Free Republic

In the last few days senior Iranian and Syrian officials, including Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, have stepped up their statements on the war, with the Syrian regime's mouthpieces in the media following suit.The following are excerpts:Iranian Revolutionary Guards Commander: We Must Keep the Hatred of America Burning in Our Hearts Until the Moment of Revenge Arrives The Iranian conservative news agency Fars reported that Iranian Revolutionary Guards Commander Yahya Raheem Safavi gave a speech before forces from the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij [1] on July 30, 2006, in which he demanded that they be prepared to act against Israel...

In pictures: Remembering Khomeini YOUR PICTURE GALLERY IS NOW LOADING... On the 17th anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Khomenei, Iranian photographer Mohsen Shandiz (centre) presents his memories of the return of the spiritual leader of the Islamic revolution to Iran in 1979. "The day of Khomeini's return he went straight to honour the martyrs at Behesht e Zahra cemetry. Nobody would move out of the way so the helicopter could land because they were so euphoric about his return." "This is Khomeini returning to Qom. The mosque he was resting at had been besieged by thousands of well...

by Mark Finkelstein March 2, 2006 Is it just coincidence? Barely a week after new media from Rush Limbaugh [subscripton required] to this column found the Today show appearance of NY Times foreign-affairs maven Thomas Friedman noteworthy, Today had him back again this morning. Could the new media be driving news choices at the antique? In any case, while the ostensible purpose of Friedman's appearance was to discuss President Bush's current trip to India, his most interesting comments came in relation to Iraq and by extension to the entire Middle East. His notion: the path from dictatorship to democracy in...

Editor's note: Readers may also be interested in Iran: The Invisible Revolution. During the U.S. presidential campaign, debate over Iran policy received unprecedented attention. The reasons are multifold. With Iran on the verge of developing both nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile capability, Washington policymakers can no longer ignore the Iranian threat, especially when confidants of Supreme Leader Ali Khomenei lead televised chants of "American will be annihilated," as Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati did last June. American concern over a nuclear Iran is multifold. The danger is not necessarily that Iran would conduct a nuclear first strike, although former president Ali Akbar...

Source: MPG Subject: Marze Por Gohar Party challenges Mr. Pahlavi and Mr. Khomenei to a debate Time 10-07-2003 13:54 It’s official, the grandson of Khomenei, and the son of the Shah are combining forces (using the term "forces" very loosely here). It would seem this union would come natural, after all monarchists use God to explain why there should be a king, and clerics use God to explain why there should be a theocracy. However, one can find even more parallels between the two characters then meet the eye. After nearly 25 years, Mr. Khomenei has supposedly escaped Iran. One...