Free Republic

Before there was Iraq, there was Lebanon.  In 1982, following Operation Peace for Galilee, JINSA reported on the international terrorist haven that had arisen in Fatahland – the southern part of Lebanon controlled by Yasser Arafat.  Aside from the expected mélange of Middle Easterners, there were Japanese Red Army, German and Italian Red Brigades, Nicaraguan Sandinistas, Salvadorans, Colombians and Peruvians.  There were Iranian Shi’ites, East Germans and Bulgarians.  Before there was Iraq, there was Lebanon, again.  Religious Iran and secular, Ba’athist Syria made a deal to use Syrian-controlled Lebanon as a base for Hizballah to attack Israel.  Today, Israel...

All detainees had previously attempted illegal border crossings and are now awaiting deportation proceedings.. A Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokesman confirmed Tuesday that five Iranians were arrested while attempting to illegally cross the U.S. northern border with Canada. "On July 1, Border Patrol Agents from the Champlain, New York Station, responded to suspicious activity near Mooers Forks, NY," CBP's Swanton Sector said on Facebook. "Agents located a minivan occupied by five citizens of Iran and two citizens of Uzbekistan." The Champlain Station is part of the Swanton Sector. Swanton is a rural town in Vermont near Highway 89 just...

The trial of two Iranians and six others, who tried to smuggle 2.2 tons of cocaine to the island, exposed networks spanning the Middle East and Venezuela. JNS Staff. July 9, 2025 / JNS) An Irish court on July 4 sentenced two Iranian nationals in connection with a transnational drug trafficking operation involving more than 2.2 tons of cocaine, as authorities investigate suspected links to Hezbollah and the Iranian regime, Irish media reported. The men—Soheil Jelveh, 51, a former captain of the cargo vessel MV Matthew, and Saied Hassani, 39, a senior officer with significant maritime experience—received sentences of 17.5...

Three explosions rocked the Swedish capital of Stockholm over just a four-day period as the country is coming off a record year for gang-related bombings. After a few months of relative calm, gang wars in the Nordic nation once again appear to be on the rise, as three explosions at residential buildings in Stockholm have been seen since Friday when a large blast went off at an apartment in Sundbyberg where a man with ties to a criminal gang lives. This was followed by an explosion on Saturday outside a hair salon in the industrial area of Vällingby. Finally, on...

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) records show thousands of Iranian nationals may be eligible to be arrested nationwide on immigration-related issues. These are in addition to the approximately 1,500 Iranian nationals whom the Border Patrol detained after entering the country illegally during President Joe Biden’s term. ICE Data shows nearly 6,000 Iranians who may have entered legally but have since violated their legal status may soon be the focus of the ongoing ICE dragnet The number of Iranians arrested by ICE since the U.S. military action on Iran’s nuclear sites may soon pale in comparison to the arrest of those...

A home in Los Angeles was an Iranian human smuggling hub, according to Customs and Border Patrol after two individuals were arrested Friday afternoon in a Los Angeles County neighborhood. The home had previously been the site of the arrest of seven Iranian nationals earlier this week, some of whom were reportedly flagged on the FBI’s Terrorist Watchlist. Federal agents with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) were seen executing a warrant at a residence in North Hills around 3 pm on Friday, marking the second law enforcement action at the property this week. CBP said that the arrests were...

ASHINGTON, June 7— A re-examination of years of terrorist plots and attacks around the world, including the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, suggests that American intelligence agencies profoundly underestimated Al Qaeda's reach and aspirations for more than a decade as it grew from obscurity into a global terrorist threat, lawmakers and investigators said this week.As Congressional investigators look back far beyond the series of signals missed before the Sept. 11 attacks, they are seeking answers to many questions about Al Qaeda that law enforcement and intelligence agencies still cannot answer themselves, officials said.In particular, they said, Congressional investigators are trying...

Eleven Iranian nationals have been arrested in the last 48 hours by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents across eight different states and nine cities, according to CBS News. This development comes in the wake of a nationwide security alert issued after the U.S. carried out a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities this past weekend. ... One of the individuals arrested is Mehran Makari Saheli, who is a former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). ICE arrested Saheli at his home in Minnesota where he "admitted connections to Hezbollah," an Iranian-funded terrorist organization. ... On Sunday, authorities also...

Prior to President Donald Trump authorizing targeted strikes against Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday, federal agents and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers have been arresting Iranian nationals, nearly all men, in the U.S. illegally. In the last few months, federal prosecutors have also brought terrorism charges against Iranians, including those in the U.S. working for the Iranian government. Iran is a designated state sponsor of terrorism. Iranian nationals illegally in the country are considered “special interest aliens” under federal law. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Sunday issued a warning to all Americans to be on a heightened...

In the early morning hours of Thursday, Syria’s al-Tala’i military research facility located in Masyaf was reduced to ash and flames. The Jerusalem Post reports that contemporaneous with the strike on al-Tala’I, a Hezbollah weapons convoy in the vicinity was also hit and destroyed. According to Western intelligence sources, al-Tala’i is a center for the production of chemical weapons. Syria blamed Israel and claimed that at least two regime soldiers were killed in the attack. The regime issued a banal and somewhat hypocritical warning of the “dangerous repercussions of this aggressive action to the security and stability of the region.”...

Wednesday on ABC’s “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg said the rights of black people in the United States are under attack at the “same” level as Iranians living under an Islamic regime. Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said, “Let’s just remember, too, the Iranians literally throw gay people off of buildings. They don’t adhere to basic human rights.” Goldberg said, “Listen here is the thing, let’s not do that, because if we start with that, we have been known in this country to tie gay folks to the car.” Griffin said, “The Iranian regime is today is nothing compared to the...

The man who stabbed and partially blinded novelist Salman Rushdie onstage at a Western New York arts institute in 2022 was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Friday (May 16) for an attack that also wounded a second man, the district attorney said. Rushdie, 77, has faced death threats since the 1988 publication of his novel "The Satanic Verses," which Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Iran's supreme leader, denounced as blasphemous, leading to a call for Rushdie's death, an edict known as a fatwa. Hadi Matar, 27, a US citizen from Fairview, New Jersey, was found guilty of attacking the...

It is just a few days until Easter, the most important date in the Christian calendar. But for 700 Muslims who have gathered in a rural caravan park, this week has a different religious significance. And to some of their neighbours, the thrice-daily calls to prayer are proving a strain on a harmonious relationship. The Iranian Muslims have converged on the Trevelgue Holiday Park in Porth, Cornwall, to celebrate yesterday's Persian New Year. Every day at sunrise, noon and sunset they broadcast their prayers, known as Adhan, on a loudspeaker system. But some residents are complaining that the noise is...

PANAMA CITY (AP) — Migrants from Afghanistan, Russia, Iran and China deported from the United States and dropped into limbo in Panama hopped door-to-door at embassies and consulates this week in a desperate attempt to seek asylum in any country that would accept them. The focus of international humanitarian concern just weeks before, the deportees now say they’re increasingly worried that with little legal and humanitarian assistance and no clear pathway forward offered by authorities, they may be forgotten. “After this, we don’t know what we’ll do,” said 29-year-old Hayatullah Omagh, who fled Afghanistan in 2022 after the Taliban takeover....

Recently, unsealed court documents completely redefined what we were told to believe about the 2020 US presidential election. The election was billed by the Democrat Party, Joe Biden, the mainstream media, and former CISA Chief Chris Krebs as the most secure election in US history. Chris Krebs, the former CISA Director fired by Donald Trump, testified before Congress on December 16, 2020, after he was fired. Krebs was called to testify before the US Senate Homeland Security Governmental Affairs Committee. Krebs famously announced that day, “The 2020 election was the most secure in US history.” WATCH: VIDEO AT LINK...................... But...

Hadi Matar finally went on trial Tuesday for attempting to murder the novelist Salman Rushdie back in Aug. 2022. There is little, if any, doubt about Matar’s guilt .. for he stabbed Rushdie multiple times in full view of a shocked crowd at the Chautauqua festival. .. Barone managed to delay the trial for over a year. Now that it has begun, both Barone and his opposite number, Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt, seem curiously intent on preventing any discussion of Matar’s motive. Matar tried to kill the man who, at the time of the stabbing had carried for...

A top Iranian general has accused Russia of lying to Tehran by saying its jets were attacking Syrian rebels while they were instead bombing the open desert. In a rare break from Iran's diplomatic line on Syria, Brig. Gen. Behrouz Esbati partially blamed Moscow for the fall of Bashar Assad's government during a speech at a mosque in Tehran. An audio recording of the speech was published on Tuesday by Abdullah Abdi, a journalist in Geneva who reports on Iran. "We were defeated, and defeated very badly. We took a very big blow, and it's been very difficult," Esbati said...

Border Patrol agents arrested a group of Special Interest Aliens after they crossed the border from Mexico into Texas last week. The group included two Iranian nationals and two Egyptian migrants. U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens posted a report on social media revealing the arrest of the four Special Interest Aliens (SIA). SIAs are migrants who come to the United States from countries with known ties to terrorism. “USBP agents never let up during this holiday season, ensuring potential threats do not make their way to our communities,” the Border Patrol chief stated. Owens said the four SIAs all...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu published a message to the people of Iran attacking the regime's support of failed terror organizations and regimes. 'You know what this regime is truly terrified of? It's terrified of you, the people of Iran.' .....

Here is the up to date news on the Drones flying over New Jersey. What are they and what do they want and more importantly what are they doing?