Free Republic

Top News Story Is Iran about to launch a war in northern Iraq? DEBKAfile reported that a new Middle East war is in the offing with Turkish and Iranian air units are poised for an imminent coordinated invasion of the northern Iraqi Kurdistan. The report claimed Iranian and Turkish assault troops are already deployed 7-8 km deep inside Iraqi territory.   The EU/Iran have weeks to agree on an agenda for more talks. Reuters reported that France said that EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran had weeks rather than months to agree an agenda for talks about...

Top News Story EU3 cave into Iran. Reuters reported that France, Britain and Germany would be willing to begin talks with Iran even if it has not suspended its nuclear enrichment program first, but Washington would not take part.   Islamic Republic tries to crush new Azeri dissent. Regnum reported the arrest of five Azeri after troops were deployed by the authorities in order to prevent massive rallies by Azeri’s against opening new schools in Farsi.   Pakistan surrenders region to Taliban and Al Qaeda? Daveed Gartenstein-Ross & Bill Roggio, The Weekly Standard reported that the government of Pakistan...

Top News Story Iranmania LONDON, September 23 (IranMania) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said rabbis are criticising the 'Zionist' regime more than the Islamic Republic of Iran, IRNA reported. Speaking to reporters after his 10-day visit to Senegal, Cuba, Venezuela and the UN General Assembly in New York, the president said he held a lengthy meeting with Jewish clerics in the US. "They expressed their concerns to us over the behaviour of the Zionists," he added. The president also said that during the visit, he explained Iran's principled stand on a host of issues during meetings with various groups...

Top News Story Ahmadinejad crushes CFR hopes for a "grand bargain." The New York Times reported that Ahmadinejad met with two dozen members of the Council on Foreign Relations, then ending the evening by asking whether they were simply shills for the Bush administration.Kenneth R. Timmerman, FrontPageMagazine.com reported that while the CFR has consistently promoted a "grand bargain" with the regime in Tehran and ex-CFR staffer Susan Maloney at the State Department has vetoed funding of the Iranian opposition radio and TV broadcasts, and training for opposition groups inside Iran, on the grounds that it might offend the Tehran...

A red floor which dates back to the reign of Darius the Great was recently unearthed in the treasury of Persepolis, the Persian service of CHN reported on Wednesday. Archaeologists working on Persepolis were not informed about the floor, which was discovered while gardeners worked on the green area over top of one section of the treasury... [C]urator of the Persepolis site-specific museum Mohammad-Taqi Ataii said... the discovery confirms the view of German archaeologist Erich Frederich Schmidt about the dimensions of the treasury at the time of Darius I. Schmidt excavated Persepolis in the mid 1930s. Archaeological studies show that...

Top News Story Ahmadinejad tells big lies but is largely unchallenged by the media. MSNBC and NBC News published an interview with Ahmadinejad in which he claimed that while the US “... speak of war so easily, as if it’s on their daily agenda. We never speak of war.”Los Angeles Times reported that Iran's president told the United Nations that the organization had become a tool used by the world's powerful to oppress the weak, and call.   Chavez calls Bush "the devil." Drudge Report published the full text of Venezuelan President Chavez remarks at the UN General Assembly....

Top News Story Ahmadinejad attempts to rally the world against the US. Vital Perspective published the full translated text of Ahmadinejad's UN speech. A few excerpts... On the nuclear issue: "All our nuclear activities are transparent, peaceful and under the watchful eyes of IAEA inspectors." On the US and Britain: "They consider themselves the masters and rulers of the entire world." On human rights: "Should respect for the rights of human beings become the predominant objective, then injustice, ill temperament, aggression and war will fade away." He ended with: "Oh, Almighty God... upon humanity that thirsts for justice, the...

Top News Story Ahmadinejad invited to speak to the CFR in NYC. One Jerusalem has confirmed that the President of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Left-leaning establishment organization in New York, is inviting major civic, business, and political leaders to meet Iran's tyrannical President Ahmadinejad this week, when he is in New York. They asked for your help.Eli Lake, New York Sun reported that Jewish leaders in New York are spurning a request from the Council on Foreign Relations to meet with the president of Iran when he arrives for the U.N. General Assembly.Ken Timmerman, Iran.org reported a...

Top News Story The Islamic Republic's media campaign in the US. Daniel M. Zucker, Global Politician reported on the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (VEVAK) sophisticated campaign of disinformation, learned from the Soviet KGB, and its work in the United States. A must read.   UNSC to act this week on Iran? CNN News reported that Condoleezza Rice said the United States expects to "make some movement forward" on a sanctions resolution when U.N. diplomats convene in New York next week.The New York Times reported that after intense talks about Iran's nuclear program, the United States and...

Where are you from?" My co-worker asked me a couple of days ago. "From Persia", I answered. "Uhm, that doesn't exist anymore, does it?" Was his response. I hesitated whether I had the energy to explain the source of my answer "Persia" instead of "Iran". I decided that I would explain it once again in my life and this time try to keep it short and simple. "Well no, the Persian Empire as Persia refers to, does not exist. But it is the association with that empire that I prefer than the theocratic, Islamic Republic that it has now become."...

Top News Story A mini cold war is starting in the Middle East. Amir Taheri, Asharq Alawsat argued that a mini cold war in the Middle East is likely to begin with a Western push for regime change in Syria.   Bush won't meet Ahmadinejad at the UN. He has other plans. Iran Focus reported that United States President George W. Bush ruled out meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York where world leaders will gather next week.   Another meaningless meeting of the major powers and...

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A Russian-built rocket carrying the world's first female space tourist lifted off Monday in Kazakhstan on a flight to the international space station. Anousheh Ansari, an Iranian-American telecommunications entrepreneur, was accompanied by a U.S.-Russian crew on the Soyuz TMA-9 capsule.

Top News Story Pakistan releases 2500 Al Qaeda and Taliban. The Telegrah reported that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's government had authorized the release from jail of 2,500 Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters caught fighting coalition forces in Afghanistan.   Krauthammer: Bush preparing for war with Iran. Charles Krauthammer, The Washington Post reported that President Bush said "It's very important for the American people to see the president try to solve problems diplomatically before resorting to military force." "Before" implies that the one follows the other. The signal is unmistakable.The Washington Post asked President Bush what he would say to...

With the launching of Chinese style cultural revolution by the president of Iran and following the clashes between professionals and government officials over the protection of Isfahan’s historic sites, news reports indicate that similar quarrels are heating up now in Kermanshah province over its historic sites. By recalling the events that took place in Isfahan, archeology experts argue that planning the underground metro system in Kermanshah on the regions that are registered as national historic sites is not an accidental event. It is completely planned and derives from the perspective that views all focus on pre-Islamic events in the region...

Top News Story Xinhua TEHRAN, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Iran denounced Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday for his recent comments on Islam and requested a apology, the official IRNA news agency reported The pope's remarks were "contradictory to his status as the leader of one of the world's divine faiths," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini was quoted as saying. The remarks made by the pope, "emanate from political interpretations and are contrary to the divine notions, we consider it's a big mistake... and we condemn them," he added "In order to prevent the indignation of the Muslim's world,...

Top News Story The lies Khatami spoke in the US. Amir Taheri, New York Post reported that in his recent speeches in the US, Khatami used a vocabulary carefully designed to hoodwink the Americans. The trick was reinforced by the fact that he often said one thing in Persian, while the interpreter said something else in English for the benefit of the Harvard audience. A must read.   The West is still divided on what to do next with Iran. New Press reported that key European nations called on Iran to negotiate its nuclear dispute with the international community,...

Top News Story Sharansky: A troubling story from Putin. Natan Sharansky, Los Angeles Times reported that in 2000, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin told me a story that he has been unable to get out of his mind. The story involves a nephew, a suitcase, a train to Manhattan and a nuclear bomb.   France's Sarkozy: Iran is an outlaw nation. NDTV reported that French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said that Iran had "made itself into an outlaw nation" and must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.   Did Bush promise a pre-emptive attack on Iran? Mario Loyola,...

Top News Story Khatami questioned at Harvard and slips. Russell Berman, Telos reported on a Khatami's response at Harvard to a question from an Iranian in the audience who questioned him about the case of the suppression of free speech: the arrest, rape and murder of Canadian-Iranian journalist Zahra Kazemi. Khatami's answer was very revealing.Yahoo News reported Khatami was met by protesters when he arrived at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Many angrily called on him to stand up for human rights where Harvard College Democrats teamed with their Republican peers for the protest.   Blair warns the West...

Top News Story Islamic Republic's sub missile launch a fake. Los Angeles Times reported that U.S. military intelligence has determined that a video released by the Iranian government purporting to show a test of a new submarine missile is bogus. it matched a video of an earlier Chinese test. "It's the identical launch," a Pentagon official said. "The plume, everything, is the same."   Ahmadinejad visits Venezuela and Cuba. IranMania reported that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to hold talks next week in Venezuela to meet with Chavez who recently told cheering students that "we should unite and save...

Top News Story Khatami served with a court summons at CAIR reception. PRNewswire reported that seven Jewish-Iranian families have filed suit in an American federal court against former President Mohammad Khatami over charges that he is responsible for the kidnapping and torture of their missing family members. The summons was served on Khatami at a reception hosted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.   Bush personally signed off on Khatami's visit. Paul Gigot, The Wall Street Journal interviewed President Bush on Iran who said he personally signed off on the U.S. visit this week by former Iranian President Mohammad...