Free Republic

Throughout four weeks of war, Iran has continued to make the United States’ Gulf partners pay a price for Operation Epic Fury and Israel’s Operation Roaring Lion. The Iranians have fired thousands of missiles and dronesat their neighbors, with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) bearing the brunt of the assault. There is also significant damage to energy infrastructure in Bahrain, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. From the first days of the conflict, part of the Islamic Republic’s strategy was immediately clear: inflict significant pain on Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia so that they would in turn pressure the United States...

Damage to a critical Qatari facility is threatening to keep energy prices high around the world even if the war in Iran ends soon in what some analysts are calling an “Armageddon” situation. Qatar’s Las Raffan plant supplies a fifth of the world’s liquefied natural gas, which is used for electricity, heating and cooking – but Iranian strikes have damaged the facility, worsening what is already the largest-ever energy supply disruption. “I woke up this morning and thought, ‘No, please no,’” Anne-Sophie Corbeau, former head of gas analysis at BP now at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, told...

"The British Isles are declared to be in a state of blockade,” announced Napoleon Bonaparte, and elaborated: “All commerce and all correspondence with the British Isles are forbidden.” It was 1806, and what would be known as the Berlin Decree aimed to strangle the British economy. The bold scheme seemed economically logical and militarily practical, but it ended up a grand flop. Britain’s economy, coastline, and navy all proved too big for the plan, which also underestimated the kingdom’s link to America and access to the high seas. In fact, Napoleon’s blockade backfired. Europe, it turned out, needed British exports...

Serbia has sharply condemned Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, for what it described as “unacceptable interference in internal affairs,” after she criticized the Balkan country’s military cooperation with Israel. The diplomatic dispute follows Albanese’s visit to Belgrade this week, during which she accused Serbian authorities of collaborating “without shame” with Israel, claiming Serbia is among its strongest allies and that Serbian weapons are being used in Gaza. “We consider the statements made by the United Nations Special Rapporteur, Mrs. Albanese, to be unbalanced and activist in nature, and as such inappropriate to the mandate she...

The latest attacks by Iran on Qatar facilities have damaged infrastructure that accounts for 17% of QatarEnergy’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capability, Reuters reports. The attacks will also cut helium output by 14%, said QatarEnergy. QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi told the news agency today, “I never in my wildest ‌dreams ⁠would have thought that Qatar would be, Qatar and the region, in such an ⁠attack, especially from a brotherly Muslim country in the month of ⁠Ramadan, attacking us in this way.” That cut in production capability equates to an estimated $20bn in lost revenues each year, including the value...

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan warned Thursday that the Kingdom’s restraint in the face of escalating Iranian attacks “is not unlimited,” signaling that military action remains on the table — as Arab and Islamic states issued a unified call for Tehran to halt its aggression. “The Kingdom and its partners possess significant capabilities, and the patience we have shown is not unlimited. It could be a day, two days, or a week — I will not say,” he told reporters following an emergency meeting of foreign ministers in Riyadh. In some of his strongest remarks since...

Two weeks into Operation Epic Fury, the dominant narrative has settled into a comfortable groove: The United States and Israel stumbled into a war without a plan. Iran is retaliating across the region. Oil prices are surging, and the world is facing another Middle Eastern quagmire. US senators have called it a blunder. Cable news has tallied the crises. Commentators have warned of a long war. The chorus is loud and, in some respects, understandable. War is ugly, and this one has imposed real costs on millions of people across the Middle East, including the city I live in. But...

Iranian attacks have knocked out 17% of Qatar’s liquefied natural ⁠gas export capacity, causing an estimated $20 billion in lost annual revenue and threatening supplies to Europe ​and Asia, QatarEnergy’s CEO told ​Reuters on Thursday. Saad ​al-Kaabi said two of Qatar’s 14 LNG trains and one of its two gas-to-liquids (GTL) facilities were damaged in the unprecedented strikes. The repairs will sideline 12.8 ⁠million tons ‌per year of LNG for three to ⁠five years, he said. “I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that Qatar would be - Qatar and the region - in such an attack, especially...

Iran is threatening to execute retaliatory strikes on oil and gas facilities near the Persian Gulf after Israel launched an attack on its South Pars gas field on Wednesday. No one was harmed in the strike by Israel on one of the world's largest natural gas fields. Qatar also operates facilities in the South Pars gas field. Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Majed Al Ansai, was critical of Israel over the attack, calling it "reckless and irresponsible." Several potential targets are bracing for retaliation by Iran. Saudi Arabia, which is across the Persian Gulf from Iran, has at least four major...

Iran continues to launch hundreds of drones towards the Gulf nations, including new rounds of attacks on Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain over the last few days. “13 drones [were] downed east of Riyadh city and eight [were] destroyed upon entering Saudi airspace.” The report added, “Drone attacks continue despite an apology given by Iranian officials to Gulf states.” Additionally, “Saudi Arabia’s air defenses neutralized a fresh wave of drone attacks on Sunday Iran also targeted Aramco’s Shaybah oil field with 21 drones. on Saturday, Saudi defenses intercepted five ballistic missiles launched toward Prince Sultan Air Base in...

Doha on Wednesday rejected Tehran’s claim that Iranian attacks on Qatari territory were aimed at American targets rather than Qatar itself. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi repeated the claim during a phone call with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s state news agency reported. For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app. Sheikh Mohammed, who also serves as Qatar’s foreign minister, “categorically rejected these claims,” saying the facts on the ground show the attacks struck civilian and residential areas in Qatar. He said the strikes hit areas near Hamad...

His sell by date has expired. Tucker sees conspiratorial Jewish machinations driving U.S. foreign policy. Tucker has created a chasm, isolating himself from many of his former fans, me included.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said this week that Doha has “no information” about alleged Israeli intelligence cells operating in the country, after US media personality Tucker Carlson asserted that Qatari and Saudi authorities had arrested “Mossad agents” (Israel’s foreign intelligence agency) planning bombings in both countries. Carlson made the allegation in a widely shared segment posted by the Tucker Carlson Network under the title “BREAKING: Mossad Agents Arrested in Planned Bombing Operation,” describing the purported arrests as an unreported “fact.”

US political commentator and journalist Tucker Carlson claimed on Monday that Saudi Arabia and Qatar had caught and “arrested Israeli Mossad agents planning bombings in those countries”. “Why would the Israelis be committing bombings in Gulf countries, which are also being attacked by Iran?” Carlson said on his show. “Aren’t they on the same side?” “Israel wants to hurt Iran - and Qatar, and the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain, and Oman and Kuwait,” he added. Carlson also alleged that Israel deliberately sows chaos among America’s Arab allies. The American journalist did not cite a source for the claim,...

Qatar's Foreign Ministry said Iran's attacks have crossed "every red line" and condemned the strikes which targeted civilian areas and facilities. Iran did not just target military facilities but all of Qatari territory including Doha airport and gas facilities, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry told reporters on Tuesday. Qatar also shot down two Iranian fighters jets who entered its airspace on Monday. "Red lines have already been crossed," Majed Al-Ansari, a spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, told reporters. "The attack on our sovereignty, the blatant attack on our people, on the security and safety of our nation has already crossed every...

Decision follows US and Israeli strikes on Iran in a rising threat to Gulf oil flowsOpec+ has agreed to increase output by 206,000 barrels per day from April, following one of the alliance’s most consequential meetings in years, held against the backdrop of US and Israeli strikes on Iran and rising threats to Gulf oil flows. The figure falls between the 137,000 bpd base case most analysts had anticipated and the more aggressive increases of 400,000 to 500,000 bpd that had been suggested. “The eight participating countries decided to resume the unwinding of the 1.65 million bpd of additional voluntary...

The United Nations chief condemned the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran on Saturday and called for an immediate return to negotiations “to pull the region, and our world, back from the brink.” Secretary-General António Guterres told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that everything must be done to prevent further escalation. “The alternative,” he warned, “is a potential wider conflict with grave consequences for civilians and regional stability.” Guterres said the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes violated international law, including the U.N. Charter. He also condemned Iran’s retaliatory attacks for violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan,...

Saudi Arabia said it’s ready to put “all its capabilities” at its allies’ disposal, warning of “grave consequences” if retaliatory Iranian strikes continue — sparking fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East. It comes after the Islamic Republic launched a barrage of missiles on US military bases in Saudia Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE and Jordan — in retaliation for US and Israel military strikes against Tehran overnight. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia condemns and denounces in strongest terms the blatant Iranian aggression,” the Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said on a statement on X Saturday. Iranian strikes...

A major geopolitical flashpoint erupted across the Middle East on Saturday after Iran launched missile and drone attacks targeting multiple Gulf nations, prompting Saudi Arabia to issue a blistering condemnation of what it described as “brutal Iranian aggression.” Saudi officials made it clear that Riyadh is standing in full solidarity with the nations targeted in Saturday’s coordinated Iranian assault. In its statement, the Kingdom warned that the attacks represent blatant violations of international law and expressed its readiness to assist its regional allies with “all its capabilities.” According to a statement from the Saudi Foreign Ministry: The Kingdom of Saudi...

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has reportedly been killed in the military strikes, according to unconfirmed reports from Israel's Channel 12. Iran's Foreign Minister has denied these reports. GB News has not independently verified these claims and the situation remains developing. This comes as US and Israeli forces launched major combat operations against Iran, with explosions reported across multiple Middle Eastern countries including Bahrain, UAE and Kuwait.