Free Republic

Federal and state officials are racing to address an assault on the nation’s water supply that they believe is the work of Iranian hackers.In 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency under the Biden administration proposed creating stronger cybersecurity guidelines to better safeguard the nation’s water supply from hackers.The steps were modest, but necessary, officials said at the time: Many municipalities lacked even basic protections, and the computers that monitor and adjust water quality, including chemical-treatment levels, were easy-to-find targets for a would-be intruder.The E.P.A. rescinded the order, however, after Republican-led states and industry groups sued to block its enforcement. They argued...

President Donald Trump is pausing plans for a major attack on Iran, he announced on Saturday with the hopes of reviving an agreement with the country. The president was mulling whether or not to hit areas that would impact foundational elements of the Islamic Republic’s grid, as well as infrastructure, according to Axios.“The U.S.A. is locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran, at levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II,” Trump posted to Truth Social. “Despite this, we have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern...

The confrontation, over a strategic ridge in southern Lebanon, challenged a fragile cease-fire between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group.The Israeli military said on Saturday that it had killed several Hezbollah members overnight on a strategic ridge in southern Lebanon, challenging a fragile cease-fire between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group.The encounter happened in the area of the Ali al-Taher ridge, a hilltop about six miles from the Israeli border where violence has flared in recent days. The Israeli military said it had “struck” Hezbollah fighters in an Israeli-occupied area where its soldiers were operating, and that an Israeli soldier...

The Peace Council on Friday published the full roadmap for ending the war in the Gaza Strip, outlining a phased process that includes Hamas’ disarmament, the transfer of civilian and security authority in Gaza to a new Palestinian governing body, an Israeli withdrawal, and a broader political process that could ultimately lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state. The document, titled the "Roadmap of July 30, 2026", serves as the framework for continued implementation of US President Donald Trump’s Comprehensive Plan. According to the document, the roadmap is designed to transform the principles of the 20-point plan from a...

President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu estimated the intense part of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran would last four to six weeks. It is now entering the sixth month without a decisive military victory or a diplomatic breakthrough. Now, as Mr. Trump weighs his next steps and the future of roughly 50,000 U.S. troops across the Middle East, two of Washington's closest regional partners are pressing the president with sharply different visions for how the conflict should proceed. The president received input Wednesday from his partner in this war, Netanyahu, as well as from Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin...

Iranian security agents allegedly cut away skin bearing tattoos of Reza Shah and an imperial crown before killing a 21-year-old protester before later shooting him dead, according to sources close to his family. The sources told Iran International that Amirhossein Nobakht Pardasti was wounded by pellet fire and detained during the January protests at around 10 p.m. on January 8 near 30-Metri Street in Bagher Shahr, south of Tehran. They said he was taken to hospital, where agents used blades and box cutters to remove skin and flesh bearing the tattoos before shooting him dead in what they described as...

Sixteen-year old Yalda Mohammadkhani was shot dead as she fled with her parents and younger sister from masked security forces on motorcycles during protests in Tehran on January 9, informed sources told Iran International. Hours earlier, she was at the front of the crowd, chanting “Long live the Shah,” kicking away a tear-gas canister and urging fellow protesters not to be afraid. It was Yalda's second consecutive day protesting. On January 8, she had joined demonstrations in the Kanal area of Fardis, west of the Iranian capital, with her father and younger sister before returning home after heavy tear gas...

Two-thirds of Americans believe the war in Iran has not been worth fighting. A new AP-NORC poll found that roughly two-thirds of U.S. adults say the war that began Feb. 28 is not worthwhile. The sentiment is shared by the vast majority of Democrats (87%) and independents (68%), as well as 37% of Republicans. The AP-NORC poll, conducted July 23-27, surveyed 1,165 adults and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.

Nearly five years after the last American troops left Afghanistan, al-Qaeda is again finding both sanctuary in the country and an audience far beyond it. A new report from Europol warns that jihadism remained Europe’s most widespread form of terrorism in 2025, accounting for 24 of the 45 terrorist attacks reported by European Union member states and 347 terrorism-related arrests. More ominously, the report finds that al-Qaeda is exploiting the war in Gaza to regain influence and incite attacks against Western and Jewish targets. The group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, has been particularly aggressive. Europol reports that...

Dozens of soldiers from the Givati Brigade’s Tzabar Battalion left the Sde Teiman base without authorization on Thursday afternoon after commanders removed signs and symbols tied to a longstanding battalion tradition, prompting widespread coverage in Arab media that portrayed the incident as a rebellion within the IDF. The soldiers were filmed leaving the base while chanting an obscene slogan against their officers. Some reportedly left their weapons behind before returning home. Videos and images from the scene quickly spread on X and were amplified by Lebanese, Syrian, Qatari and Iraqi outlets aligned with or sympathetic to the Iranian-led regional axis....

215,474 views Jul 28, 2026 Europe says confronting political Islam is impossible, but Germany has quietly been dismantling extremist networks. Using a unique "Militant Democracy" doctrine, Germany can ban and erase entire organizations overnight. Even as it takes a hard line on structures, it refuses to touch faith. This approach challenges Europe to rethink its strategy against online radicalization and foreign influence. Is Germany's narrow path the only way to win?

Egyptian officials have officially confirmed that an Iranian drone strike was responsible for damaging two US energy tankers at the port of Damietta. Following the strike, the United States carried out limited conventional air raids, opting against a broader military escalation despite warnings of a much harsher response. Egyptian authorities officially confirmed Thursday that an explosion damaging two American energy tankers at Damietta Port was caused by an Iranian drone strike. Egyptian officials emphasized that an investigation into the incident remains underway, noting that no group has formally claimed responsibility for the operation. The official confirmation from Cairo follows statements...

Iran’s rulers are not playing to win the war today—they are playing to survive long enough to fight another one tomorrow. We are now in Stage III of the Iran War: the familiar monotony of bomb, talk, bomb. It is now the liberal consensus that the war has failed, if not been won by Iran. We could be entering the war’s final stage, marked by an effort to escalate decisively before disengaging. We know the tired Iranian strategy by now. We might call it “theocratic rope-a-dope.” For the theocrats and their terrorist proxies, survival means outlasting Trump, waiting for the...

The US military says it’s launching strikes on Iranian targets in response to Tehran’s attack on American forces a day earlier. US Central Command said the strikes are “a powerful response to yesterday’s attempted Iranian attack” and that they began Wednesday evening, in a post on social media. It’s a further escalation after a period of calm, with the U.S. saying it had intercepted strikes from Iran a day earlier and carried out separate strikes alongside Saudi Arabia on Tehran-backed militias in neighboring Iraq.

Iran is expected to receive within weeks a first shipment out of up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defence missile launchers, three sources familiar with the deal told Reuters, as it rebuilds its defences amid war with the United States. The purchase, valued at $60-70 million, ‌is one of Tehran's largest-known efforts to strengthen its short-range air defences since the outbreak of its war with the U.S. and Israel, which exposed gaps in ‌Iran's ability to protect military sites and strategic infrastructure. The contract covers the purchase of between 300 and 400 man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS), including Chinese-made QW-12 and...

“. . .there is no saving the Left. There is only saving America from them.” — Sasha Stone. The polycrisis of 2026 whirls like a demon-infested storm overcoming this human project of ours like a medieval panorama of the world’s end. Everything is fraught, tilting toward hazard, menace, ruin. Even under a summer sun, the mind sees only darkness everywhere it looks. Apocalypse now, it seems like. You almost can’t blame the doomers, the black pill-ers, lost in their transports of dread. But I tell you, we will get through this. Is it a surprise that the IRGC has a...

An explosion hit a liquefied natural gas terminal at Egypt's Damietta Port on Wednesday evening during cargo discharge operations, with maritime security officials suspecting an unmanned aerial vehicle attack. Maritime security firm Ambrey reported that a drone struck the American owned, Marshall Islands flagged floating storage tanker Energos Winter, causing a fire that subsequently spread to a second vessel, Gaslog Salem. Shipping agent Inchcape Shipping Services stated that affected vessels were moved outside the port area while emergency crews contained the flames, allowing other berths to resume operations. The incident follows a target map published by Iranian state television identifying...

Airstrikes in Jordan show Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is willing to risk Trump’s retaliationIran’s surprise missile attack on U.S. forces in Jordan shows Tehran’s military leaders would rather risk ramping up the war than play defense or accept a peace deal that would expose them to greater domestic political pressures.Iran fired ballistic missiles on U.S. troops early Wednesday local time, demonstrating a willingness by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which exerts more power than ever in Tehran, to escalate during a relative lull in the conflict and attempt to seize the initiative after weeks in which Iran has mostly reacted to...

President Donald Trump vowed to hit back hard at Iran after it attacked US bases in Jordan on Wednesday, as the Middle East war reignited and once again drew in the Islamic republic's proxies.The warning came after a short lull in the fighting that had spurred hopes of a return to negotiations appeared to draw to an end, sending oil prices jumping five percent over fears of disruptions to global supplies.On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia and the United States announced strikes on militant bases in Iraq, while US ally Israel accused Iran-backed Hezbollah of a truce violation.- 'War by other means'...

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu concluded a White House meeting Tuesday with both governments describing the talks as “positive and productive” and reaffirming their shared commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, as the president weighs whether to continue negotiations with Tehran or authorize additional military action. Iran dominated the discussions, according to Israeli and White House officials, after Trump warned just hours before the meeting that the United States would strike Iran’s suspected Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility if Tehran refuses to reach an agreement over its nuclear program. Following the talks, Netanyahu called...