Free Republic

The head of the Iranian regime's notorious Basij militia claimed Wednesday that Iran had received $1.7 billion from the U.S. in exchange for the release of imprisoned Americans, contradicting the Obama administration's denial that the settling of a decades-old legal claim amounted to a ransom. Tehran's semi-official Fars news agency quoted Basij commander Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi as saying in an address to militia members that the U.S. agreed to pay the money to buy freedom for what the news agency called "its spies held by Iran." ...

Every American should be glad that American hostages have been freed by the tyrannical Iranian regime and are being reunited with family, friends and co-workers. Less satisfying is the return of Iran's $400 million trust fund, used to buy military equipment, which was frozen in 1979, along with its diplomatic relations with the U.S. (plus what President Obama ludicrously called "appropriate interest" of $1.3 billion), all returned to what the U.S. State Department branded the world's "preeminent sponsor of terrorism." Expecting Iran to use this windfall for purposes other than terrorism would be like expecting a kidnapper to donate the...

Saudi Arabia is not ruling out developing a nuclear bomb if its regional rival Iran obtains one, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told the Reuters news agency on Tuesday. Asked if Saudi Arabia had discussed seeking a nuclear bomb in the event Iran managed to obtain one, al-Jubeir replied the country would do "whatever we need to do in order to protect our people". "I don't think it would be logical to expect us to discuss any such issue in public and I don't think it would be reasonable to expect me to answer this question one way or another,"...

Officials in Israel expressed outrage on Monday evening after the European Union (EU) passed a resolution stipulating that agreements with Israel will no longer apply to any areas over the 1949 Armistice borders. Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely responded to the decision and said, "The Europeans continue to act unilaterally with regards to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict". "This resolution achieves the opposite from what they sought to achieve. These types of declarations only push actual dialogue further away and give a boost to the Palestinians to continue their efforts to condemn Israel in the international arena and to continue the relentless...

Since the major escalation in Arab terrorist attacks in Israel began at the start of October last year, Israelis have consistently complained about the use of social media to incite terrorism and glorify "martyrdom," and the lack of enforcement by social media companies. [...] Perhaps the worst offender in this regard is Facebook, which now faces legal action over its slow, minimal reaction to the reams of anti-Semitic incitement uploaded daily. Now, the Israeli rights NGO which is leading the legal campaign against Facebook incitement is taking the fight directly to the digital giant's CEO and Founder Mark Zuckerberg. Shurat...

As the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad wages an offensive with Russia's backing on rebels across the country, behind the front lines it has been consolidating its hold in Syria's west. This is the part of the country sometimes called "useful Syria," home to most of its population and economic centers. The consolidation of regime control here may be a harbinger of a future, divided country — or it may create a base from which the regime can launch attacks on the rest of Syria. The regime has systematically encircled, blockaded and bombed the remaining pockets of rebel control in...

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani says the official implementation Saturday of the landmark deal reached between Tehran and six world powers has satisfied all parties except radical extremists. Speaking in the parliament in comments broadcast live on state television, Rouhani said, "In (implementing) the deal, all are happy except Zionists, warmongers, sowers of discord among Islamic nations and extremists in the U.S. The rest are happy." ...

An assistant to Saeb Erekat, a long-time senior official in the Palestinian Authority (PA), has been arrested by PA security forces on suspicion of spying on behalf of Israel. Erekat has acknowledged the facts of the case, which were published by media based in Ramallah. The suspect is accused of working for Israel for the past 20 years. He is believed to be in a Palestinian intelligence facility at present. Erekat served as the secretary-general for the PLO and headed the Palestinian negotiating team during peace talks with Israel. He often threatened Israel with ended the security agreement and worked...

"The rift between Saudi Arabia and Iran has quickly ballooned into the worst conflict in decades between the two countries" says one news source adding "The back-and-forth escalation quickly turned the simmering tension into an overt struggle for power in the Middle East." And while in the west is already seeing a cold-war brewing between the two, in Iran, the populace envision a literal scenario where the complete destruction of Saudi Arabia is at hand. The animated film, produced in Iran shows what is going viral in Iran: a sinister plan to completely wipe out Arabia: The Revenge of Fatimah...

Baku - APA. Russia could give asylum to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad if he has to leave his country, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview published on January 12, according to RFE/RL. "It was surely more difficult to grant [U.S. national security contractor Edward] Snowden asylum in Russia than it would be in the case of Assad," Putin told the German tabloid Bild, referring to the American leaker of classified U.S. documents who was given asylum in Russia in 2013. Putin said it was too early to say whether Russia would have to give shelter to Assad as...

Nancy Pelosi acknowledges the Iranians may do bad things with the $150 billion dollars set to be returned to the regime as part of the Iranian nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama Administration. Appearing on CNN's "New Day" on Wednesday, Pelosi even said the Iranians "have been doing bad things with the money that they have but the fact is the biggest threat to all of us is that Iran would have a nuclear weapon."

Less than one week before the international community is set to unlock a decade of sanctions imposed on Iran, the country’s Islamic hardliners deliberately generated a crisis with the US for pure domestic consumption with the aim of ensuring the ayatollahs’s continued grip on power. Once the International Atomic Energy Agency announces on Friday as expected that Iran has fulfilled its obligations under the US-brokered nuclear accord, the billions of dollars in unfrozen accounts and the massive flow of oil exports will usher in historic changes to Iran’s long-isolated economy.

* In the video produced by the pro-ISIS Palestinian Islamic Army (PIA), Hamas leaders are denounced for aligning themselves with moderate Arab leaders in the Gulf, who are described as "criminals and enemies of Islam." * Apparently, Hamas has been too kind to Christians living in the Gaza Strip. The narrator blasts Hamas leaders for offering greetings to Christians on their holidays. * It seems that there may be valid reasons for Egypt's reluctance to reopen the Rafah border crossing with Gaza, as well as to Israel's opposition to lifting the naval blockade on Gaza -- initiated to prevent weapons...

Following the explosive revelation on Channel 2 TV, that central Jewish and Arab leftist activists have a policy of handing over to the Palestinian Authority (PA) Arabs who approach them and wish to sell land to Jews, leftists have been claiming that the PA does not execute such people. The denials are meant to refute claims made by the central figure in the televised investigative piece, Ta'ayush's Ezra Nawi, who boasted on hidden camera that the men he handed over to the PA were tortured and then executed. Leftist journalist Haggai Matar published an article that claimed that Nawi was...

Washington (CNN)Ten American sailors are in Iranian custody after two small U.S. naval craft apparently briefly entered Iranian territorial waters, a U.S. senior defense official said Tuesday. The official, however, expects the situation to be resolved quickly. A senior administration official said there is nothing to indicate this was anything hostile on the part of any entity in Iran, adding that the U.S. has received high-level assurances that the sailors will be released promptly. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told CNN's Jake Tapper that President Barack Obama will be in touch with members of Congress about the incident. "Certainly,...

Appearing alongside with Dr. Mohsin Jaffer, a Muslim constituent she invited as her guest to tonight's State of the Union address, DNC chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) told MSNBC it was "incumbent" upon her to stand with Muslims because as a Jew she knows what persecution is. Wasserman Schultz on MSNBC: I've been appalled as so many of my constituents have been appalled at the vitriol and the hatred and the appalling reactions of some towards Muslims and Muslim-Americans and I felt for me as a member of a minority religion myself, a religion, Judaism, that has been persecuted...

On the opening segment of Thursday night’s Kelly File with host Megyn Kelly, author and professor Alan Dershowitz took to task the political correctness culture that has pervaded American college campuses.On the heels of continuing developments from the University of Missouri — where the student Vice President today argued that the First Amendment incites a “hostile and unsafe learning environment” — Dershowitz admitted, “we’re seeing a curtain of McCarthyism descend on many college campuses.”“It was the students at universities that first started burning books… they don’t want to hear diverse views on college campuses,” Dershowitz admitted.WATCH VIDEO Dershowitz dug in, noting...

International law experts are blasting Doctors Without Borders for forcibly removing civilian patients from the aid group’s Kunduz, Afghanistan, hospital and replacing them with wounded Taliban fighters when the city fell to the rebel control in late September. Alan Dershowitz, an acclaimed Harvard constitutional lawyer and authority in international law, said that he was not surprised that the group, known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, favored Taliban fighters over civilian patients, telling The Daily Caller News Foundation in an interview that he regards Doctors Without Borders as “Doctors Without Morals.” Dershowitz charged the group with having a long history of anti-Western...

Harvard professor and legal eagle Alan Dershowitz talks about political correctness and 'safe spaces' on college campuses. Dershowitz tells college students to "stay home" if they want a safe space. ... they don't want to hear opposing points of view. They know everything they need to know about race, about gender, about rape, about you name it, climate control. They don't want to hear opposing points of view... ... We have to distinguish between safe spaces for ideas, where there should be none, and physically safe places where you're not intimidated or you're not threatened. And christian speakers, pro-Israel speakers,...

Most people assume that the Sunni terrorist group ISIS is the natural and mortal enemy of Shia Iran, but this is not always the case. In fact, in at least one part of the Middle East, Iran has become a crucial, if indirect, sponsor of its supposed enemy. As the world's eyes are focused on ISIS terrorism in Europe, the Middle East, and even the U.S., the group's branch in the Sinai has become one of the most powerful, dangerous, and effective in the region. Recent reports indicate that Iran, through the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, is primarily responsible for...