Free Republic

Iran has begun laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf channel that carries 20 percent of the world’s oil, according to U.S. officials, an effort that could further complicate American efforts to restart shipping there. While the U.S. military said it had destroyed larger Iranian naval vessels that could be used to quickly lay mines in the strait, Iran began using smaller boats for the operation on Thursday, according to a U.S. official briefed on the intelligence.

Britain is now militarily incapable of defending the Falkland Islands, a leading Argentinian international relations expert has warned, declaring its power “practically nonexistent” and reigniting concerns over the UK’s ability to protect its overseas territories. Carlos Perez Llana, former Argentine ambassador to France and a respected academic, delivered the stark verdict while analysing Europe’s faltering role in the escalating Middle East crisis involving the United States, Israel and Iran. Speaking on the Argentinian current affairs programme Modo Fontevecchia, broadcast on Net TV and Radio Perfil, Mr Perez Llana said: “It’s plausible to think that today Great Britain couldn’t defend the...

Iran’s military has shown off its enormous supply of naval suicide drones, which it is using to blockade the crucial Strait of Hormuz, in chilling footage taken from its underground “missile city.” Footage from Iranian state media purportedly shows underground tunnels full of naval drones, anti-ship missiles, and sea mines, with dramatic footage also showing some of them being fired. Experts have analyzed the footage, released by Iranian state media outlet Fars, telling CNN exactly what is being shown off. The full terrifying array of armory on display includes: Abadil-2/3 “kamikaze” drones: Shown on rail launchers inside the tunnels, these...

"Israeli Special Ops veteran Aaron Cohen breaks down President Donald Trump’s ‘uncertain warfare’ strategy against Iran, detailing how U.S. pressure and the Navy’s Fifth Fleet presence are rattling Iranian leaders on ‘Kudlow.’"

Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has been injured but is feeling well, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in an interview with the Corriere della Sera newspaper. More than 1,800 people have died and at least 12,500 have been injured in Iran, Lebanon, and Israel since the escalation of the Middle East conflict began, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. - Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is feeling fine after being wounded, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei said. - He noted that three or four individuals had vied for the post,...

Conventional military thought, derived from the writings of Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz, dictates that one identify the enemy’s center of gravity, then “concentrate all energy against it.” For the Islamic Republic of Iran, it center of gravity — “the source of power that provides moral or physical strength, freedom of action, or will to act” — is its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, whose principal mission is to keep the regime in power. While the U.S. and Israeli militaries have systematically dismantled Iran’s conventional military and nuclear ambitions — the direct threat to them — they have left the...

The United States just delivered one of the most significant demonstrations of adaptive military capability in modern history 6 min video As coordinated U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran continue, one thing is clear: this is not the kind of war we have spent decades planning for. There are no massed formations or carrier battle groups trading salvos. This conflict is being fought with swarms of relatively inexpensive, one-way drones. Adaptation and rapid innovation now determine how conflicts are fought. Iran has spent years perfecting saturation warfare. The concept is straightforward: flood the sky with enough drones and missiles to...

Citizens of China, Iran, and Russia made close to 30,000 trips to sensitive American research facilities during the Biden administration, new data show. Between Sept. 1, 2021, and Aug. 31, 2024, 28,028 Chinese nationals, 304 Iranians, and 1,608 Russians visited laboratories run by the Department of Energy, according to the office of Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). “While Iran’s regime chanted ‘Death to America,’ the Biden administration rolled out the red carpet for Iranian foreign nationals to enter our National Labs,” Ernst told The Post. “They also gave entry to thousands of Chinese nationals and hundreds of Russians, who could then...

When anti-regime protests spread like wildfire throughout Iran in mid-October of 2022, the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was quick to lay the blame on the usual foreign suspects. “I say explicitly that these riots and this insecurity were a design by the U.S. and the occupying, fake Zionist regime and those who are paid by them,” he told a class of cadets at a police college in Tehran. He suggested that the ultimate goal of the U.S. and Israel was regime change in Iran. This elicited a response on Twitter from Iranian rapper Hichkas, who defended foreign support for...

Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberals have inched closer to a majority in the Canadian parliament as a fourth MP defected to join the party. Lori Idlout, a member of the left-leaning New Democrats (NDP), joined Carney after "much personal reflection", the Liberals said in a statement. "At this turning point in our history, I am ready to work with (Carney) to build a strong future for Nunavut and for all of Canada," Idlout said. Floor crossings are allowed in Canada's Westminster parliamentary system, and have occurred more than 300 times since confederation in 1867. Carney, leading a minority government, is...

The U.S. Navy has refused near-daily requests from the shipping industry for military escorts through the Strait of Hormuz since ​the start of the war on Iran, saying the risk of attacks is too high for now, according to sources familiar with the matter. The ‌Navy's assessments spell continued disruption to Middle East oil exports. The U.S. Navy has held regular ⁠briefings with shipping and oil industry counterparts and has said during those briefings it is unable to provide escorts for the time being, three shipping industry sources familiar with ​the matter said. The sources, who declined to be identified...

If you've been following coverage of the Trump administration's military action against Iran, you've probably noticed something: A lot of people are determined to convince you that the United States is losing. They're wrong. Even worse, many of them know they're wrong. Critics across the political spectrum — from Democrats to elements of the so-called horseshoe Right — are pushing narratives that paint the conflict as a disaster in the making. The goal is simple: Undermine public confidence and turn what is shaping up as a strategic success into a perceived failure. Three particular claims are circulating widely. All three...

You might feel like you're seeing a lot of stories about strategic oil reserves on Wednesday. That’s because the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran has caused volatility on the market, and the International Energy Agency (IEA), a Paris‑based intergovernmental organization that counts over 30 countries among its members, is releasing 400 million barrels to tackle the problem. Senate Minority Chuck Schumer (D-NY) meanwhile has been “demanding” that we tap into our reserves (why does a minority leader get to “demand” anything?), and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), is, as RedState’s Becca Lower wrote, “asking the Energy Department (DoE) to look into what...

The economic significance of Kharg Island to Iran renders it especially susceptible to potential military threats. However, experts suggest that any effort to capture it would likely necessitate a ground troop operation, which the U.S. seems hesitant to pursue. Experts further state that if Washington aims to intensify pressure beyond airstrikes, capturing or incapacitating Kharg Island’s oil infrastructure could strip Tehran of one of its most crucial financial resources. Given its pivotal role in global energy supply chains, any assault on the island might also cause a sharp increase in international oil prices, rendering it one of the most critical...

Assassinating Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and nearly all of Iran’s top military and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers on the first day of the war was an incredible turning point in which all of the IDF’s air and intelligence power combined to change the course of history, an IDF senior officer told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. “Assassinating the supreme leader and all of the top echelon of the Iranian military and the IRGC in around half a minute was made possible by a giant and incredibly coordinated airstrike, which took months of planning,” the senior officer said. In 40 seconds...

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the war with Iran had already been decided in America's favor. He told supporters in Hebron, Kentucky, that the conflict was effectively over almost as soon as it began. Trump said U.S. forces knocked out 58 Iranian naval vessels and eliminated the country’s air force. “Let me say we’ve won. You know, you never like to say too early you won. We won. We won, in the first hour it was over, but we won,” the president said. He added, “We don’t want to leave early, do we? We’ve got to finish the job."

The FBI has reportedly warned police departments across California that Iran could attempt to retaliate against the United States for Operation Epic Fury by launching attack drones targeting the state. Iran does not have the capability to launch drones from the Middle East that could reach the U.S. West Coast. However, the FBI reportedly warned that unidentified vessels operating off the California coast could potentially be used to launch attack drones. “We recently acquired information that as of early February 2026, Iran allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack using unmanned aerial vehicles from an unidentified vessel off the coast...

Iranian regime loyalists displayed a taped-together cardboard cutout of their new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who was reportedly injured in recent strikes and has not been seen since his elevation. The makeshift stand-in appeared at a pro-regime rally in Tehran, where organizers brought the life-size cutout of Khamenei onto the stage, according to Israeli journalist Amit Segal. Regime loyalists hailed and swore allegiance to the cutout, which appeared crudely assembled and held together by strips of tape, Segal reported. Khamenei has not appeared in public or issued a statement since being selected as Iran’s new supreme leader on Sunday following...

Three cargo ships have been hit by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz. The Thailand-flagged bulk carrier Mayuree Naree was struck and set on fire 11 nautical miles north of Oman, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said. Oman’s navy rescued 20 crew members who evacuated the ship in a lifeboat on Wednesday morning, while three remain missing. A second ship, the Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier Star Gwyneth, was hit by a projectile 50 miles north-west of Dubai. The vessel suffered hull damage but all crew members are safe. A third vessel, a Japan-flagged container ship, sustained minor damage near...

The government has approved a request from the police to ban the Al Quds Day march in London on Sunday to prevent “serious public disorder” given the conflict in the Middle East, the home secretary has said. The Metropolitan Police asked for the ban saying it was concerned about the high number of protesters and counterprotesters, adding the march organizers were “supportive of the Iranian regime” . The Islamic Human Rights Commission, who organize the annual march, insist it is a peaceful, pro-Palestinian event. It says a static protest will take place instead. It is the first time a protest...