Free Republic

Iran is in trouble, and the theocratic clique that has ruled the country for 46 years is worried. Who is Israel going to target next? There's no protection for anyone in Iran. Politicians, scientists, bureaucrats, and military leaders are all looking over their shoulders or watching the sky anxiously, wondering if there's a bomb or a drone with their name on it. Paranoia has gripped the Iranian elites. This has resulted in what Reuters describes as a "campaign of widespread arrests." There's also an "intensified street presence" as authorities attempt to head off any kind of mass protests, such as...

Last week, I made a slightly bold prediction that the Iranian mullah regime would fall somewhere between June 17 and 24. The predicate was that, since the end of WW2, the US Deep State (along with its Cold War enemy, the USSR, for the first half of that period) has been managing the world’s regions by situating relatively equal forces in opposition to each other. This keeps regional conflicts at a low-simmering boil, which is controlled and limited—and, most importantly, restricted from overflowing beyond the region and thrusting the world into WW3. Further, this strategy, while noble and even successful,...

After a deadly surprise attack, Israel attacked Iran for 12 days and seriously damaged the Iranian axis of evil • Among other things, our forces killed senior commanders and scientists of the Revolutionary Guards, destroyed military bases and nuclear sites, and seriously damaged the ballistic missile array • But alongside the successes, the price was heavy - 29 civilians were murdered by launches from Tehran • Summary of the operation. Operation "Am Kalavi" : 13 days ago, Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran for the first time in its history. In the opening strike, which began at approximately 3:00...

Donald Trump has delayed a decision on whether to join Israeli attacks on Iran as Sir Keir Starmer continues to urge restraint in the Middle East. The US president said he was still hopeful of reaching a negotiated solution with Tehran and would decide on military action within two weeks, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday. Quoting a message from the president, Ms Leavitt said: “Based on the fact that there is a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision on...

@RandPaul Let me be totally clear: I will not vote to send one American soldier to Iran. Not one.

“For those people who say they want peace, you can’t have peace if Iran has a nuclear weapon," said the U.S. president. June 15, 2025. U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed allegations that his support for Israel in its war against Iran was at odds with his “America First” commitment, stating that preventing Tehran from obtaining nuclear arms was a top U.S. priority. “Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb, very simple. Regardless—Israel or not Israel—Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb,” Trump told The Atlantic for an interview published on Saturday

Israel has urged the United States over the past two days to join its newly launched military campaign against Iran, but the US is currently not considering such a move, reports Axios, citing Israeli and American officials. In the past 48 hours, Israel asked US President Donald Trump’s administration to join its attack against the Islamic Republic’s nuclear and military sites, two Israeli officials told the news site. A US official confirmed Israel’s request and said the Trump administration is not currently considering joining the conflict, the report reads. ...

Israel’s military headquarters may have been struck after Iran’s Islamic Republic unleashed a barrage of missiles on central Tel Aviv late Friday night. Alarming footage shared on social media — and verified by The New York Times — showed a strike slamming into an area that houses several military sites, including the Israel Defense Forces’ main command center.

U.S. officials have been told Israel is fully ready to launch an operation into Iran, multiple sources told CBS News. The U.S. anticipates Iran could retaliate on certain American sites in neighboring Iraq. This is part of the reason the U.S. advised some Americans to leave the region earlier Wednesday, with the State Department ordering non-emergency government officials to exit Iraq due to "heightened regional tensions."

Iran’s defence minister has said his country would target US military bases in the region if conflict breaks out with the United States, as President Donald Trump said he was losing confidence that a nuclear deal would be agreed. Washington and Tehran have held five rounds of talks since April as Trump seeks an agreement that would place constraints on Iran’s uranium enrichment. He has threatened to attack Iran if no deal can be agreed. Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said on Wednesday that Iran would target US military bases in the region if the US attacked it first. “Some officials...

President Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their Monday phone call that he believes there's a chance of reaching a nuclear deal with Iran and he therefore opposes military action at this time, an Israeli official and a U.S. official tell Axios. Why it matters: The call between Trump and Netanyahu took place several days before the expiration of the two-month deadline Trump gave Iran for reaching a deal. Iranian officials have been finalizing their response to the U.S. nuclear deal proposal, and are expected to deliver a formal rejection this week. A sixth round of nuclear talks...

The top US military commander for the Middle East says he has presented US President Donald Trump with military plans to strike Iran and is prepared to do if so ordered. “I have provided the secretary of defense and the president a wide range of options,” Central Command head Gen. Michael Kurilla says during testimony before the House Armed Services Committee. Kurilla was responding to Representative Mike Rogers of Alabama, the chairman of the committee, who asked if CENTCOM was prepared to respond with overwhelming force if Iran does not permanently give up its nuclear ambitions. “I take that as...

Russia has signed a contract with Iran to build eight nuclear power plants, with four to be built in Bushehr, a district in the southern part of the nation, according to an announcement by the head of the Atomic Energy Organization. Ebrahim Rezaei, the spokesman for the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, commented that the Iranian people wish to support the nuclear industry, as it secures the country's future, according to The Iran Press.

United States President Donald Trump commented on Friday that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, are both "stubborn." "I have known [Putin] very well. I have gone through a lot of things with him ... [But] I have gotten to see things that I was very surprised at: rockets being shot into cities like Kiev, during a negotiation that I felt was maybe very close to ending. We were gonna solve a problem, and then, all of a sudden, rockets got shot into a couple of cities," the US head of state said during a...

US President Donald Trump has appeared to set a two-week deadline for Vladimir Putin, threatening a different response if the Russian counterpart was still stringing him along. As the Kremlin escalated its attacks on Ukraine, Trump was asked in the Oval Office on Wednesday if he thought Putin wanted to end the war. "I can't tell you that, but I'll let you know in about two weeks," Trump told reporters, the latest amid a string of critical public remarks made by Trump about Putin. Since Sunday, Trump has written multiple posts on social media saying that Putin has gone "absolutely...

Satellite images have revealed how Moscow is bulking up its military presence on the Finnish border - in a chilling echo of pictures taken of Russian bases before Putin launched his war in Ukraine. Moscow is building troop accommodation, aircraft deployment infrastructure and refurbishing old facilities at key military bases, analysts have said, in a sign it is seeking to reinforce its capabilities in the border region. The pictures, which were obtained by Swedish broadcaster SVT from Planet Labs, suggest there has been activity at four locations inside Russia - Kamenka, Petrozavodsk, Severomorsk-2, and Olenya. In Kamenka, which is around...

South African politician Julius Malema, the leader of the radical Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, responded to President Donald Trump’s claims about “genocide” Wednesday by reiterating calls to kill white farmers. Earlier that day, Trump had shown visiting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa video of Malema leading rally chants of “Kill the Boer!”, “Kill the farmer!”, “Shoot to kill!”, and other incendiary slogans. Ramaphosa tried to argue that Malema’s rhetoric did not represent the government’s policies, but Trump countered that South Africa had passed a law allowing expropriation of land without compensation, that it had racially discriminatory laws, and that...

The Baloch of western Pakistan have declared themselves independant. Summarizes Baloch Welfare Assn of India's letter to the Indian PM enumerating the Pakistani's attrocities and human rights violations. Speaks to son of political prisoner being kept in perpetual solitary. Describes Balochis as non-militant moderates.

A core group of top US officials — including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State and interim national security adviser Marco Rubio, and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles — had been closely monitoring the escalating conflict between India and Pakistan when on Friday morning, the US received alarming intelligence, Trump administration officials told CNN. While they declined to describe the nature of the information, citing its sensitivity, they said it was critical in persuading the three officials that the US should increase its involvement. Vance himself would call Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The vice president briefed...

Could President Donald Trump officially recognize Palestine as an independent state on his trip to the Middle East? That’s what some analysts are predicting as a lively debate rages in the Arab media sphere over just how far the U.S. president will go while abroad. There had already been some writing on the wall that Trump’s Middle East tour — which includes visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates — was not coming in the midst of a period of unalloyed harmony between the administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Hebrew-language Israeli media reported Thursday that...