Free Republic

This spring and summer Iran has attacked six foreign oil tankers in the Persian Gulf; tried to block a British ship in the Strait of Hormuz; flown a drone next to an American ship, forcing the U.S. to shoot it down; and captured another British oil tanker. All of this, writes Steven Cook, is proof that the United States is abandoning the Persian Gulf, despite decades of promises that it would never do so, and letting Iran effectively take over: The United States has invested great sums in the Middle East over many decades to undertake a few important tasks—notably...

On July 29, President Trump tweeted: “Just remember, Iranians never won a war, but never lost a negotiation.” In just 12 words, Trump leveled a multi-layered, ahistorical insult against both his predecessor, Barack Obama, and Iran. More importantly, the remarks betray a dangerously ignorant understanding of Iran that could result in another careless Middle East war of choice. The tweet invokes a clichéd, colonial-era stereotype that Iranians, like other Middle Eastern peoples, are wily swindlers—rapacious, greedy bazaar merchants who aim to take advantage of honest and unsuspecting Westerners. Trump is hardly the first American leader to dabble in such denigrating...

They have been convicted of charges stemming from a video taken on International Women's Day that was widely shared on social media in March showing them without headscarves.. Monireh Arabshahi, Yasamin Aryani, and Mojgan Keshavarz, three women who have been held in Iranian custody since April of this year for "disrespecting compulsory hijab," have been sentenced by the Iranian Revolutionary Court to prison terms of at least 16 years each for disobeying the country's Islamic dress code. The women were each given five years on charges of "assembly and collusion to act against national security," one year for circulating "propaganda...

In case of war with the U.S., Tehran can draw on 200,000 Mideast proxy militants to attack Israel. But less well-known are Hezbollah’s overseas Black Ops units - and both Israeli and American targets are in their sights

The Start-Up nation that has become a technological powerhouse has once again displayed its inventive capacity to provide protection for the people of Israel. Earlier last month, in Alaska’s air space, Israel successfully tested the Arrow 3 interceptor, its latest anti-ballistic missile-missile. The testing of the Arrow 3 system in Alaska proved that it is able to intercept and destroy an incoming ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead in the outer atmosphere before it dangerously splits and flies toward its target. The test, conducted at the Spaceport Complex Alaska in Kodiak, was a joint effort between the Israel Missile...

"We don't know the thoughts of the shooter" Those the words of Dayton, Ohio Mayor Nan Whaley at a news conference following a mass murder attack.... The attack in Dayton within hours of the El Paso mass murder attack where 20 are reported dead and 26 wounded. The attacker, Patrick Cruisus, has expressed views hostile to mass immigration, major corporations and in defense of environmental protection.... The White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said on the ABC 'This Week' program Sunday morning that: "crazy people....should not be able to get guns".... Iran says it seized an oil tanker in...

"The Sacred City presents compelling evidence that suggests the holy city of Mecca is in the wrong location and that the worlds 1.6 billion Muslims are praying in the direction of the wrong city. Compiling evidence from both historic sources and new technologies point to the correct location in this seismic, revelatory new film.

The Islamic State terror group continues to pose a real and present danger, according to the latest United Nations six-month report on jihadist activities. Islamic State (ISIS) leadership “aims to adapt, survive and consolidate in the core area and to establish sleeper cells at the local level in preparation for eventual resurgence, while using propaganda to maintain the group’s reputation as the leading global terrorist brand – the ‘virtual caliphate,’” the report declares. “When it has the time and space to reinvest in an external operations capability, ISIL will direct and facilitate international attacks in addition to the ISIL-inspired attacks...

Strenuous efforts by Iraqi Air Force to ensured eight Tu-22Bs – including two Tu-22Ks damaged by engine before the war – and both Tu-22Us were operational again "early the eighties" and specifically 1981-82, plus a new group of personnel was trained and there were finally enough spares and maintainers to keep the fleet at a high readiness rate. As a result, Iraqi Air Force Blinders could now fly more missions than ever before, even if the number of available air frames never again reached previous levels. In response to a direct order from the Iraqi leadership the Iraqi Air Force...

The ship was seized on Wednesday near Farsi Island, where an Iranian Guard Navy base is located, the news outlet reported. The island sits in the Persian Gulf between Saudi Arabia and Iran, north of the Strait of Hormuz. Further information on the vessel, and the nationality of crew members, was not immediately clear. The seizure marked the third such incident involving a commercial vessel in recent weeks — and the second accused of smuggling fuel. The U.S. Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, told The Associated Press it did not have information to confirm the reports. Maritime tracking experts also...

Yemen: 10 shot to death in Ramadan prayer dispute JUN 7, 2019 2:15 PM BY CHRISTINE DOUGLASS-WILLIAMS 32 COMMENTS An imam and nine worshippers were killed following Houthi militia attacks on a number of mosques for celebrating Eid al-Fitr on Tuesday, after Saudi Arabia announced the sighting of the Shawwal crescent, Yemen’s information minister Moammar al-Eryani and local media reported…. the militias stormed mosques during Eid prayer in Houthi-controlled areas. Western culture of appeasement and negotiations will not stop jihadists from their 1,400 year bloodshed–infighting between sects and against infidels. The Houthis are a Zaydi Shia minority sect, referred to...

At Least 32 Killed in Missile Attack on Military Parade in South of Yemen - Fawaz Salman 10:41 01.08.2019(updated 13:57 01.08.2019) The Houthi movement has claimed responsibility for the incident, stating they had launched a medium-range ballistic missile and an armed drone at the event. A blast struck a military parade in the Buraiqa District of Aden, killing up to 32 people and injuring dozens, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing a defence source. According to the Saudi broadcaster, a senior commander of the support forces, Brig. Munir Al Yafi was killed in the attack. Before that a suicide attacker drove...

Five years on, Mikael Skillt still doesn't know exactly what made him leave his construction job and his girlfriend to fight in the war in Ukraine. “I’ve done tons of soul-searching, and the more I think about it, the less I know why I came,” the 43-year-old told VICE News. But an undeniable part of the draw was that Ukrainian ultranationalists, many with barely disguised neo-Nazi or white supremacist views, had been a driving force in the revolution. Skillt, at the time a notorious Swedish neo-Nazi with a 20-year history in the extreme-right scene, felt compelled to join their fight....

Iran’s focus on building a powerful ballistic missile arsenal, which the Americans, Saudis and Israelis, among others, see as a major threat, has its origins in the 1980-88 war with Iraq in which major cities were subjected to merciless missile and air strikes in which thousands of civilians were killed or wounded. The so-called War of the Cities involved five periods of systematic and intense bombardments with missiles, aircraft and even long-range artillery from February 1984, when Saddam Hussein ordered indiscriminate attacks on 11 Iranian cities, through February 1987. The objective was to inflict large civilian casualties to demoralise the...

Iran Tanker Seizures Pushing U.K. Royal Navy to its Limits as New PM Takes Charge By: Jon Rosamond August 1, 2019 12:23 PM LONDON — Britain’s new prime minister, Boris Johnson, is facing a maritime security standoff with Iran that could, if handled indelicately, spark conflict in the Persian Gulf region. At the center of the drama is the tit-for-tat seizure by Tehran of a British-flagged oil tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz. As a result of decades of cuts, the Royal Navy has had a limited presence in the Middle East. Since the Falklands conflict in 1982 the number...

16:13 01.08.2019(updated 16:52 01.08.2019) Get short URL31698 The strike comes after Damascus stated last Wednesday that Israel had struck a Syrian army base in Tel Al-Hara in the Golan Heights and in Quneitra. An Israeli missile has hit the western province of Quneitra in Syria, near the Golan Heights, Syrian state media reported Thursday. The village of Tal Braiqa was the target in the strikes, according to SANA. There is no official information about casualties at the moment. The Israel Defence Forces have previously admitted to carrying out "hundreds" of airstrikes against Syria in recent years, stressing, however, that the...

A local news bureau reported “shock” in the German city of Stuttgart after a 36-year-old man was hacked to death with what appeared to be a katana-type sword in the middle of the street on Wednesday afternoon. The attack took place in front of dozens of witnesses and was filmed by passers-by on mobile phones from multiple angles, and saw a man, a 36-year old German resident of Kazakhstan origin, lying on the floor and being repeatedly hacked at and stabbed with a sword, reports German newspaper Bild.

Iran had claimed that they had limited their stock of enriched uranium to 300 kilograms (about 600 pounds) as required by the JCPOA. Iran has enriched 24 tons of uranium since signing the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal, said the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, on Sunday, according to Radio Farda. Tehran claimed that it had limited its stock of enriched uranium to 300 kg. as required by the JCPOA.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) is accusing multiple senior Trump administration officials in both the Treasury and State Departments of actively working behind President Donald Trump's back to save the Iran nuclear deal and continue providing Tehran with waivers permitting the regime to conduct sensitive nuclear work at a military site that houses Iran's nuclear weapons program. In reaction to reports that the State Department will renew a series of controversial sanctions waivers that have permitted Iran to continue conducting nuclear work, including at a military bunker dug into the side of mountain, Cruz accused "deep state" officials operating at...

The Trump administration on Wednesday issued sanctions against Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif, formally labeling him a terrorist enabler and blacklisting all of his property, assets, and investments, according to senior administration officials. Zarif has emerged as the face of the Islamic Republic's nuclear intransigence and its threats to U.S. assets and allies in the region. He played a key role in negotiating the landmark nuclear deal with the Obama administration and has been a centerpiece in Iran's bombastic anti-American rhetoric. The designation had been rumored for some time following the Trump administration's decision to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps,...