Free Republic

Country is on verge of revolution...again.

Updated January 3, 2019, 10:14 a.m.After President Donald Trump ordered the airstrike that killed Qasem Soleimani, the leader of Iran's Quds Force, leaders in Iran gathered to formulate a response. Many warned of a "major escalation" after the airstrike, even though Trump's action came in response to the storming of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, for which the Pentagon blamed Soleimani. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei vowed "severe revenge" but stopped short of declaring war on the U.S. "Dear Iranian Nation! Years of sincere, brave efforts fighting against the devils& villainous in the world & yrs of wishing for martyrdom...

Iran's "Supreme Leader" Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that sanctions and pressure cannot force Tehran to surrender since Iranians are strong and always overcome problems, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported, crediting semi-official Iranian news agency Fars. "During the last 33 years, Iran has been faced with a wide range of political, security, military and economic pressure and sanctions," Fars quoted Khamenei as saying. "But the Iranian nation has defused these pressure and grown more powerful through its resistance," he added. The growing pressure is mainly aimed at making the Iranian nation surrender, he explained, "but Iran has not bowed and...

Former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar told the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin told him that Israel will 'take care of' Iran. Aznar also repeated a conversation with Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni in which Khameni said that it was 'inevitable' that Iran would confront the United States and Israel. Don’t worry about Iran, Israel will take care of it, former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin as telling him years ago. Aznar, speaking Wednesday at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs on a meeting he...

See for example this thread first. I think we should not be surprised Khameni was hospitalized If he has cancer is that an answer to the prayers of those he's traumatized?

The most astonishing aspect of Friday's presidential vote in Iran is not that the elections will go into a second round but that Tehran managed to convince so many in the West that this is a real demonstration of democracy. All power is held by Supreme Leader Ali Khameni, his Council of Guardians and the small clique of military officers and businessmen around him. The Council disqualified more than 1,000 candidates before the election, vetting only contestants who support the regime's ideological lines. The example of outgoing "reformist" President Mohammad Khatami, who presided over eight years of economic decline and...

We've read the Michael Leeden articles, and we can't stand it any more. So, bloggers are jumping in. There's a Blog Burst going on, starting with John's Open Letter to the Iranian People referenced above (and reproduced/modified on many blogs). As noted on Winds of Change, Iranian blogger "Derek Shan" has already helped start 1,200 Farsi-language blogs inside Iran. We're hoping that will help with translation, and also begin spreading the word in-country. If you have a web site, join the effort! I have.