Free Republic

The unexplained attacks have added a dangerous new layer of uncertainty to an already volatile conflict, raising concerns that additional countries may now be conducting military operations against Iran without publicly acknowledging their involvement.New Airstrikes Came After U.S. Said Its Campaign Had EndedThe U.S. military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) announced Thursday morning that it had completed a coordinated operation striking approximately 90 targets inside Iran.Yet only hours later, Iranian state media reported another wave of explosions and airstrikes across the southern provinces of Bushehr and Sistan and Baluchestan.Those attacks occurred after the United States had publicly stated its operation was complete.CENTCOM...

After the US launched a third round of strikes against Iran on Sunday morning, Pete Hegseth, the US secretary of war, posted on X: "Iran made a poor choice. Now they pay." The fresh escalation occurred after Iran's IRGC Navy said it attacked a container that was exiting the Strait of Hormuz through an unauthorised route and ignored its warnings. In a statement on X, Centcom said a civilian crew member of M/V GFS Galaxy, a Cyprus-flagged container ship, was missing and the vessel is unable to continue the journey due to an onboard fire and significant engine-room damage.

U.S. forces began carrying out new strikes on Iran on July 11, in response to an Iranian attack on a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said the strikes began around 7:15 p.m. ET, and were made in response to an Iranian attack on the Cyprus-flagged container ship M/V GFS Galaxy. CENTCOM said one of the vessel’s civilian crew members is missing following the Iranian attack, and the ship is unable to continue its journey due to an onboard fire and damage to its engine room. “In response, the United States is imposing a...

President Trump just put Iran on a very short clock. By Saturday, the regime is expected to publicly acknowledge that the Strait of Hormuz is open and pledge that commercial ships will not be attacked. Washington is demanding more than another foggy diplomatic promise. Tehran must say the words in public, where the entire world can hold the regime to them. Axios reported that the demand was delivered both directly to Tehran and through regional mediators, according to three U.S. officials who briefed reporters Friday. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to meet Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi in...

As RedState’s Ward Clark reported Friday, Donald Trump has instructed the U.S. military to basically wipe out the Islamic Republic of Iran should they succeed in assassinating him. His statements come on the heels of a Thursday Wall Street Journal report alleging that Israel had informed the U.S. that Iran was mulling a new plot to kill him in retaliation for his 2020 decision to remove bloodthirsty IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani from the earth. Well, that and Operation Epic Fury, which sent former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to the freezer. On Friday night, the president got even...

Iran pledged to avenge the assassination of former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a written statement attributed to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Saturday. “We pledge to avenge your pure blood and the blood of all the martyrs of these two wars by holding their criminal and disgraced killers accountable,” the statement read, adding that such vengeance was “the demand of [the Iranian] nation.” The statement went on to threaten the “criminals,” saying they “will take their dream of dying peacefully in their beds with them to their graves.” “They must understand that this matter does not depend upon...

The US is redirecting an armada of warships — including two aircraft carriers – toward Iran as President Trump threatens to reinstate the blockade on Iranian ports. Maritime trackers on Friday spotted the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS George H.W. Bush entering the Gulf of Oman — a move experts in military planning say would be necessary to re-establish the blockade that crippled the Iranian economy. “More than 20 US Navy warships are patrolling waters across the Middle East as CENTCOM forces continue promoting regional security and stability,” US Central Command posted to X this week. Asked about restarting the...

Arab countries attacking Iran

Andy Burnham and his allies set out a vision of Britain moving even further to the Left under his premiership today, hours after he was effectively anointed Labour leader without a fight. The former Manchester mayor last night won the backing of 322 Labour MPs to replace Sir Keir Starmer, in practice meaning no challenger can now get enough support to oppose him. And this morning one of his closest allies in the Cabinet signalled he could put up taxes or increase public borrowing to fund an increase in defence spending.

Commissioner Ana María Archila was scheduled to meet with Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations, at 2 United Nations Plaza. The meeting between Archila and Iravani was called off after the State Department—which was not informed ahead of time—met with the Mamdani administration to clarify acceptable conduct. Commissioner Archila allegedly did not inform Mayor Mamdani of the meeting; she was reprimanded for the move and directed to cancel the meeting. The development is a continuation of Commissioner Archila and the Mamdani administration’s ongoing use of public resources to advance an agenda that extends well beyond New York City. On...

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Thursday rejected President Donald Trump's suggestion that Israel could withdraw from southern Lebanon. He said Israel does not need anyone's approval to maintain its military presence there. "We didn't ask for anyone's approval to enter Lebanon, and we don't need approval to stay in Lebanon," Katz said in a statement, according to The Washington Examiner. "It is our right and duty to defend the residents of the Galilee and Israeli citizens from the threats of the jihadist terror group Hezbollah, which aims to destroy the State of Israel." Katz said Israel would continue to...

Transcript linked below video. Hard-liners have assaulted President Pezeshkian and FM Aragchi in the funeral and shouted "death to the appeasers!" in front of the television cameras, and it got into the NY Times. Here's an excerpt from Tousi's transcript, which includes footage. ..... Let's go to the peaceful funerals. It's largely peaceful because the the tensions between the government side who 2:102 minutes, 10 seconds: are negotiating with the United States and the IRGC side who are actually running the country, it's getting a little bit tense as the the police that 2:192 minutes, 19 seconds: is under the...

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‘My whole life, all I do is deals,” President Trump said Wednesday, but Iran’s regime “is from a different school,” he had to admit. “They’re liars, they’re cheats, they’re sick people.” Mr. Trump cited the tens of thousands of Iranians slaughtered by the regime in January and explained how its word has proved worthless. “I don’t want to deal with them anymore,” he said.The President is so mercurial that it’s impossible to know if he’s serious that the cease-fire is “over,” as he said. He could declare it back on tomorrow. But he’s right that Iran’s regime has been wasting...

President Donald Trump flew home from a NATO summit in Turkey on an old baby blue Air Force One plane instead of the new Qatari-gifted and retrofitted red, white and navy blue jet he arrived in, a surprise swap that came as the U.S. and Iran once again began trading strikes. Trump offered little clarity on the swap, instead saying he would fly on the legacy aircraft “for old time’s sake,” and indicating that both aircraft would make a previously unscheduled stop on the way back to the U.S. at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, a base used by U.S. troops....

President Donald Trump appeared to confuse Iran with Japan during a jaw-dropping verbal slip at the NATO summit in Ankara on Wednesday, telling reporters that the “Islamic Republic of Japan” had fired more than 100 missiles at a U.S. aircraft carrier as he touted the effectiveness of Patriot missile defense systems.

The US military struck a railway bridge in north-eastern Iran overnight, Iranian state media reported early on Thursday. Several projectiles hit the bridge in Golestan province, state broadcaster IRIB said on social media platform X. Press TV, a broadcaster aligned with Iran's leadership, said it was the first attack in the region since a ceasefire took effect in April. Journalist Barak Ravid, citing a US official in a post on X, said two railway bridges in Iran had been attacked as part of the latest wave of US military strikes. Journalist Barak Ravid, citing a US official in a post...

Iran’s terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) claimed on Wednesday that they had targeted 85 allegedly “American military facilities,” in reality launching sweeping bombing campaigns against neighbors Kuwait and Bahrain. The IRGC’s aggression follows Iran bombing various vessels attempting to navigate the Strait of Hormuz, reportedly ships linked to Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian regime’s attacks prompted U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) to resume targeted strikes on Iran’s terrorist infrastructure to protect free navigation in the strait, which the IRGC used as its reasoning for bombing Kuwait and Bahrain. The IRGC’s statement, as shared by the Iranian government’s Islamic Republic...

A long-awaited bill banning Israeli goods from the occupied territories in Palestine has passed the final stage in the Dáil without including services from the region. The Government-drafted Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) bill passed through its report and final stages in the Dáil (lower house) on Tuesday without a vote. It will now be sent to the Seanad (Senate) next week and, if it as likely is also passed by the Upper House, will be signed into law at that point. The bill is a renewed version of the original Occupied Territories...

France's President Emmanuel Macron escaped what may have been an attempted assassination Tuesday during a visit to Syria's capital. The French presidential palace, the Elysee, said in a statement that Macron was safe and would continue his visit to Damascus after two bombs exploded outside the hotel where he spent the night. Macron had left the hotel when the explosions took place Tuesday, and he was in the Syrian presidential palace for a meeting with his counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa and their respective delegations, according to the French presidency. State media cited an unnamed security official as saying the blasts were...