Free Republic

My, but Iran must have a lot of defective “industrial gas tanks” lying around. A week after Iranian officials tried to explain away a massive explosion at Parchin as a civilian-area accident, a large fire at Natanz might prove more difficult to dismiss. Natanz, like Parchin, is a site where the US alleges that Iran has performed work on their nuclear-weapons program, and experts believe that uranium-enriching centrifuge work might have been the target this time: Iran says there has been an “incident” at one of its nuclear facilities.Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi did not...

A forfeiture complaint and warrant were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that all petroleum-product cargo aboard the Bella with international maritime organization (IMO) number 9208124, the Bering with IMO number 9149225, the Pandi with IMO number 9105073, and the Luna with IMO number 9208100 are subject to forfeiture based on the terrorism forfeiture statute. John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General, National Security Division; Michael R. Sherwin, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; Steven W. Cagen, Special Agent in Charge, Denver, Colorado, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Rainer S. Drolshagen, Special Agent in...

BECKLEY, W.Va. (AP) -- A congressman skeptical of the need for U.S. military action against Iraq says he is flying to Baghdad, hoping to answer questions about a possible invasion and seeking a meeting with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., said he wants to reassure Iraqi citizens that Americans are ``not out to wage war for war's sake.'' ``I'm not going as a secretary of state,'' Rahall said Tuesday. ``I'm not going as a weapons inspector. And I'm not calling upon this administration to do one thing or another. I just have a lot of questions.'' Rahall,...

In addition to the $1,000 bounty on U.S. troops, the unnamed man said Iran paid $6,000 for the destruction of a U.S. military vehicle.

By Hassan Mahmoudi A resolution presented at the International Atomic Agency (IAA) by Germany, France, and England was eventually passed on June 19, 2020, enjoying a good majority of the votes. (25 countries, aye; 7 abstentions; Russia and China, nay; and Paraguay was absent). The resolution calls on the Iranian regime to give access to two of its atomic sites to IAA’s inspectors. Iran is suspected of having been carrying out nuclear activities at these two sites in the 2000s in order to obtain nuclear weapons. Tehran horrified by the thought of the outcome of such a resolution tried to...

Watch nearly the entire corporate media establishment run wild with claims from completely anonymous sources in the intelligence community this week. Much of the case for the Iraq War was based on the Bush administration’s claim that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. When the United States declared an end to the war late in 2011, more than 4,400 American military members had been killed and nearly 32,000 wounded. No weapons of mass destruction had been found. It’s one of the most significant and catastrophic intelligence errors in U.S. history. A bipartisan commission found that U.S. intelligence “seriously misjudged”...

A high ranking official representing Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei recently addressed the ongoing anti-racism demonstrations in the U.S., basking in the notion that U.S. demonstrators are now themselves chanting the traditionally Iranian mantra “Death to America!” The remarks were made by Ayatollah Lotfollah Dezhkam, a representative for Khamenei in the Fars province, during a June 19 sermon. “The entire world has seen with its very eyes that today, America cannot be the main decision-maker when it comes to strategic matters in the world. We are unequivocally informing the American administration, Republicans and Democrats alike: If you’ve shut your ears...

Abstract: The coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic marks a unique event in human history—one that has captured the attention of the world, including supporters of violent extremist groups. This article examines unofficial pro-Islamic State media responses to the global pandemic during its early months and provides a content analysis of various themes and narratives. The authors collected and archived data from the online platforms Telegram, Twitter, and Rocket.Chat. In turn, 11 dominant themes and narratives were identified, highlighting the ways in which decentralized online pro-Islamic State networks create content designed to appeal to a diverse audience, capitalize on a current event, as...

The Iranian Ayatollah Lotfollah Dezhkam, Supreme Leader Khamenei’s representative in Iran’s Fars province, is thrilled about the recent riots in the United States. In a Friday sermon last week, he declared: “The shout of the Iranian nation [is] being heard from the mouths of the Americans themselves: Death to America!” Dezhkam thus reveals that the truth of David Horowitz’s recent observation can be seen clearly from as far away as Iran: “The Democrat Party is at war with America. The alliance between the international jihad and the Left is growing more violent and aggressive in the United States by...

No matter the color of their skin, Jews are going to be labeled “white.” By the time violent rioters tore through the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Fairfax, Los Angeles on the night of Saturday May 30, 2020, it was too late. The vicious antisemitic, anti-Israel language of the M4BL and Black Lives Matter’s demands that included accusations against Israel of “apartheid” and “genocide” had been brushed aside. Black Lives Matter (BLM) delegations had traveled to the Middle East to endorse Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria and pose for photo ops with the Palestinian flag. Statements from delegation leaders...

Nabil el-Shukri teaches a class of Muslim youth about jihad, blacks, Jews and gays. Joe Kaufman, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, is Chairman of the Joe Kaufman Security Initiative and the 2014, 2016 and 2018 Republican Nominee for U.S. House of Representatives (Florida-CD23). Nabil el-Shukri, the younger brother of deceased al-Qaeda senior commander Adnan el-Shukrijumah (Shukri Jumah), has announced his departure from the Muslim school he had been employed with since 2008. Prior to leaving, though, he took the opportunity to teach a class to his students about the steps they needed to take...

In this Friday, Oct. 26, 2018 file photo, released by Oman News Agency, Oman's Sultan Qaboos, left, receives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Muscat, Oman. (Oman News Agency via AP, File) The “last decade,” notes James Sinkinson in a perceptive article, has seen a “sea change” in Israel’s ties with “key Arab states.” And that last decade is also the one in which Benjamin Netanyahu (again, after a stint in the 1990s) has been Israel’s prime minister — specifically since March 2009.True, conditions for enhanced Arab-Israeli ties have been propitious — particularly the behavior of regional bully Iran, a...

Ali Shaigan The Associated Press is reporting that a huge explosion occurred on Friday that rattled Tehran and lit up the horizon. The site of the blast was a region where many nuclear experts believe Iran conducted high-explosive tests relating to its nuclear program. The explosion happened in the Alborz mountains, just east of the city. Satellite photos show the massive extent of the blast. This Sentinel-2 GIF shows the difference at Khojir Missile Base in 🇮🇷#Iran (35.687799 N, 51.651720 E) because of the recent explosion: it looks like fire burnt down 20 ha of land WNW of a now...

Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr said Trump and 35 others whom Iran accuses of involvement in the Jan. 3 strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad face “murder and terrorism charges,” the state-run IRNA news agency reported. Alqasimehr did not identify anyone else sought other than Trump, but stressed that Iran would continue to pursue his prosecution even after his presidency ends. Alqasimehr also was quoted as saying that Iran requested a “red notice” be put out for Trump and the others, which represents the highest-level arrest request issued by Interpol. Local authorities generally make the arrests on behalf of...

Iran has issued an arrest warrant and asked Interpol for help in detaining President Donald Trump and dozens of others it believes carried out the drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad, a local prosecutor reportedly said Monday. While Trump faces no danger of arrest, the charges underscore the heightened tensions between Iran and the United States since Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers. Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr said Trump and more than 30 others whom Iran accuses of involvement in the Jan. 3 strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad...

Iran has identified 36 people involved in the US assassination of General Qassem Soleimani and will seek their arrest through Interpol channels, media reports said. The list of suspects is topped by President Donald Trump. The names of the suspects in the high-profile murder of Iran’s elite Quds Force commander have been relayed to Interpol by Tehran’s chief prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr, Iranian media said on Monday. The official called the killing a “murder” and a “terrorist act.” President Donald Trump is at the top of the list, and his prosecution will be pursued even after his term is over. Alqasimehr...

The DNC Times, formerly known as the NY Times, reported an incendiary story that suggested the Trump administration was briefed on Russia offering bounties to the Taliban for killing Americans. It was flatly denied“The CIA Director, National Security Adviser and the Chief of Staff can all confirm that neither the President nor the Vice President were briefed on the alleged Russian bounty intelligence,” press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said. The statement did not confirm that the intelligence existed, in keeping with ordinary practice, she said, but was a comment on “the inaccuracy of The New York Times story erroneously suggesting that...

Iraqi security forces were on Friday (June 26) interrogating pro-Iran fighters detained for planning a rocket attack in the first such raid in a country caught in the tug-of-war between Teheran and Washington. Since October, nearly three dozen deadly rocket attacks have hit US military and diplomatic installations in Iraq, with the US blaming pro-Teheran faction Kataeb Hezbollah. Infuriated, Washington has demanded Iraq take tougher action to hold the perpetrators accountable and Thursday's unprecedented raid appeared to be a response to this call. Just before midnight Thursday, the elite Counter-Terrorism Service stormed a base in southern Baghdad used by Kataeb...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An explosion that rattled Iran’s capital came from an area in its eastern mountains that analysts believe hides an underground tunnel system and missile production sites, satellite photographs showed Saturday. What exploded in the incident early Friday that sent a massive fireball into the sky near Tehran remains unclear, as does the cause of the blast. The unusual response of the Iranian government in the aftermath of the explosion, however, underscores the sensitive nature of an area near where international inspectors believe the Islamic Republic conducted high-explosive tests two decades ago for nuclear weapon...

By: Hassan Mahmoudi State corruption in Iran has spread its paws among various governmental organizations as well as those affiliated with the ruling elite in the aftermath of the 1979 revolution. According to the International Transparency Organization's report of 2020, the Islamic Republic of Iran ranks 146 among 180 countries when it comes to financial corruption, falling eight ranks in comparison with last year's ranking. But in a blatant act in June 2018, Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, denied institutionalized corruption in his regime while addressing some students: "I am fully informed that corruption is neither vast nor systematic in...