Free Republic

“Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, succeeded his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, following his assassination on February 28, but a string of reports have said he has been in a coma following an airstrike with some observers, including President Donald Trump, suggesting he is dead. Khamenei is apparently unaware both that there is a war on and that he is the country's new leader. His injuries have required him to be flown to Russia for an operation 'personally offered by Putin', according to news outlet Al-Jarida.”

Mojtaba Khamenei — the expected next supreme leader — was reportedly wounded in an Israeli air strike. The son of Iran’s slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei survived an assassination attempt made by Israel during the devastating launch of Lion’s Roar military operation Feb. 28, which occurred in tandem with the US’s Operation Epic Fury, Times of Israel reported on Saturday. Other strikes in the joint military attack killed his father and roughly 40 other high-ranking Islamic Republic leaders. Also killed was Mojtaba’s wife, Zahra Haddad Adel, who came from a family long associated with the country’s theocracy. It’s not clear if...

According to WalletHub’s 2026 “Best States to Live In” study, New Mexico ranks dead last in the nation — a sobering distinction that underscores years of troubling trends in education, health, and public safety. The annual analysis compares all 50 states across 51 separate indicators, including affordability, economic performance, education and health outcomes, quality of life, and safety. While some states perform strongly in certain categories and poorly in others, New Mexico’s overall placement at No. 50 signals broad, structural weaknesses that continue to drag down the state’s standing nationwide. WalletHub assigns New Mexico an overall score of 39.68, the...

Mossad operatives hacked into Tehran's traffic camera network to spy on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his bodyguards and other top Iranian officials for years Israel gained access to almost all the city's cameras, and tracked the movements of key bodyguards. Images were said to be transmitted back to Tel Aviv and southern Israel, allowing Mossad to develop intimate knowledge on the guards' addresses, work schedules, and who they were assigned to protect. One camera angle proved especially helpful and allowed agents to track where bodyguards parked their personal cars when arriving at the Supreme Leader's compound on Pasteur Street in the...

They did not bomb Iran. They waited for Iran’s entire leadership to sit down in the same room and then they bombed Iran.Months of intelligence. Thousands of hours of surveillance and signal intercepts. One variable: the moment the Supreme Leader, the President, and senior… https://t.co/I5l7iUI2HU pic.twitter.com/RXZSsSb12l— Shanaka Anslem Perera ⚡ (@shanaka86) February 28, 2026

An even more devastating terrorism charge could be laid on Iran's doorstep if intelligence reports linking Iran to al-Qaeda are confirmed. Insight has learned of new links between top Iranian intelligence officials and the al-Qaeda leadership that suggest direct Iranian government involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. mainland. Documents and information provided to this magazine by a recent Iranian defector, if confirmed as authentic, could open a new front in the war on terror. The defector, Hamid Reza Zakeri, says he worked in the intelligence office of Supreme Leader Ali Khameini and personally handled security at two...

Israel’s reported strike January 18 on a joint Iranian-Hezbollah convoy driving on the Syrian Golan Heights was one of the most strategically significant events to have occurred in Israel’s neighborhood in recent months. Its significance lies both in what it accomplished operationally and what it exposed. From what been published to date about the identities of those killed in the strike, it is clear that in one fell swoop the air force decapitated the Iranian and Hezbollah operational command in Syria. The head of Hezbollah’s operations in Syria, the head of its liaison with Iran, and Jihad Mughniyeh, the son...

US says hit "leadership target" with huge bombs AS SAYLIYA CAMP, Qatar, April 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Tuesday its aircraft had hit what it called a "leadership target" in the Baghdad district of Mansur on Monday afternoon with four 2,000 pound (900 kg) bombs. "We are confirming that a leadership target was hit very hard," Major Brad Bartlett, a spokesman at U.S. Central Command war headquarters in Qatar, told reporters. "Battle damage assessment is ongoing." Asked if the target had been Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the spokesman declined to comment. A U.S. official in Washington said...

War Diary: Friday, March 22, 2003Mar 21, 2003 The March 20 attempt to decapitate the Iraqi government appears to have failed. The U.S. government now seems to be acknowledging that Hussein survived the attacks. Indeed, he may not have been at the target to begin with. It appears likely that CIA Director Geoge Tenet had some intelligence, realized that the price of missing was relatively low, the value of success high, and took the shot. But there appears to be more to the story than this. Defense Department officials announced that the "shock and awe" campaign had been postponed,...

John Bachelor says his sources say no resistance reported from Baghdad. US is keeping lid on story for fear of mass revolts. Picking this up from their pre-show WABC feed.

WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush had only three minutes left to decide when he gave the order to start a war on Iraq with an attack on senior Iraqi leaders, believed to include President Saddam Hussein. "Let's go," Bush told his war council, as recounted by senior White House officials on Thursday. CIA Director George Tenet and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had sought an urgent meeting with Bush on Wednesday to discuss last-minute intelligence that they believed showed they had a fix on the Iraqi leadership in Baghdad. Bush gathered his war council in the...

OPERATION: IRAQI FREEDOM GI held in base attack made anti-U.S. remarks Mother of Asan Akbar claims son accused because he is Muslim Posted: March 24, 2003 3:10 p.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com The Muslim U.S. soldier accused of killing a division captain and wounding 15 fellow soldiers in a grenade and automatic weapon attack on members of the Army's 101st Airborne Division encamped in Northern Kuwait made anti-American statements after he was apprehended, according to the Los Angeles Times. "You guys are coming into our countries and you're going to rape our women and kill our children," Army Sgt. Asan...