Free Republic

Donald Trump said he was willing to end the Iran war without a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The US president, with no concrete signs of a diplomatic breakthrough, suggested that if negotiations collapsed, he would “obliterate” Iran’s energy and water facilities, but leave the vital waterway under Iranian control. He wrote on his Truth Social platform: “Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business’, we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by...

The month-long closure of a crucial waterway for the global energy supply has sparked warnings the world is heading for problems worse than those caused by the 1970s oil crisis. Lars Jensen, a shipping expert and former director at Maersk, told the BBC the impact of the US-Israeli war on Iran could be "substantially larger" than the economic chaos seen in the 1970s. His comments follow a warning from the director of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, earlier this month that the world is "facing the greatest global energy security threat in history". "It is much bigger than what...

U.S. President Donald Trump told aides he’s willing to end the military campaign against Iran while leaving the Strait of Hormuz largely closed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday evening. Trump and his aides assessed that a mission to reopen Hormuz would push the conflict beyond his timeline of four to six weeks, the WSJ reported, citing administration officials. Trump decided that the U.S. would wind down current hostilities with Iran after achieving its main goals of hobbling Iran’s navy and missile stocks. Washington will then pressure Tehran diplomatically to reopen the strait, failing which, it will press allies...

I listened to Mark Levin’s radio broadcast last week and was reminded of two things. First, Levin is one of the most knowledgeable, clever, sincere, and passionate personalities in America’s conservative political movement. Second, other than sharing a love for America, we have radically different world views. I’m not criticizing Mr. Levin; I am thankful for the good he has done for America--he and every other “conservative.” I’m only singling him out insofar as he represents the most zealous, thoughtful, practical side of political conservatives. My point is that regardless of what we have in common about America, we have...

Two months ago, the Iranian regime was at its most perilous state since it came to power in 1979...But excitement among regime opponents abroad over the prospect of its downfall quickly turned to horror as the Islamist theocracy launched a brutal crackdown, killing as many as 30,000 protesters, according to some counts. While airstrikes and targeted killings of leaders have weakened the regime materially, they may also be reinforcing its internal cohesion, hardening its capacity for repression, and exposing the absence of any credible political alternative...If the Islamic Republic is to fall — with a more welcome replacement taking power...

Since late February, between 600,000 and one million Iranian households—up to 3.2 million people—have fled their homes, according to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. Most are fleeing from Tehran and other major urban areas toward the rural north, escaping strikes that began on February 28. The human toll has been severe. Thousands of people have been killed across the Middle East. As of March 22, 3,231 people had been killed in Iran, of which 1,407 were civilians including 214 children, according to U.S.-based rights group HRANA. Thirteen U.S. service members had been killed. Strikes have been reported in more than...

President Donald Trump said his preference is to “take the oil” from Iran — despite whatever gripes his critics would have about it — during an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday. “To be honest with you, my favorite thing is to take the oil in Iran but some stupid people back in the U.S. say: ‘why are you doing that?’ But they’re stupid people,” Trump told the outlet. The outlet noted “such a move would involve seizing Kharg Island through which most of Iran’s oil is exported.” Trump has been calling for the U.S. to take the island...

The Pentagon is sending ground forces to Iran. Trump administration officials gave a story to the Washington Post that is being repeated everywhere: The Pentagon is preparing for weeks of boots on the ground operations in Iran, a major escalation in President Trump’s goal to dismantle the remaining faction of the murderous Iranian regime, according to a report. Thousands of US Marines would be sent to the Middle East to conduct raids that include Special Operations forces and conventional infantry troops, the Washington Post reported, citing sources. Officials have been discussing plans for sending troops into Iran for weeks. ***...

Donald Trump has encountered online mockery after disclosing he completed a cognitive test three times, amidst worries about his well-being. Concerns regarding the president's cognitive health have been escalating recently. Since beginning his second term in office, Trump has displayed a series of unusual symptoms, including bruising on his hands and apparent mental disorientation. Despite performing his duties as normal, many consider that the situation has reached a pivotal point in recent weeks. * * * Multiple individuals referenced a test he allegedly took as a screening tool to detect dementia in patients. @JoJoFromJerz questioned: "Why does he think bragging...

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said on Thursday that the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran does not meet the Catholic Church’s criteria for a just war. “No, it does not seem to meet the conditions,” he told reporters on the sidelines of an academic conference at the Vatican Apostolic Library. When asked by EWTN News about the decision of the United States to attack Iran, Parolin referred to recent remarks by Cardinal Robert McElroy, archbishop of Washington, D.C. In an interview with his archdiocesan newspaper, The Catholic Standard, McElroy said the intervention in Iran failed to meet several...

Fox News host Mark Levin argued for the White House to deploy "specialized" U.S. ground troops in Iran to secure Tehran's enriched uranium stockpiles, shortly after President Donald Trump urged members of the public to tune into his show late Saturday. The U.S. has sent thousands of elite soldiers and Marines to the Middle East in recent days, widely seen as a sign the White House could greenlight select ground operatio1s on Iranian soil and escalate the conflict with Tehran. Trump has not yet approved ground operations in Iran, according to U.S. media reports. "Why would we need troops on...

The IDF could soon collapse if there is no solution to the shortage of manpower, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir warned in remarks during a security cabinet meeting held on Wednesday. “I am raising 10 red flags before the IDF collapses into itself,” Zamir said during the cabinet meeting, The Jerusalem Post confirmed. IDF sources also told the Post that there is tremendous concern due to the severe manpower shortage, especially amid the ongoing war. Even in peacetime, Israel would still need more soldiers – not fewer – on the border in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and the West...

For decades, one of the most reliable pillars of pro-Israel sentiment in the United States was not just Jews but conservative Christians. That support had a theological motor: Israel mattered not just as an ally on a Cold War map, but as a central actor on the map of the End Times. Put simply, Christians needed Jews to return to the homeland of Israel to usher in the second coming of Christ. But now, that theological motor is sputtering… Young evangelicals are less tethered to elaborate prophetic systems… The consequence is subtle but profound: Support for Israel increasingly has to...

The war started with Iran by the United States and Israel has left the European far right divided and doubtful... In the first days of the war, the loudest silence came from Hungary's ruling party... Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has praised Trump as a “peacemaker” for his role in the war in Gaza, neither condemned nor endorsed the attacks on Iran. Orbán, who is campaigning for re-election on a “pro-peace narrative” and accuses the EU of fuelling the war in Ukraine by supporting Kyiv with money and weapons, has since resolved the dissonance by saying in an interview with...

A majority of the American public, polls suggest, have been against the ongoing US-Israeli military campaign in Iran from the day it started. Republicans, however, have largely stuck by their president as the war approaches the end of its fourth week. But that may be changing. At the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Texas, some of the party faithful expressed concern about why the US started this war, how Donald Trump is going to end it and whether the effort has been worth the costs. "I just wish that there was more transparency on why we're doing what...

American families are in crisis… In the U.S., fewer young people are getting married, and they are having fewer children. They struggle to afford a first house… Groceries are expensive; mortgage rates and housing prices are crushing. Whatever the future holds, America’s young parents know it almost certainly will include having to take care of aging Boomers and their own small children at the same time, with a demographic structure more weighted toward the elderly than at any other time in history… The current administration and Congress were elected at least in part on promises to meet these challenges. And,...

August 19, 1953: The Iranian military, with the support and financial assistance of the United States government, overthrows the government of Premier Mohammad Mosaddeq and reinstates the Shah of Iran. Iran remained a solid Cold War ally of the United States until a revolution ended the Shah’s rule in 1979. Mosaddeq came to prominence in Iran in 1951 when he was appointed premier. A fierce nationalist, Mosaddeq immediately began attacks on British oil companies operating in his country, calling for expropriation and nationalization of the oil fields. His actions brought him into conflict with the pro-Western elites of Iran and...

@mtgreenee I am so excited for this event and honored to be speaking!!! Ron Paul is a legend!! Let the Neocon controlled GOP burn to the ground because something greater will rise out of the ashes. Get your tickets!!!

Kristi Noem kept her lover Corey Lewandowski close at hand as she made her first appearance in her new job after she was booted from the Department of Homeland Security. Noem and Lewandowski sat side-by-side across from Guyanese President Irfaan Ali during a meeting in the South American country on Tuesday. She was all smiles during the meeting, which came just weeks after she was grilled over the supposed affair in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing earlier in March. Noem dodged questions about the affair as her husband sat behind her at that hearing. That disastrous hearing resulted in her...

Netanyahu seeks to pass the Budget by March 31 to avoid snap elections, which polls suggest he would likely lose. The war in Iran has shifted focus from Gaza, but polls remain unchanged since Oct 7, showing weak support for Netanyahu. To secure the Budget, Netanyahu's coalition allocated funds to allies, like ultra-Orthodox parties, ensuring their support. Polls consistently show around 40 per cent of voters sticking with Mr Netanyahu’s coalition of nationalist and religious parties, 40 per cent backing opposition parties, and a swing vote so far not moving to Mr Netanyahu, said Professor Gideon Rahat, a political scientist...