Free Republic

Summary President Donald Trump says the US is considering "winding down" operations against Iran, but that other nations must guard the Strait of Hormuz - a vital shipping lane for oilTrump adds that he does not want a ceasefire. The US is making detailed plans for the possibility of deploying ground troops to Iran, the BBC's US partner CBS News reports The US says it will temporarily lift sanctions on Iranian oil stuck at sea, to contain the war's ongoing impact on energy prices Overnight, Israel launched a new wave of strikes on Tehran and Beirut. Israel, Saudi Arabia and...

Assassinating Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and nearly all of Iran’s top military and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers on the first day of the war was an incredible turning point in which all of the IDF’s air and intelligence power combined to change the course of history, an IDF senior officer told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. “Assassinating the supreme leader and all of the top echelon of the Iranian military and the IRGC in around half a minute was made possible by a giant and incredibly coordinated airstrike, which took months of planning,” the senior officer said. In 40 seconds...

The IDF sources noted that tackling Iran's ballistic missile threat was among the military's primary goals in the war.

Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment as Iran’s supreme leader is the kind of hereditary transition that his father once rejected.Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, has been appointed to succeed his father as the new head of the Islamic Republic. The younger Khamenei was named supreme leader by the top clerical body - the Assembly of Experts - in a statement published shortly after midnight on Monday (Mar 9) in Iran. Other contenders for the top position had included Alireza Arafi, one of the three members of the interim council running the country, hardliner Mohsen Araki, and...

President Trump said Sunday that increasing prices of oil are “a very small price to pay” for “safety and peace” amid the U.S. conflict with Iran. “Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace,” Trump said in a Sunday evening Truth Social post. “ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!” he added. The U.S. conflict in Iran caused a recent surge in domestic oil and gas prices, with the U.S. national average for a gallon of regular gasoline...

Defiant Iran hardliners rejoiced this morning as Ali Khamenei's son was named the new Supreme Leader - while vowing to increase missile attacks on infrastructure. Mojtaba Khamenei, excluded from a list of three senior clerics his father reportedly identified last year, was on Sunday announced as the Ayatollah's successor after being appointed by the regime's 88-person assembly. The leader has strong links to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and was chosen by Iran's Assembly of Experts 'under pressure from the Revolutionary Guards', according to Iranian media. And the 56-year-old Khamenei's potential impact on the escalating conflict in the Middle...

It's official. How long will this guy live? Who will take the guy out? Israel or U.S.? Bonus points if pick location and method.

Iran is reportedly expected to meet and possibly choose its next supreme leader in the next 24 hours. Ayatollah Mozaffari, a member of Iran’s 88-member Assembly of Experts, expressed hope that a session could take place over the next day, though no official meeting has been scheduled, according to Iranian International. The election will take place virtually after the building used by the Assembly of Experts was destroyed in Israeli strikes earlier this week. The Tuesday attack “flattened” the IRGC’s compound in Qom, as well as a building in Tehran that served as the previous parliament site, The Jerusalem Post...

Iran’s new Ayatollah has called for ‘the shedding of Zionist blood, the shedding of Trump’s blood’ as the war in Iran expands. Abdollah Javadi Amoli issued a rare call for violence from an ayatollah, telling state television viewers: ‘Fight the oppressive America, his blood is on my shoulders. ‘We are now on the verge of a great test and we must be careful to fully preserve this unity, to fully preserve this alliance.’ His remarks come after the US and Israel launched the war on Saturday, targeting Iran’s leadership, missile arsenal and nuclear programme while suggesting that toppling the government...

Imagine all of this sturm und drang over someone who may not even be vertical and respiratory. Ever since the death of Ali Khamenei in the opening seconds of the joint US-Israeli military action, Iran has technically been without a head of state. The Supreme Leader in Iran controls all policy and action, as well as commanding all of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic. Ali Larijani and Masoud Pezeshkian can issue orders while hiding in hospital offices, but they do not have the perceived divine and theological authority that the top mullah has in these systems, and that...

Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has reportedly been appointed Iran's new Supreme Leader. Mojtaba, 56, Ali Khamenei's second oldest son, has strong links to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and was chosen by Iran's Assembly of Experts 'under pressure from the Revolutionary Guards', according to Iranian opposition outlet Iran International. Mojtaba is not a high-ranking cleric, has never held office and does not have an official role in the regime. But he served in the Iranian armed forces during the Iran-Iraq war and is believed to wield considerable influence behind the scenes. He has been touted...

President Trump said late Monday the U.S. has “virtually unlimited” munitions to fight wars “forever,” just days after the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes in Iran. “The United States Munitions Stockpiles have, at the medium and upper medium grade, never been higher or better — As was stated to me today, we have a virtually unlimited supply of these weapons,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.“Wars can be fought ‘forever,’ and very successfully, using just these supplies (which are better than other countries finest arms!),” he continued. “At the highest end, we have a good supply, but are not where...

War Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday outlined what he described as a "clear" three-part mission against Iran, insisting the conflict "is not endless" and sharply rejecting comparisons to past U.S. wars in the Middle East. Speaking during the first Pentagon briefing since U.S.-Israeli strikes began over the weekend, Hegseth said Operation Epic Fury has a narrowly defined objective: destroy Iran’s offensive missile capabilities, cripple its navy and prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

President Trump told The Post Monday that he’s not ruling out sending US ground troops into Iran “if they were necessary” — adding that Operation Epic Fury was “way ahead of schedule” by taking out dozens of Tehran’s top officials. “I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground — like every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground.’ I don’t say it,” Trump said after launching strikes Saturday to decapitate Iran’s military and political leadership. “I say ‘probably don’t need them,’ [or] ‘if they were necessary.'” Trump told the Daily Mail on Sunday...