Free Republic

Has Vice President J.D. Vance been sidelined by President Trump over Iran? Right now, it seems that indeed, this might be the case. Let’s take a look at a brief timeline. On July 8, President Trump, joined by his Secretaries of War, State and Treasury at the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, publicly ripped up the Vice President’s “Memorandum of Understanding” (MoU) with Iran. He said it agreement was “over.” “To me, I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them,” Trump told reporters at the Summit. “They’re scum. They’re sick ⁠people. They’re led by sick people.” The...

The Los Angeles Times recently published a "News Analysis" headlined: "Trump, long a critic of 'forever wars,' may be stumbling into one with Iran." The analysis offers legitimate grounds for criticizing President Donald Trump. He has described the objectives of the war against Iran in different ways. He has made changing predictions about its duration. He has repeatedly suggested that an agreement was near, only for negotiations to collapse. He promised no more endless Middle East wars, yet the conflict has continued for months, American servicemembers have died, and the administration has not clearly defined what victory looks like. All...

In the skies over eastern Ukraine, an aging F-16 fighter jet has reportedly scored a rare victory against one of Russia’s most advanced warplanes, the Su-35. The US has finally confirmed what the Ukrainians claimed earlier this month: a Ukrainian F-16 fighter, donated by NATO, may have downed a Russian Su-35 Flanker-E, the backbone of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS). “I want to highlight the incredible work that the Ukrainian industrial base is doing. It ranges from their surface-to-air capabilities to their air-to-air capabilities. I’ll note that recently we had the first air-to-air kill where a Ukrainian F-16 shot down...

Crossings through the Strait have fallen sharply across multiple shipping datasets with renewed U.S. strikes on Iran, Tehran’s declaration of a blanket ban on maritime traffic and fresh attacks on commercial vessels has prompted operators to reassess the risks of entering the Gulf. Lloyd’s List Intelligence recorded just 53 vessel transits in the week through July 20, down 66% from 157 the previous week. Tanker and gas carrier movements, which are the ships responsible for transporting most Gulf crude oil and liquefied natural gas, dropped to 30 crossings from 90. Kpler data similarly show activity deteriorating almost immediately after the...

he U.S. military's Central Command repeated an assertion on Tuesday evening that has been made by the Trump administration many times over the last two weeks, insisting that "despite Iranian aggression, the Strait of Hormuz remains open for commercial vessel traffic." Despite the U.S. president and military continuing to urge vessels to use a southern route through the strait, in defiance of Iran's threats, few shippers seem willing to risk it. The Joint Maritime Information Center in Bahrain, a military partnership that includes the U.S., said commercial traffic in the Strait of Hormuz fell to a three-week low on Tuesday...

The Trump administration is weighing military action in the West African country of Mali to target an al-Qaeda-affiliated group known as JNIM, said current and former U.S. officials familiar with the deliberations. If approved, it would add an eighth nation to the list of countries where President Donald Trump has ordered strikes since the start of his second term — a chapter of his presidency that he initially said would be dedicated to ending global strife and redirecting U.S. resources to Americans. There is disagreement, however, among senior U.S. officials over whether to proceed with attacking the militant group. A...

SUMMARY The US is due to sign a deal that will allow Saudi Arabia to develop a civilian nuclear programme - timeline of their talks An announcement is expected from US President Donald Trump's administration, according to CBS News, the BBC's US partner The deal will reportedly allow US companies to run nuclear power for the Saudis on Saudi soil Nuclear experts and former officials in Israel - the US's top ally in the Middle East - have warned that such an agreement could lead to Saudi Arabia being able to develop a nuclear weapon The fear is that if...

WASHINGTON — President Trump announced a new red line against Iran Wednesday, vowing to obliterate critical civilian infrastructure in the Islamic Republic for every attack against vessels in the Strait of Hormuz — prompting Iranian state media to declare it was ready to set American troops “on fire” and “punish their regional partners forever.” “From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including...

More also have confidence in Xi than Trump, according to a survey in three dozen countriesGlobal views of the United States worsened last year as President Donald Trump’s second term began, though most people still had a more positive opinion of the U.S. than China. This year, that is no longer the case. Views of China have improved in recent years while opinions of the U.S. have worsened, to the point where China is now seen more positively than the U.S. in most of 36 countries surveyed.Confidence in these countries’ respective leaders to do the right thing regarding world affairs...

Maria Shahbaz, a 13-year-old Christian who was forced to convert to Islam after being abducted last year, must be provided with access to her family and psychological support, Members of the European Parliament demanded while passing a new resolution on the human rights situation in Pakistan earlier this month.

WASHINGTON, July 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. military said late on Tuesday it ended its latest ‌round of strikes on Iran that marked the 11th consecutive night ‌of American attacks.Here are quotes and details:• "CENTCOM assets targeted Iranian military operations centers, maritime ​capabilities, aircraft hangars, drone storage facilities, and military logistics infrastructure to further degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz," the U.S. Central Command said in a statement.

Iran is avoiding a broad, direct attack on Israel because it fears Israeli strikes on senior regime figures and institutions vital to its survival, Iran researcher Beni Sabti told 103FM on Sunday. Sabti, an Iran researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, spoke with Ron Kofman and Prof. Aryeh Eldad following an Al Hadath report citing an Israeli security source who said that Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was not in the Islamic Republic. ***“The Iranian regime fears our involvement because they know that we are going straight to the center. We are targeting the most important part and...

The Justice Department (DOJ) said on July 20 that it was investigating whether Harvard University violated Title VI by excluding American students from financial aid programs funded by China-based sources. The DOJ announced that Harvard's foreign funding disclosures raised concerns about its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on national origin.Universities are required by federal law to report gifts and contracts from foreign sources that exceed $250,000 in a year. Harvard had disclosed nearly $4.5 billion in foreign funding, of which $630 million came from sources based in China - the university's largest...

The Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen announced today that they were closing the Red Sea to ships from Saudi Arabia.The Houthis have repeatedly threatened to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait during the U.S.-Iran war. The strait is a choke point for commercial ship traffic that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and global markets.The militants, in a statement carried by state news, accused the Saudis of laying an “aggressive siege” against them. Tensions escalated last week after they claimed that Riyadh had bombed Sanaa International Airport.It's actually a bit confusing why the Houthis took this action today....

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani floated the ridiculous idea of trying to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he came to the U.S. in September for a United Nations meeting. His little theatre kid performance for his anti-Israel base was smacked down with reality from the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Mike Waltz, President Donald Trump, and even CNN legal analyst Elie Honig. Mamdani was told he had no legal ability to do any such thing and that, in the words of Trump, "no way, no how" was it happening. Mamdani was finally forced to concede that he didn't...

In every war, there comes a point where the battlefield expands beyond missiles, fighter jets and tanks. It becomes psychological. The objective is no longer simply to destroy your opponent's military capability, but to break their political will.That is why recent comments from members of Iran's parliament deserve far more attention than they have received.According to reports circulating from Iran, some lawmakers have openly discussed the possibility of invading neighboring Kuwait, seizing American military personnel stationed there, transporting them back to Iran and using them as human shields against future U.S. attacks.Could they actually accomplish something like that?Probably not.The United...

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it has attacked Amazon’s data infrastructure in Bahrain, according to a statement reported by Fars, an IRGC-linked state media outlet. Fars News Agency said on Tuesday the IRGC had “attacked the central data infrastructure of the American company Amazon in Bahrain with several cruise missiles and destroyed it,” according to a translated Telegram post. CNBC was unable to independently verify the information. CNBC has reached out to the National Communication Center of Bahrain and Amazon for comment. Hostilities between the U.S. and Iran have ratcheted up over the past 10 days as President Donald...

The First Temple, built by the biblical King Solomon, was destroyed in 586 BCE at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar II, the second king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.

JD Vance's office flatly denies an Israeli media report claiming that it has been working to block a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin and Donald Trump...

Saudi broadcaster Al Hadath reported Sunday, citing an Israeli security official, that Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is not in Iran. According to the report, the new leader's complete disconnection from events on the ground means that all statements and written messages recently issued in his name are fake. The official said the messages were actually being drafted by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Ahmad Vahidi and other senior figures in the organization, who were attempting to create a false impression of control and continuity. In addition to disclosing the supreme leader's whereabouts, the Israeli security official also offered a...