Free Republic

(excerpt) The member, identified as Reza Dastani, was killed on his way to work. Efforts are underway to identify and arrest the assailants. (excerpt)The assassination comes just days after IRGC Col. Davoud Jafari was killed in a roadside bombing near Damascus that Iran has blamed on Israel. The IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency reported that Jafari served as an adviser for the IRGC Aerospace Force in Syria and was among one of the Iranian officials responsible for the seizure of two US Navy command boats carrying 10 US personnel in the Persian Gulf in January 2016. The Intelli Times blog revealed...

The small Jewish community in Tehran on Thursday condemned the ongoing anti-regime protests in Iran, which broke out over the death of a young woman held for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code. In a letter, the Tehran Central Jewish Committee said it was standing by the Iranian regime amid a deadly crackdown on protesters

Attacks of this kind place coalition forces and the civilian population at risk and undermine the hard-earned stability and security of Syria and the region, CENTCOM spokesman Colonel Joe Buccino said WASHINGTON, November 26./TASS/. US-led coalition forces came under attack at a US-controlled base in Al Hasakah province, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement. "Two rockets targeted coalition forces at the US patrol base in al-Shaddadi, Syria today at approximately 10:31 p.m. local time in Syria,: the statement reads. According to the document, "the attack resulted in no injuries or damage to the base or coalition...

Ukrainian security official Oleksiy Danilov has confirmed reports that Iranian advisors were killed as the result of a Ukrainian military strike in Crimea last month, according to a report from The Guardian on Thursday. Danilov did not name a specific number of casualties and said that "they were on our territory. We didn’t invite them here, and if they collaborate with terrorists and participate in the destruction of our nation we must kill them," in an interview with The Guardian.

Iran’s government has embarked on an armed strategy of divide, crush and conquer to end nationwide protests against clerical rule in the Islamic Republic. The primary target is the Kurdish minority population, which has been protesting for more than two months. The government, dominated by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has dispatched an aggressive and ill-disciplined militia known as the Basij to assault Kurdish towns and villages in western Iran. For the past eight days, thousands of Basij, transported by armored vehicles and firing heavy automatic weapons, have moved into the western border zone largely populated by Kurds. The Kurds have...

This video analyzes some of the current conflicts in the middle east today, especially Syria and Iran attacking the Kurds in Iraq. Many people may be surprised because much of this is not being covered by the news media. The video is 43 minutes and I think it is worth the time to watch. For those interested, the link to the youtube channel for all of these geopolitical analysis videos is below. Youtube channel for George W McMillan III (GWM3) Analysis w/ Matt Bracken

Iran considered carrying out a terror attack at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in an attempt to disrupt the event, military intelligence chief of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, according to The Jerusalem Post. Speaking at an Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conference in Tel Aviv, Major General Aharon Haliva said that the "only thing" stopping Iran from an act of terror was concern over how host country Qatar might respond, the report said. The FIFA World Cup 2022 kicked off on Sunday and is set to last through December 18. Iran's national team is one of...

Kabul (AFP) – Three women and 11 men were flogged Wednesday on the orders of an Afghan court after they were found guilty of theft and "moral crimes", a provincial official said. The lashings are the first to be confirmed since the Taliban's supreme leader ordered judges this month to fully enforce Islamic law, or sharia, saying corporal punishment was obligatory for certain crimes. Qazi Rafiullah Samim, head of information and culture for Logar province, told AFP the lashings were not administered publicly. "Fourteen people were given discretionary punishment, of which 11 were men and three were women," he said,...

Scientists believe they have made a fascinating discovery which reveals some hidden detail about the diet of Neanderthals around 70,000 years ago. They have unearthed remains of what is believed to be the world's oldest flatbread made by Neanderthals in the foothills of Iraq. The charred remnants were recovered from the Shanidar Cave site - a Neanderthal dwelling around 500 miles north of Baghdad. The archaeologists said the findings, published in the journal Antiquity, show for the first time that bread was part of the diet among these hominid species....

By analyzing thousands of declassified images from Cold War-era U2 spy missions, scientists have discovered archaeological features like prehistoric hunting traps, 3,000-year-old irrigation canals, and hidden 60-year-old marsh villages. They also created an online tool that allows other researchers to identify and access the photos for the first time.

Others fared even worse. As ISIS took over the town bakery, they converted it into a shop of horror, they rounded up the six bakers working there and executed them in their own ovens. When they began gathering Christian children at the bakery, some local soldiers attempted to rescue the kids. To discourage the soldiers, the terrorists began throwing children off nearby balconies. The horrifying tactic worked and allowed the terrorists to murder 250 kids in the bakery’s dough machine.

Authorities in the Arab Gulf state of Qatar are prohibiting Jewish visitors from purchasing cooked kosher food or organizing prayer groups during their stay in the country for the World Cup, leading Jewish groups to accuse Doha of reneging on its promise to protect the religious rights of sports fans during the World Cup. Qatar has no diplomatic relations with Israel, but as a condition of its hosting the World Cup, FIFA mandated that Qatar not bar fans based on their nationality. With thousands of Israelis expected to travel to Doha for the games, Qatar agreed to permit Israel to...

he outgoing National Security Council chief, Dr. Eyal Hulta called out the international community's inaction regarding the protests in Iran, Israel Hayom reported. "Many speakers stated on this stage 'enough'. Enough with the failing nuclear talks in Viena, while they are advancing their nuclear program. Enough with Iran's manipulation and its ignoring of supervisors from the atomic energy board. Enough with closing our eyes while they smuggle arms to terrorists in the area and enough with the hope that this corrupt regime will act nicely. Even the people of Iran say 'enough'," stated Hulta at an international INSS conference in...

A statement by the UN Human Rights Office claimed “All information we have gathered … is consistent with the finding that the shots that killed Abu Akleh and injured her colleague Ali Sammoudi came from Israeli security forces and not from indiscriminate firing by armed...

The Azerbaijani parliament on Friday announced its historic decision to open an embassy in Israel. The embassy will be located in Tel Aviv, and will be the first embassy in Israel of a country with a Shi’ite majority and a Shi’ite government. Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said: "I welcome the decision by the National Assembly of Azerbaijan to open an embassy in Israel. Azerbaijan is an important partner of Israel and home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the Muslim world. The decision to open an embassy reflects the depth of the relationship between our countries."...

The Biden administration told a U.S. court that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s status as a sitting head of government shields him from a civil lawsuit brought by the fiancée of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Mr. Khashoggi, a former royal insider who criticized Prince Mohammed’s policies in Washington Post columns, was killed in 2018 and his body dismembered by Saudi agents during a visit to the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate where he was seeking papers needed to marry Hatice Cengiz, a Turkish citizen. In a filing Thursday, the State Department said “common law principles of immunity” informed its determination...

The cardinal returns to the difficult process of choosing Aoun's successor. Already five parliamentary sessions have ended in a deadlock. The rift - albeit without naming names - with Hezbollah is deepening. The disagreements over Article 49. Lebanese patriarchs and bishops launch special "Truth and Reconciliation" commission. Beirut (AsiaNews) - The suspicions put forward by the Maronite patriarch are serious and destined to cause discussion. During his last homily at Sunday Mass, the cardinal spoke of Lebanon's adversaries "who do not want to elect a president, considering it unnecessary or of relative importance that he be a Maronite Christian" as...

Administration seeks to soften blow of FBI investigation into Palestinian-American reporter's killing, Israeli official says, speculating that ramifications will be minimal The White House informed Israeli counterparts that it was not involved in the decision to open an FBI investigation into the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel on Wednesday. The message appeared aimed at blunting Israeli fury over the investigation...

The Biden administration weaponizes the FBI against Israel As in the Dreyfus affair, there are no Jewish criminals here, and everyone knows it. The Biden administration has ordered the FBI probe into Shireen Abu Akleh’s death because it wants a crisis with Israel. Nov 16, 2022 The Biden administration is feeding Israel to the wolves. That is the only reasonable way to understand Channel 14’s bombshell report on Sunday that the FBI has opened an investigation of IDF soldiers in relation to the death of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh. Abu Akleh died on May 11 in Jenin while...

Just how effective have Western sanctions been against Iran — and for that matter, Russia? The US has spearheaded efforts to deny both countries access to Western technology, especially that with dual-use capabilities for military purposes. In the case of Iran, those sanctions and trade restrictions go back decades.And according to an exclusive from the Wall Street Journal today, they appear significantly ineffective. Ukrainian and Western experts have begun looking at the remains of Iranian drones that targeted infrastructure in the Russian invasion, and a lot of the parts come from Western supply chains:New intelligence collected from downed Iranian drones...