Free Republic

French President Emmanuel Macron has floated the concept of essentially giving Iran $15 billion to comply with the infamous multilateral nuclear deal that the Ayatollahs have already violated. Some observers see Macron’s proposal as a statesman-like proposal to preserve peace and avoid war. Others believe that the Macron is making an effort to rehabilitate his own image domestically in France, since that nation has been beleaguered with riots and unrest virtually since the day Macron entered office. A third possibility exists: greed.

In June, Eritrean authorities seized health facilities that were previously run by the Catholic Church. The church slammed the move which it said impacted the less privileged most. Reports indicate that a latest round of seizures have taken place, this time education institutions are at the center of the seizures. A BBC report said seven secondary schools run by religious organisations had been captured by government. An order to hand over the running of the schools was given to the Catholic Church and other Christian and Muslim groups on Tuesday morning, the report said. As in the case of the...

A former Hezbollah leader was found dead in his apartment outside of Beirut Sunday, Lebanese media outlets reported. Sheikh Ali Hatoum, who was a senior member of the Iranian-backed Shia terrorist organization before his departure from the group two years ago, was found dead in his home in Bourj el-Barajneh, a suburb of Beirut. Citing unnamed sources, Lebanon24 reported that there was “no security action related to the killing of the [Hezbollah]” official, noting that Hatoum was no longer affiliated with the terror group. No cause of death has been reported thus far, and local officials are expected to make...

  With his resignation and a new book coming out the Left was eager to hear Mattis snipe at Trump. They weren’t expecting him to jackhammer their ‘Scandal-Free’ golden boy.One of the most controversial decisions of Obama’s presidency was the Iran deal.Obama had to give up a HELL of a lot to make his Iran deal happen, and every new revelation makes that ‘deal’ he struck look even worse. Prior be being Secretary of Defense under Trump, Mattis served as commander of U.S. Central Command under Obama and Biden. Mattis had predicted that Iran would continue to provoke the...

Democratic presidential contender claims Islam is peaceful despite recent honor killingsHOUSTON (ChurchMilitant.com) - Bernie Sanders is praising Islam while blaming President Trump for stirring up "hate." The socialist, Democratic presidential candidate, along with pro-LGBT, pro-abortion, self-styled Catholic Julian Castro, made stops in Houston, Texas, on Aug. 31 to gain support from a Muslim community with links to terrorism. The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), an organization founded by members of the Muslim Brotherhood and links to Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, held its 56th convention and featured the two contenders for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Sanders received applause from...

Iran is using advanced centrifuges banned under the 2015 nuclear deal to enrich uranium faster and well past limits set in the deal. Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, unveiled the Islamic country’s newest capabilities in a press conference on Saturday, according to the Associated Press. Kamalvandi addressed reporters while standing in front of 20 IR-6 centrifuges and 20 IR-4 centrifuges. "Under current circumstances, the Islamic Republic of Iran is capable of increasing its enriched uranium stockpile as well as its enrichment levels and that is not just limited to 20%," Kamalvandi said. "We are capable inside the...

The U.S. Department of State’s Reward for Justice Program is offering a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its branches, including the IRGC-Qods Force (IRGC-QF). The IRGC has financed numerous terrorist attacks and activities globally. The IRGC-QF leads Iran’s terrorist operations outside Iran via its proxies, such as Hizballah and Hamas. (excerpt) (Read specifics on info State Dept is looking for at the link above) The IRGC was founded in 1979 after the Iranian Revolution. It is a branch of the Iranian...

“Israel’s ominous escalation” (8/28/19) could also be called the Washington Post’s “ominous escalation” with three articles/editorials in three days about Israel’s allegedly egregious responses to Iranian aggression. Of course, the Post calls Israel’s response to weapons buildups on its borders and attempted drone attacks as Israeli “aggression.” What else does one of the smallest countries in the world have to do in its spare time than to poke a hornet’s nest of enemies that have them pretty much surrounded? The Post editorial says that “since July, Israel has quietly expanded its air campaign” against Iran. Might that have anything to...

Japan will not join a US-led security mission to protect merchant vessels passing through key Middle Eastern waterways, but will consider deploying its naval force independently, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Tuesday. Citing unidentified government sources, the Yomiuri said Japan was considering a plan to send its Maritime Self-Defense Force (SDF) on information-gathering missions in the areas around the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab shipping lane between Yemen, Djibouti and Eritrea. It would also consider including the Strait of Hormuz in the SDF’s sphere of activity if Iran agrees, the paper said, according to Reuters.

Israel was close to launching an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities in 2012, despite opposition from the Obama Administration, the New York Times reported. Israel had delayed a joint military exercise which had been scheduled for spring, 2012, prompting concerns among American officials that an attack on Iran was imminent. The administration sent a series of officials to Israel to "Bibisit" Prime Minister Netanyahu and convince him to hold off on any attack every few weeks. In addition, then Defense Secretary Leon Panetta showed then Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak video of an American strike on an exact replica of...

Israel received surprising support from Bahrain’s Foreign Minister, who backed the Jewish state’s retaliatory strikes in Lebanon after the Hezbollah terror organization attacked IDF targets on Sunday, blaming Lebanon for the situation. The aggression of one state against another is prohibited by international law. A state standing by, watching battles taking place on its borders and putting its people in danger is a state that greatly neglects its responsibilities,” Minister Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa tweeted. He further said that “it is unacceptable for Lebanon to be put in a situation of a possibility of a devastating war in which it has no...

RB: You are a movement, you are a doer. If you could make America perfect, how would you do it? DT: Well, I think that America is a country that has tremendous, tremendous potential. I think that much like the mind, I think that America is using very, very little of its potential. I feel that this country with the proper leadership can go on to become what it once was and I hope, and certainly hope that it does go in to be what it, what it should be. RB: What should it be? DT: Well, it should...

A projectile was fired from Lebanese territory into northern Israel, landing in the town of Avivim, near the Israel-Lebanese border, the IDF reported Sunday afternoon. According to the preliminary IDF report, the projectile was an anti-tank missile, and was fired at an army vehicle near the border. There are currently no reports of injuries. The missile was fired days after the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah vowed to attack Israel following an alleged Israeli attack on a facility in Beirut. A report by Kuwait's Al Rai claimed that Hezbollah planned to strike Israeli targets within 72 hours, beginning last Friday. The...

Iranian judoka Saeid Mollaei has requested political asylum in Germany after being forced to throw a match to avoid having to face an Israeli opponent. Israeli judoka Sagi Muki made history Wednesday when he became the first Israeli to win the gold medal at the the Judo World Championship finals in Japan, defeating Belgian opponent Matthias Casse. Mollaei had received a phone call from his mother in Iran instructing him to throw his match against Georgian Judoka Matthias Casse so that he would not have to face Muki in the semi-finals. Moallei, who has criticized his country's policy of refusing...

“Hezbollah fired 2-3 anti-tank missiles from Lebanon, hitting an IDF military outpost and ambulance in northern Israel,” the IDF tweeted. “We fired at the Hezbollah squad responsible. No Israelis were injured in the attack.” The IDF ordered Israeli residents living within about 2.5 miles of the border to shelter in place, as they launched more than 100 artillery shells in retaliation, according to The Jerusalem Post. There were no immediate reports of casualties in Lebanon, but the nation’s army reported that an Israeli drone dumping incendiary material along the border sparked a forest fire, according to the outlet.

No question about it—Bernie Sanders was born a Jew. So what? .... To a serious, practicing Jew, the fact that Bernie Sanders makes use of his Jewish birthright, is somewhat disturbing. Senator Sanders has done almost nothing Jewish throughout his entire life. His disdain for Israel, his recent support for Linda Sarsour, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, his hatred of Prime Minister Netanyahu, makes him much more of a “Sonay Yisrael—an Israel hater,” than a supporter of the Jewish state. So why is it that a Jew, who has dropped virtually everything Jewish from his life, from keeping Kosher to...

Israel was seriously dismayed when first reports reached Jerusalem about the telephone conversation between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin Tuesday, during which Trump agreed to consider Putin’s plan for “de-escalation zones” in Syria, in place of the American security zones proposal. The Russian president’s plan includes the posting of Iranian military officers as co-monitors for those zones, one of which is to be located on the Syrian-Israeli border. President Trump described the conversation as “Very good.” The four “de-escalation zones” proposed would be situated at: 1. The northwestern province of Idlib up to the Turkish border; 2. The central...

An Iranian propaganda campaign created fake Bernie Sanders supporters online, Facebook disclosed Tuesday. In a press release, the social-media giant said it had removed 652 pages associated with political-influence campaigns traced to Iran, including coordinated inauthentic behavior that originated in Iran and targeted people across multiple internet services in the Middle East, Latin America, U.K., and U.S.” The cybersecurity company FireEye, which first alerted Facebook to the influence campaign months ago, wrote in a separate posting on its site that it had traced the campaign—including posts from supposed “American liberals supportive of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders”—to Iran through email addresses...

In Iran, the tradition of "Charshanbe Soori" is the festival of fire, which occurs every year on the night before the last Wednesday of the Iranian calendar year. During this festival, which dates back to the 7th century, Iranians traditionally celebrate by lighting bonfires and jumping through the flames. In this ancient custom, they sing: "Sorkhie to az man, zardie man az to," which means: "I give my ill to the fire and receive the redness and warmth from fire." This ancient Persian "Festival of Fire," with its historic and ceremonial roots, is one of the most beloved celebrations among...

A rocket at an Iranian space center that was to conduct a satellite launch criticized by the U.S. apparently exploded on its launch pad Thursday, satellite images show, suggesting the Islamic Republic suffered its third failed launch this year alone. State media and officials did not immediately acknowledge the incident at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in Iran’s Semnan province. However, satellite images by Planet Labs Inc. showed a black plume of smoke rising above a launch pad there, with what appeared to be the charred remains of a rocket and its launch stand. In previous days, satellite images had...