Free Republic

The United States on Thursday urged Iran not to carry out the executions of three people involved in nationwide protests, with campaigners fearing that authorities will kill them imminently, AFP reported. State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel, echoing a statement last week by Amnesty International, voiced concern that Iran may soon execute Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi, who were arrested in November over protests in the central city of Isfahan. "We join the people of Iran and the international community in calling on Iran to not carry out these executions," Patel was quoted as having told reporters. "The...

The Islamic Republic’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) have made a criminal Iran’s leading drug lord, Iran International can reveal. Information obtained by Iran International shows how Naji Sharifi-Zindashti and his cartel now dominate the narcotics trade thanks to the support of the government militia. His extraordinary rise comes despite his having killed a prison guard in Iran and fleeing abroad, only to return with impunity. Investigative reporter Mojtaba Pourmohsen has uncovered how a recent rise in the number of executions of convicts sentenced to death on drug-related charges is the result of infighting between rival drug cartels with connections within the...

A massive new US embassy complex in Lebanon is causing controversy for its sheer size and opulence in a country where nearly 80% of the population is under the poverty line. Located some 13 kilometers (about 8 miles) from the center of Beirut, the US’ new embassy compound in Lebanon looks like a city of its own. Sprawling over a 43-acre site, the complex in the Beirut suburb of Awkar is almost two-and-a-half times the size of the land the White House sits on and more than 21 soccer fields. Many Lebanese on Twitter questioned why the US needs such...

CAMERA’s exposé, which can be read here in full, demonstrates that the four journalists failed to live up to France 24’s charter of ethics. In numerous social media posts, the journalists can be seen praising Hitler, minimizing the Holocaust, and glorifying Hamas-affiliated terrorists who murdered and maimed scores of Jewish civilians. “Professional journalists are expected to hold up basic standards of objectivity, which obviously includes not cheerleading for Hitler and Hamas-inspired terrorism,” said Andrea Levin, CAMERA executive director. “We commend France 24 for promptly investigating this serious situation, and we hope that the news outlet cuts ties with these apologists...

Saudi Arabia has reportedly invited Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi for an official state visit after the two sides agreed to restore ties in a peace deal brokered by China. Per the BBC, the invitation came in a letter from Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, but that has yet to be confirmed by Saudi officials. A senior Iranian official, Mohammad Jamshidi, tweeted about the invitation to visit the Saudi capital, Riyadh, saying Mr Raisi had welcomed it and "stressed Iran's readiness to expand co-operation". Separately, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told reporters that the two countries had agreed to hold a meeting...

Amirali Hajizadeh, commander of aerospace forces for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), boasted on Friday that his forces have developed a new cruise missile with a range of over 1,000 miles. Hajizadeh suggested the missile would be useful in the IRGC’s ongoing quest to kill former U.S. President Donald Trump and his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, for ordering the liquidation of Iranian terrorist mastermind Gen. Qassem Soleimani in 2020.“Our cruise missile with a range of 1,650 km has been added to the missile arsenal of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Hajizadeh said in a broadcast on Iranian state...

Iran could now produce “one bomb’s worth of fissile material” in “about 12 days,” a top US Defense Department official said Tuesday. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl offered one of the most striking US government assessments to date of Iran’s “breakout time” as efforts to try to restore the Iran nuclear agreement remain halted and Tehran continues to breach the restrictions set out by the deal. Kahl said that “Iran’s nuclear progress since” the Trump administration withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal “has been remarkable.” “Back in 2018, when the previous administration decided to...

Prof. Alan Dershowitz and other experts tell JNS they would disband the U.N. agency. BY BRADLEY MARTIN (February 7, 2023 / JNS) On his recent trip to Israel, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke often about the importance of security and stability in the region. Following a terrorist attack in which seven Israelis were murdered, he told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israelis should know that America’s commitment to their security is “ironclad.” But several legal analysts told JNS that Blinken’s pledge of roughly $50 million in U.S. additional assistance to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine...

* The Arab-Palestinian Alkam Khairy carried out Synagogue Massacre Shabbat evening - he waited outside the synagogue to slaughter and when people ran away, he chased after them.* Many celebrations erupted among masses of racist Arabs.* Terrorist's father from hell praised him, that he was a devout Muslim and this is for him a joy like his wedding.* While worldwide condemnation poured in, Abu Mazen blamed ... Israel, and his Fatah actually hailed the massacre.___________GND @GND_arabic Tweeted:Jan 27, 2023.https://twitter.com/GND_arabic/status/1619068069141446656The Israeli citizen Abdelrahem Haj Yahya shares a story with a bemused smile and an impression (due to the attack): "This is...

In January, 2020, Israeli media outlets reported that the United States had "updated" Israel before assassinating Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Now a former Israeli military intelligence chief, Tamir Hayman, has revealed that Israel played a far more crucial role in the killing, having convinced the Trump administration that Soleimani posed an "immediate threat" to American soldiers and should be taken out. Speaking exclusively to Jewish News, Hayman, currently the managing director of the Institute for National Security Studies, said, "Israel convinced the U.S. of Soleimani’s malign activities against Americans....

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah’s recent cancellation of a planned public address is continuing to fuel rumors that the 62-year-old terrorist leader is gravely ill. Nasrallah had been scheduled to make a televised speech Friday evening, but postponed the address, with Hezbollah’s media relations department “health reasons.” The Lebanese terror group claimed that Nasrallah was suffering from an influenza infection, which would “prevent him from speaking in a regular and normal manner.” The group also said its leader is “receiving the appropriate treatment” and will speak on Tuesday evening at a Hezbollah rally commemorating slain Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and slain...

Israel’s incoming prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said that the US must "reaffirm" its alliance with Saudi Arabia and that he will seek normalization with Riyadh once in office."I think that the alliance, the traditional (US) alliance with Saudi Arabia and other countries, has to be reaffirmed. There should not be periodic swings, or even wild swings in this relationship, because I think that the alliance between America’s allies and with America is the anchor of stability in our region," Netanyahu recently told Al-Arabiya English.Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu stands among members of the new Israeli parliament after a swearing-in ceremony...

Led by a respected former PM, and given a lot of resources by the Russian State, meet the Imperial Orthodox Palestine SocietyThe Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, a humanitarian NGO founded in Russia 140 years ago, now plays a key role in expanding Russian influence in the Middle East and beyond. As relations between Russia and the Western world plunge, Middle East and African countries engage in developing ties with Moscow. It is also quite remarkable that this rapprochement is based not so much on political foundations as on the common values and moral foundations. The Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IOPS)...

UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Association, announced a number of resolutions just before the weekend started. One, submitted by the Russian Federation, called for defining UNESCO’s role in safeguarding and preserving Palmyra and other Syrian World Heritage sites. Another was about “Enhancing UNESCO’s contributions to promote a culture of mutual respect and tolerance.” A third was simply entitled “Occupied Palestine” and addressed the Jerusalem Old City hotspot that Jews refer to as the Temple Mount and Muslims call Haram Al-Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary. Except that the Jewish link to the site, considered the holiest place for Jews,...

Israeli forces have once again clashed with Palestinians demonstrating against the new US policy on Jerusalem al-Quds in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. The Israeli soldiers used stun grenades and tear gas to disperse the protesters who had gathered outside an Israeli military tower in Bethlehem on Saturday. Holding Palestinian flags, some of the demonstrators were dressed as Santa Claus. Bethlehem resident Mohammad al-Lahham said the Santa costumes send a message to Palestinian children "that we are on the path to freedom, to Jerusalem. Papa Noel (Santa Claus) distributes gifts and the occupation distributes bombs today. These are the...

That James Zogby is an anti-Zionist, and anti-Israel agitator goes without saying. Zogby is a longtime leader of various anti-Israel groups — first the Palestine Human Rights Campaign, then the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and currently the Arab American Institute. It is his hypocrisy however, that is most disturbing. As a regular opinion commentator at Egypt’s Al-AhramEnglish, his latest piece (December 20, 2020), “Conservative Christians Remain Silent about Suffering Bethlehem” injects anti-Israel vitriol sugarcoated as a plea to pro-Israel conservative Christians to abandon Israel’s just cause. Of course, as an American of Arab ancestry, one can understand his sympathy for...

..the real reason for Christian decline in Bethlehem: the Palestinian Authority and radical Islam. It started with Yasser Arafat. Arriving from Tunis, Arafat immediately set out to suppress the Palestinian middle class across the West Bank, which he understood could be the only real opposition to his planned dictatorial authority. He nationalized most business sectors and squeezed Palestinian small businessmen out of business. Especially hard hit were middle class businessmen of Bethlehem, mainly Christian. Arafat then sidelined the long-time Christian mayor of Bethlehem, Elias Freij, and Arafat’s henchmen led a campaign of terror and intimidation against Christian institutions and families...

The Mujahedin al Khalq, or MKO, is, after the Iranian regime itself, the most hated group inside Iran. It allied with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to enable the Islamic Revolution but, after a falling out, launched a terrorist campaign inside Iran. The MKO also cast its lot with Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Its leader, Maryam Rajavi, rules with an iron fist over the organization and insists upon the same head covering that Iranians risk their lives to shed. Far from supporting women’s rights, the group tells women whom they can marry and forcibly divorces them. In short, it is a cult

Senior Hamas Official Mahmoud Al-Zahar: The “Army of Jerusalem” Will Not Liberate Palestinian Land Only; the 512 Million Square Kilometers of Planet Earth Will Come Under a System with No Zionism, No Treacherous Christianity #Hamas #Palestinians.

Preparing for any potential war against Iran, the Biden administration has formally elevated Israel in military planning.... ...For the Pentagon, Israel is the most prized military and intelligence partner in the Middle East, with its vast combat experience and advanced technologies. With the end of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, and with the brokering of the Abraham Accords by the Trump administration, Washington sees an opportunity to incorporate Israel into a new regional alliance. ... ..."CENTCOM will now work to implement the U.S. Government commitment to a holistic approach to regional security and cooperation with our partners," the Tampa-based command...