned his chariot to run from Alexander the Great, who was personally trying to kill him. Once...

President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that he is an “easy target” and “our patience is wearing thin,” before demanding Tehran surrender in its conflict against Israel. “We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,” he wrote after declaring “total control” over Iran’s airspace. “But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin.” Trump in a subsequent...

President Donald Trump announced, “We now have complete and total control” of Iranian airspace and that the U.S. knows “exactly where” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “is hiding.” Trump’s announcements came in a string of Truth Social posts. “We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran. Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn’t compare to American made, conceived, and manufactured ‘stuff,'” Trump wrote. “Nobody does it better than the good ol’ USA,” he added. Trump then said the United States knows where Khamenei is located.

Developments continue apace in Israel and Iran, where the two bitter enemies will enter their fourth day of war. Earlier today, news reports had the Iranians asking erstwhile intermediaries to pressure Israel into cease-fire negotiations, albeit on the same terms as before -- with Iran maintaining its nuclear enrichment programs and with the usual "Death to Israel" and "Death to the Great Satan" messaging. That didn't work out so well, apparently, so the mullahs asked Vladimir Putin to intercede with Donald Trump. According to Israel Hayom -- and no one else so far -- Trump told Putin that he wasn't...

On Wednesday’s “Hugh Hewitt Show,” President Donald Trump discussed nuclear talks with Iran and stated that Iran has to turn over its uranium and either deactivate or destroy their centrifuges or else they will face strikes from the United States.

Ten years ago, when President Barack Obama and other leaders reached a deal with Iran to limit its nuclear program, Saudi Arabia was dismayed.Saudi officials called it a "weak deal" that had only emboldened the kingdom's regional rival, Iran. They cheered when President Trump withdrew from the agreement a few years later.Now, as a second Trump administration negotiates with Iran on a deal that might have very similar contours to the previous one, the view from Saudi Arabia looks quite different.The kingdom's Foreign Ministry issued a statement recently saying that it hoped the talks, mediated by neighboring Oman, would enhance...

An Iranian state newspaper has issued a death threat against Donald Trump, as fears grow of war between Iran and the US. Kayhan newspaper is widely regarded as the voice of the most hardline factions in the country’s clerical establishment. Its editor is appointed directly by the supreme leader. However, the death threat sparked outrage in Iran, with political figures warning that it gave the US president a pretext to strike their country. In its “dialogue” column on Saturday, the newspaper wrote: “What’s up with this Donald Trump? Who does he think he is to threaten several countries every day?...

Iranian ‘supreme leader’ Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ruled out any negotiations with the United States on any important issues for the foreseeable future during remarks on Friday, warning his underlings in Tehran that attempting diplomacy with Washington was “dishonorable.” “Some people pretend that if we sit at the negotiating table, some problem will be solved, but the fact that we must understand correctly is that negotiating with the US has no effect on solving the country’s problems,” Khamenei declared, speaking at an event with the Iranian Air Force to mark the anniversary of the jihadist revolution in 1979. The “supreme leader”...

Hadi Matar finally went on trial Tuesday for attempting to murder the novelist Salman Rushdie back in Aug. 2022. There is little, if any, doubt about Matar’s guilt .. for he stabbed Rushdie multiple times in full view of a shocked crowd at the Chautauqua festival. .. Barone managed to delay the trial for over a year. Now that it has begun, both Barone and his opposite number, Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt, seem curiously intent on preventing any discussion of Matar’s motive. Matar tried to kill the man who, at the time of the stabbing had carried for...

Former President Jimmy Carter, a man who redefined what a post-presidency could be, died Sunday. He was 100. Carter, who lived longer than any other U.S. president, entered home hospice care in Plains, Georgia in February 2023 after a series of short hospital stays. The only Georgian ever elected to the White House, Carter left office after a single term that was highlighted by forging peace between Israel and Egypt, but was overshadowed by the Iran hostage crisis. In the decades after, his reputation grew through his and wife Rosalynn Carter’s work at the Carter Center in Atlanta and his...

One of the defining moments of Jimmy Carter’s presidency was the Iran hostage crisis. Retired Army Col. Chuck Scott was one of the 52 hostages held in Iran for 444 days. In an interview with Channel 2 Action News, he said Carter got a lot of blame he did not deserve. “People say, ‘Yeah, he really screwed up the hostage crisis.’ But how do you know? You weren’t there,” Scott said. The crisis would overshadow many of the accomplishments during President Carter’s one and only term. “We looked like idiots. Here we were, the most powerful nation in the world...