Free Republic

Iran’s mission to the U.N. on Wednesday dismissed recent comments by U.S. President Donald Trump, stating that Tehran will not engage in negotiations or accept peace imposed through pressure. "No Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House," the mission said in a post on X, responding to Trump's recent claim that Iranians "even suggest that they come to the White House." "The only thing more despicable than his lies is his cowardly threat to 'take out' Iran's Supreme Leader," it added. Reaffirming its defiance against pressure, the mission said: "Iran does NOT negotiate...

President Trump revealed to reporters outside the White House that he spoke with Vladimir Putin yesterday, saying the Russian leader offered to mediate the Iran-Israel conflict. Even Trump, who has been a staunch defender of Putin, admitted he couldn't play peacemaker while the Ukraine-Russia war rages. -snip- “Would have never happened if I was president,” he said before making a four-word comment to Putin directly. “Putin would have never done it and I spoke to him yesterday and I said you know, he actually offered to help mediate. I said ‘do me a favor, mediate your own. Let’s mediate Russia...

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to take questions Wednesday from international journalists on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Putin scheduled a roundtable session with senior news leaders of international news agencies, including The Associated Press. Among other issues, he’s expected to spell out Moscow’s position on the conflict between Israel and Iran that he offered to help mediate in a weekend call with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin should first end the war that Russia started in Ukraine before talking about mediating in the Middle East, stated US President Donald Trump during a conversation with journalists, APA reports citing RBC Ukraine. "I spoke to Putin yesterday, he offered to help mediate. I said, do me a favor — mediate your own. Let's mediate Russia first, OK? I said, 'Vladimir, let's mediate Russia first, you can worry about this later," Trump said. According to the US President, he told Putin that he should deal with Russia first before involving himself elsewhere. "So many people have...

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned on Wednesday that direct U.S. military assistance to Israel could radically destabilise the situation in the Middle East, where an air war between Iran and Israel has raged for six days. In separate comments, the head of Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service, Sergei Naryshkin, was quoted as saying that the situation between Iran and Israel was now critical. Ryabkov warned the U.S. against direct military assistance to Israel or even considering such "speculative options," according to Russia's Interfax news agency.

Russia has strongly defended Iran’s right to maintain peaceful nuclear installations. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Iran had the right to such facilities in the past, holds it now, and will continue to do so in the future. She made these remarks while speaking to Sputnik Radio, stressing that peaceful nuclear sites are now under direct attack. Zakharova warned that the threat of nuclear conflict in the Middle East is no longer a theory but a real and growing danger. She said these attacks are not only increasing tensions but also posing a serious threat to both the...

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a statement read by a television presenter on Wednesday that his country will not accept US President Donald Trump's call for an unconditional surrender. In his first remarks since Friday, when he delivered a speech broadcast on state media after Israel began bombarding Iran, Khamenei said peace or war could not be imposed on the Islamic Republic. "Intelligent people who know Iran, the Iranian nation, and its history will never speak to this nation in threatening language because the Iranian nation will not surrender," he said. "The Americans should know that any...

Iran has two known underground nuclear enrichment sites, the one Israel attacked on the first day of its assault at Natanz, and another at Fordo. Both sit south of Tehran in central Iran, but Fordo has long been the Iranian nuclear facility of most concern to international monitors and experts. Buried deep in a mountain, Fordo is where many analysts believe Iran has concealed clandestine efforts to work toward a nuclear weapons capability. There have been no reported Israeli strikes on the Fordo enrichment facility. -snip- "Fordo has always been a major concern because of its location and because of...

Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, traveled to Pyongyang on Tuesday under the direct orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin, signaling a deepening of strategic military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. The visit, Shoigu's second in less than two weeks and third meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in just three months, comes as Moscow seeks to draw Pyongyang closer in its protracted war effort in Ukraine. Observers say the visit suggests a bid by Russia to leverage shifting global attention — particularly the West’s growing preoccupation with escalating tensions between Israel and Iran — to secure...

Russia said on Monday that the next round of consultations between Moscow and Washington has been canceled at the initiative of the US side. A written commentary by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the next meeting as part of Russia-US consultations to normalize the activities of their respective diplomatic missions was canceled “at the initiative of American negotiators.” “We hope that the pause they took will not be too long,” Zakharova went on to say, without providing a reason behind the cancellation. US authorities have not immediately confirmed or commented on Zakharova’s remarks.

The Kremlin responded Monday to remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on possible Iranian regime change, issuing a condemnation of the "actions" that have led to escalated tensions between the two Middle Eastern nations. Netanyahu told Fox News on Sunday that regime change in Tehran "could certainly be the result" of Israel's strikes targeting Iran. The Israeli leader described the Iranian government as "very weak." Speaking at a Monday press briefing, Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson, was asked about Netanyahu's comments. "We have certainly seen this statement, we've heard and read [it]," Peskov said. The Kremlin condemns "the...

Ari Fleischer, former press secretary for President George W. Bush, on Sunday called conservative commentator Tucker Carlson a “phony” for accusing the Trump administration of being “complicit in the act of war” in supporting Israel in its conflict with Iran. “I’ve known Tucker for 25 years, when he co-hosted an MSNBC show with Paul Begala. Tucker doesn’t have a consistent thought in his head, except self-promotion,” Mr. Fleischer posted Sunday on X with past videos of Mr. Carlson calling for Iran’s destruction. “Now he says that’s a warmonger. He’s a modern carnival barker.” -snip- On Sunday, Mr. Fleischer’s post on...

Dramatic footage has caught the extraordinary moment the wing of a £15million Russian warplane fell off in the middle of a Ukraine attack mission. The attack jet crashed after flying in a pair over Ukraine's Donetsk region, with the pilot miraculously cheating death by ejecting before his aircraft fell to the ground. The doomed Su-25 warplane is seen on the video turning and falling out of the sky, crashing into a field. At first it appeared it had been shot down, with Ukrainian media claiming it had possibly been the victim of 'friendly fire' by an unguided missile from its...

Iranian media on Saturday reported fire breaking out after Israel bombed infrastructure at the South Pars gas field in southern Bushehr province. Developing

THIS IS THE MAGA FOREIGN POLICY! So tired of the isolationists barking about the old and failed foreign policy of the past and insisting that they’ve uncovered the secret, new way forward — isolationism. There’s nothing new or good about isolationism which, in a word, is appeasement. It’s old and promotes war, such as WWII. Even worse, these knuckleheads can’t even coherently explain what they mean. Have you watched them on TV? They’re too self-righteous in their ignorance to realize how absurd they sound. They don’t agree among themselves what the hell they're talking about. In fact, they’re so blind...

Host and pundit Tucker Carlson has publicly criticized President Donald Trump and other conservatives for their support of Israel's recent military strikes on Iran. In his newsletter titled "This Could Be the Final Newsletter Before All-Out War," Carlson accused Trump of being "complicit" in Israel's attack, arguing that U.S. funding and weapons supplied to Israel, which Trump has boasted about, place the U.S. at the center of the conflict. He stated, "Washington knew these attacks would happen. They aided Israel in carrying them out," and suggested that direct U.S. involvement in a war with Iran would betray voters who supported...

Putin holds phone call with Trump Statements from Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov: 🔸The call lasted 50 minutes 🔸The conversation was useful, with the two leaders discussing the escalating situation in the Middle East. 🔸Putin informed Trump about his recent phone contacts with the president of Iran and the prime minister of Israel. 🔸Putin reminded Trump of Russia’s proposal to seek mutually acceptable agreements on the Iranian nuclear issue. 🔸Trump assessed the situation in the Middle East as highly alarming. 🔸The presidents did not rule out a return to the negotiating track on the Iranian nuclear program. 🔸Putin also informed Trump...

Russia said on Friday that Israeli strikes on Iran were unprovoked and in breach of the United Nations charter, accusing Israel of wrecking diplomatic efforts to strike a deal to allay Western concerns about Tehran's nuclear programme. -snip- "Russia is concerned and condemns the sharp escalation in tensions between Israel and Iran," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state media. President Vladimir Putin was getting real-time reports on the situation from Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service and the foreign and defence ministries, Peskov said. In a detailed statement drawn up at Putin's behest, the Foreign Ministry fiercely condemned Israel and blamed...

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered on Thursday to build and deploy drone troops as soon as possible, APA reports citing TASS. "We are currently building drone troops as a separate branch of the military, and these should be developed and deployed as soon as possible," the head of state said at a meeting discussing a new state arms program. Fighting against various unmanned aerial vehicles has required "new approaches and non-standard solutions," Putin explained. "The new state arms program should provide for forming a universal air defense system that would function in any situation and effectively hit means of air...

Iran will rebuild its nuclear facilities if they are destroyed, the country’s President Masoud Pezeshkian says, according to state media. “It is not the case that if they destroy our facilities with bombs, everything will be lost — these capabilities exist in our minds, and therefore, whatever they do, we will rebuild again,” Pezeshkian says.