Free Republic

The longer we go without oil from the Persian Gulf, the less we’ll need it, says Christopher Smart for the New York Times. Whatever peace agreement the United States and Iran may cobble together, there will be no quick return to pre-war energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Even after the mines are cleared, it will take a brave tanker captain to trust that the passage is once again secure - and higher insurance costs could raise the price of that trip by millions. But with every passing day, the world is learning to live without the Gulf’s seaborne...

Seldom, if ever, in the history of war did the opening event eliminate the senior leadership of the opponent.Victor Davis Hanson has just published a rather thorough description of the current structure of Iran’s government. Suffice it to say we are “negotiating” with ambiguity. Should one want to find who’s most in charge, he’d need look no farther than the Islamic Revolutionary Gard Corps (IRGC) simply because they have the most guns.Further inhibiting the progress of negotiations is the Persian cultural predisposition to deal with strangers in bad faith. Fortunately, this is fairly common knowledge, although unhinged critics of President...

If a former CIA agent’s report is accurate, Iran may find itself making a decision the U.S. was faced with making in 1945. The agent, Larry Johnson, revealed that Pakistan’s Foreign Minister personally delivered a disturbing, secret message to Secretary of State Mark Rubio claiming that Iran does possess a nuclear weapon. He also reports Tehran intends to demonstrate soon this capability to the world community. The immediate question obviously is just how Iran intends to demonstrate it?In 1945, during World War II, the U.S. had to decide how to demonstrate to Japan it possessed an atomic weapon, developed under...

Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s (D-Mich.) Lebanon war powers resolution was shut down Thursday, with the majority of House Democrats rejecting the “Squad” rep’s effort. In the floor vote, 117 Democrats voted against her resolution, and 91 voted in favor, resulting in a 92-324 defeat of Tlaib’s attempt to limit potential Trump administration military options in Lebanon. Tlaib insisted Israel was carrying out an “ethnic cleansing campaign,” and Congress must intervene to stop the “war crime.” “The Trump administration is helping in greenlighting these attacks,” she said, as Israel seeks to root out the Hezbollah terror threat in Lebanon as a second...

Back in January, President Donald Trump told the Iranian people, "Help is on the way." In February, he delivered on that help. Donald Trump did what presidents before him have not: told the brutal Iranian regime that, after 47 years, the American people have had enough. Iranians all over the world were ecstatic and took to the streets to celebrate. But since then, there has not been a lot of discussion of or messaging to the Iranian people, who continue to live under a violent, dictatorial regime. 🚨 IRANIANS CHEERED WITH US.VIDEO RELEASED FROM INSIDE IRANAs the internet slowly comes...

A Dangerous Foreign Islamist Network Today Operates Openly in Educational Institutions Across Texas, Propelled by Regime-Aligned Activist Groups and Wealthy Khomeinist Mosques June 3, 2026. Sam Westrop. Texas Public Policy Foundation. Children at the Islamic Education Center in Houston perform a song pledging allegiance to Iran’s Supreme Leader. Photo: IEC Houston A Texas Islamist network working to radicalize Shia Muslim students at educational institutions across the state, including Texas public universities, is made up of agents and proxies for the murderous Iranian regime. In March, the Iranian regime and its proxies across the world organized “Al-Quds Day,” a global annual...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky lamented during a Wednesday press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte that his country’s war with Russia is no longer top of mind for U.S. officials. “Iran is the No. 1 issue for the United States, and only after that comes Ukraine,” Zelensky said in Kyiv. “Unfortunately, we are in the queue of these wars.” Rutte arrived in Ukraine on an unannounced visit one day after a Russian drone and missile attack killed at least 13 people and injured more than 100. In the United States, members of the House of Representatives are forcing a...

The oil industry is warning the Trump administration that a Hormuz-sized hole in the world’s petroleum market is steadily draining inventories to levels that are likely to send global energy prices surging in the next several weeks, according to four executives. Industry executives have flagged the issue to senior White House officials and Cabinet members in recent weeks as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing dialogue with the U.S. energy industry, the people said. The warnings came as recently as late last month as data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and other sources began showing that fuel makers were...

A trilateral summit convened by the United States in Washington has resulted in a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, following intensive two-day negotiations on Tuesday and Wednesday. A joint statement issued following the second day of talks on Wednesday stated that the accord dictates that the implementation of the truce is directly "contingent on a complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives from the South Litani Sector". To enforce the peace, Israel and Lebanon agreed to "swiftly advance the creation of pilot zones in which the Lebanese Armed Forces will take exclusive control of...

House lawmakers passed legislation Wednesday evening that seeks to force the United States to end the conflict in the Middle East by making it withdraw troops from the hostilities with Iran. The House bill would make President Donald Trump end the conflict, marking a significant victory for House Democrats who have attempted three other times to pass an Iranian war powers resolution. The legislation passed in a 215 to 208 vote, which saw four Republicans vote with all Democrats. Republican Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Tom Barrett of Michigan and Warren Davidson of Ohio voted in...

The House offered a rare rebuke to President Donald Trump on Wednesday, passing a Democrat-led measure to end his war with Iran over objections from Republican leadership. It was one of two Democratic-led measures opposed by the White House that advanced in the GOP-led House. Lawmakers also passed a motion that would unlock a vote on sending aid to Ukraine. The Iran war powers resolution, offered by Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, had been heading for a vote before the House left for its Memorial Day recess on May 21. But...

Federal agents, in a daring predawn raid Wednesday, pounced on the opulent, $35 million Newport Beach mansion of an Iranian tech boss charged with supplying US computer hardware to Iran’s military and nuclear programs. The California Post was there as the FBI arrested Jamshid Ghomi, 63, of Newport Coast, who was charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and is expected to appear Wednesday afternoon in Santa Ana federal court. The businessman, who is a dual citizen of Iran and the US, is accused of selling computer hardware to the Iranian government for use in its...

June 3 (UPI) -- Kuwait closed its main airport in Kuwait City on Wednesday after Iranian missile and drone strikes injured several people and caused "significant damage" to its main terminal building as renewed hostilities between the Iran and the United States escalated.The airport activated its emergency plan, suspending all flights indefinitely after its Terminal 1 building was the target of "Iranian aggression, resulting in significant damage to several airport facilities, in addition to recording human injuries," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in an update on X.DGCA spokesman Abdullah Al-Rajhi said it has been decided to suspend air...

Iran launched a deadly new set of attacks in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday as it traded strikes with the United States, the latest exchange to threaten the fragile ceasefire and stalled peace talks between the two countries. One person was killed and flights were suspended in Kuwait, officials said, after missile and drone strikes including an attack on its international airport. The U.S. military said it shot down Iranian drones near the Strait of Hormuz and struck Iran’s Qeshm Island a day earlier. Repeated military exchanges between Washington and Tehran, as well as Israel’s escalating campaign in Lebanon, have...

The Iranian regime has agreed not to have nuclear weapons, President Donald Trump told the New York Post’s “Pod Force One” podcast — but he added that Tehran could still “change their mind.” “I did have to say we have to do something about Iran, because regardless of how well we’re doing [economically] we can’t let them have a nuclear weapon,” he said in the interview, which was published Wednesday. “They’ve already agreed they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon.” When asked to confirm that the Iranian regime had agreed to that term, Trump said: “Oh yeah, they’ve agreed...

At least 300 non-Iranian ships have applied for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz with Tehran’s new authority seeking to create a permanent toll system along the vital passageway. The Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) said the majority of the ships applying were oil tankers, with at least 77% of the applicants looking to exit the Persian Gulf to reach Asia, particularly China and India, two of the Middle East’s largest fuel buyers. The PGSA’s remarks came as the IRGC announced that its naval forces have escorted 24 vessels through the Strait of Hormuz over the past 24 hours....

Iran announced its 26-man roster for the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Monday, and Sardar Azmoun, nicknamed the "Iranian Messi," was not on it. Coach Amir Ghalenoei had Azmoun dropped from Iran’s national soccer squad in March, and it was reportedly due to a social media post that angered Iranian authorities. Azmoun, a 31-year-old striker who is well known for his time playing for Bayer Leverkusen and AS Roma, posted a photo alongside the Emir of Dubai, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is a known U.S. ally and has shown support for President Donald Trump’s involvement in the war...

First, the bad news: The Iran War shows no signs of ending soon. Tehran on Monday said it would suspend peace talks with the U.S. in protest of Israeli strikes in Gaza and Lebanon. Now, the even worse news: The Iran War is linked to the Ukraine War in myriad disturbing ways, and the longer the former drags on, the more dangerous the latter becomes. Talk of “World War III” tends to be ludicrously overwrought—crafted to generate clicks and grab eyeballs on social media, rather than highlight geopolitical risks—but the connections between these two wars have, if anything, been underdiscussed....

Oil prices were falling early Tuesday as markets watched to see if the U.S.-Iran peace deal will proceed after President Donald Trump’s efforts to achieve a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah. Brent crude futures, the international standard, were down 2% at $93.06 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate futures were falling 1.9% to $90.32 a barrel. Crude prices rose sharply on Monday after reports out of Iran said it suspended peace talks with the U.S. due to Israel’s military actions in Lebanon. However, Trump later said talks were continuing and that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had called off attacks in...

I was born in Iran, and as a young student I joined the masses of protesters in the streets of Tehran in 1979 shouting "Death to America." After the Islamic revolution, I decided to search for God... Living in America, I was free to read both the Quran and the Bible; I was free to go to a mosque or a church. So, by carefully comparing the Quran and Bible I came to realize that there is a God who loves me. By putting my faith in Christ, my life was transformed. My troubled marriage was healed; my wife and...