Free Republic

Iran is digging out its underground missile bases during the ceasefire with the US and Israel, satellite imagery suggests.Heavy machinery has been seen clearing debris from blocked tunnels, scooping up rubble and loading it into nearby trucks.Those entrances were deliberately targeted in earlier strikes by the US and Israel, as part of a strategy aimed at trapping missile launchers underground.One satellite image taken on April 10 shows a front-end loader on a mound of debris that was sealing a tunnel entrance, with several dumper trucks waiting nearby at a missile base near Khomeyn, Iran.

Mediators moved closer Wednesday to extending the ceasefire between the United States and Iran and restarting negotiations to salvage the fragile truce before it expires next week. A senior Iranian military official threatened to halt trade in the region if the U.S. does not lift its naval blockade, underscoring tensions that are overshadowing the diplomacy. The U.S. blockade on Iranian ports and renewed Iranian threats have imperiled the week-old agreement, but regional officials said Wednesday they were making progress, telling The Associated Press that the United States and Iran had given an “in principle agreement” to extend it to allow...

The issue is no longer whether the regime in Tehran is under strain — it clearly is — but whether Washington is preparing, consciously or not, to replace a brutal clerical dictatorship with a brutal military one. The idea that a military structure could serve as a "moderate" transitional governing authority in Iran seems to rest on the fragile assumption that professionalism leads to moderation. Regional history says otherwise. From Egypt to Pakistan, militaries that stepped in to "restore order" entrenched their own authoritarian rule. Iran offers no reason to believe it would be different.

The largest oil shock in history caused prices to surge. Now they're so high that they may be causing "demand destruction." That would mean slower economic growth. Oil prices have started to slip — but not necessarily for reasons that suggest a return to market normalcy. The International Energy Agency said Tuesday that “demand destruction” has begun to unfold. As a result of the acute energy commodity shortages stemming from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, oil appears to have reached a point where it is now so expensive that overseas businesses and households have begun curbing investment and...

Iran’s barbaric regime is set to execute its first female protester over recent protests, one of an estimated 1,600 sentenced to death by the Islamic Republic in the past year. Bita Hemmati is the first woman due to be hanged in relation to the demonstrations that broke out in January across the country and were viciously stamped out by government forces. The regime accused her of numerous charges, including using explosives and weapons, throwing objects such as concrete blocks, participating in protest gatherings, and disrupting national security, according to a Tuesday press release from the opposition National Council of Resistance...

🚨 WOW. Border Czar Tom Homan just gave the PERFECT response to Pope Leo "I'm a lifelong Catholic. I wish they'd STAY OUT of immigration, they don't know what they're talking about." "Because if they wore my shoes for 40 years, and talked to a 9-year-old girl that got r*ped multiple times, or stood in the back of a tractor trailer with 19 dead aliens at my feet, including a 5-year-old boy that baked to death, if they understood the atrocities that happened on the open border, I think their opinion would change!" "And I welcome discussion with any of...

President Trump said that China has agreed not to send weapons to Iran amid reports it plans to give Tehran new air defense systems — and predicted Chinese leader Xi Jinping “will give me a big, fat, hug” when they meet next month. Trump further claimed Wednesday that Xi is “very happy” about his efforts to open the Strait of Hormuz, a day after officials in China slammed his blockade as “dangerous and irresponsible.” “China is very happy that I am permanently opening the Strait of Hormuz. I am doing it for them, also — And the World,” Trump crowed...

A shadow industry of law firms and advisers is charging thousands of pounds to help migrants pretend to be gay in order to stay in the UK, the BBC has found. In the first part of a major undercover investigation, we reveal how migrants whose visas are due to run out are being given fake cover stories and instructed in how to obtain fabricated evidence, including supporting letters, photographs and medical reports. They then apply for asylum claiming to be gay and in fear for their lives if they return to Pakistan or Bangladesh.In response to our findings, the Home...

Tuesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said the evidence that Iran was an imminent threat to the United States was not there.Co-host Joe Kernen said, “You have such a tough job. I asked Senator Scott, and he said, I love Senator Paul because you never waver, but everybody wavers. I was going to ask you about war powers, and the Constitution is messy, and to stick with it as you do in the real world, it’s hard. I don’t know why you even have this job. It must be so difficult at this point for you, right?...

Marrakech – The United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) issued an urgent travel warning for Algeria late on Monday after two suicide bombings struck the town of Blida, roughly 50 kilometers south of the capital Algiers. The FCDO confirmed it is “aware of reports of an explosion on 13 April in the town of Blida” and urged British nationals in the area to “remain vigilant at all times and follow the advice of the local security authorities.” The twin attacks unfolded in the early afternoon. The first explosion targeted the security directorate in central Blida. A second suicide...

A US destroyer interdicted two oil tankers attempting to leave Iran on Tuesday, a day after US President Donald Trump's blockade went into effect, and instructed them to turn around, a US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The ships had left Chabahar port on the Gulf of Oman and were contacted by the warship via radio communication, the official said. It was unclear whether any further warnings were given. The disclosure adds further detail to the start of Trump's blockade, which aims to pressure Iran to end its effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point...

Iran’s central bank has warned President Masoud Pezeshkian that rebuilding the country’s war-damaged economy could take more than a decade, sources familiar with internal deliberations told Iran International. In a stark assessment delivered to the president in recent days, senior economic officials said the damage inflicted during the 40-day war with the United States and Israel—combined with Iran’s already fragile economic situation—could take up to 12 years to repair. Several major airports were damaged during the conflict, while strikes also targeted oil facilities, refineries and petrochemical installations that are central to Iran’s export revenues and industrial supply chains. Officials involved...

A fallback plan to ensure Europe can defend itself using NATO’s existing military structures if the U.S. departs is gaining traction after getting buy-in from Germany, a long-term opponent of a go-it-alone approach. The officials working on the plans, which some officials are referring to as “European NATO,” are seeking to get more Europeans into the alliance’s command-and-control roles and supplement U.S. military assets with their own. The plans—advancing informally through side discussions and over dinner meetings in and around the North Atlantic Treaty Organization—aren’t intended to rival the current alliance, participants said. European officials are aiming to preserve deterrence...

A Chinese-owned tanker under U.S. sanctions has passed the Strait of Hormuz despite the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports that began on Monday.Citing data from Kpler and MarineTraffic, Reuters reported that the vessel had traversed the chokepoint earlier today. Owned by Shanghai Xuanrun Shipping Co Ltd., the vessel, Rich Starry, became a target for U.S. sanctions because it was used to transport Iranian crude.

Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams has become a citizen of Albania by a special presidential decree, adding an unexpected milestone to his post-political life. Albanian President Bajram Begaj signed the decree at Adams’ own request. Albanian media reported the development first. Spokesman Todd Shapiro confirmed that Eric Adams received Albanian citizenship voluntarily, describing him as a longstanding friend of the Albanian-American community. Shapiro also said the honor reflects a relationship built on mutual respect and that it deepens the ties between New York City and Albania. The roots of that relationship go back to Adams’ time in office....

Ali Motahari, who served as Parliament deputy speaker from 2016 to 2019, made the statements in 2022 while speaking on Iranian news media outlet ISCA News, saying: 'When we began our nuclear activity, our goal was indeed to build a bomb. There is no need to beat around the bush.' Motahari noted that Iran had no plans for detonating the bomb, only using it as a deterrent, meaning a weapon intended to discourage enemies rather than immediately use it, citing the Quranic verse: 'Strike fear in the hearts of the enemy of Allah.'

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth welcomed his Indonesian counterpart — Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin — to the Pentagon today, where the two men announced the establishment of the Major Defense Cooperation Partnership between the two countries. ... The partnership will serve as a framework to advance bilateral defense cooperation between the U.S. and Indonesia in order to maintain peace and stability throughout the Indo-Pacific region. ... The new cooperation agreement features three "foundational pillars" that are based on each country's national sovereignty and mutual respect: military organization and capacity building; training and professional military education; and exercises and operational cooperation....

There's no lack of blame to go around for the overnight spat between Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, and President Trump doing his late-night tweets.AdvertisementFollowing the heavily advertised 60 Minutes segment featuring the pope's three closest and wokest U.S. cardinals repeating their criticisms of Trump's Iran actions and work restoring U.S. immigration law, Trump put out these intemperate tweets:B R E A K I N G 🅱️ President Trump SLAMS Pope Leo for catering to woke radical leftists.. 👀 pic.twitter.com/5Ua04zcvuG — American AF 🇺🇸 (@iAnonPatriot) April 13, 2026The president posted this not long after attacking the Pope: pic.twitter.com/RlRhO63ZCoAdvertisement —...

Police from the Ariel station in the West Bank stopped a garbage truck on Route 5 and were surprised to find more than 60 Palestinian illegal entrants inside it. The driver, a man in his 30s from Kafr Qassem, was arrested. Footage from the scene shows the Palestinians packed tightly inside the truck, piled one on top of another in severe crowding. Within minutes of their discovery, officers removed them one by one as trash fell from the vehicle. According to police, “A garbage truck driver transported dozens of Palestinian illegal entrants, who were placed inside the refuse compactor. The...

Mossad head David Barnea addressed the campaign against Iran, intelligence operations in the heart of Tehran, and the continuation of activities in Iran. Barnea delivered his remarks at a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony, warning that threats to the existence of the Jewish people are not a thing of the past. He opened with a stark warning against international complacency: “The naïve are mistaken in thinking the Holocaust is a thing of the past-that in today’s reality genocide cannot occur, that calls for destruction cannot exist, and that hatred threatening a people’s existence cannot arise. The Iranian threat has steadily intensified...