Free Republic

In this episode, I take a hard look at what really happens in Mecca, the holiest site in Islam, and ask whether the reality matches the image presented to the world. I examine disturbing footage and reports from the Hajj pilgrimage — from stampedes and harassment to the sheer chaos and commercialization surrounding the rituals — and compare these scenes with the spiritual ideals the pilgrimage is supposed to represent. I also explore the historical claims surrounding the Kaaba, the lack of open archaeology in Mecca, and the enormous financial machine built around the pilgrimage, asking whether the narrative surrounding...

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...

Following our bombing of Iran, we are hearing the usual caterwauling from the Left about international law. Of course, no one invokes international law when Iran kills our servicemen, or when Hamas massacres Israelis, or when Iran launches missiles against the United Arab Emirates, and so on. There is a certain asymmetry in the invocation of international law.I took a course in international law when I was in law school. It was taught by a distinguished scholar in that field. As I recall, the first section of the course was devoted to the question, is there such a thing as...

Keir Starmer has said the conflict engulfing the Middle East could continue “for some time” as he insisted the best way forward in the longer term was a negotiated settlement with Iran. The prime minister said the UK was doing “everything we can” to de-escalate the situation, a clear contrast to the US president, who is focused on regime change and has said it was “too late” for Tehran to negotiate. He defended his decision to block initial offensive strikes by the US and Israel at the weekend, saying he stood by his judgment and denying it had damaged the...

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.

On Sunday afternoon, protesters in Islamabad pressed shoulder to shoulder, most of them dressed in black, and chanted slogans that rippled through the crowd. “Death to America, death to Israel,” they shouted in unison. Among them was also Kazim Hussain, who clutched a portrait of Ayatollah Khamenei. The student, also an activist affiliated with Shia group Imamia Students Organisation (ISO), believes that the crisis unfolding in Iran was not a distant geopolitical conflict playing out beyond Pakistan’s western border. For him, it is deeply personal and emotionally moving.“This is not just an attack on Iran. It concerns all Shia Muslims,”...

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,...

Saudi Arabia’s said on Sunday that it condemned and denounced in the “strongest terms the blatant Iranian aggression” on Oman, adding that it was a “flagrant violation” to Oman’s sovereignty. “The Kingdom further affirms its readiness to place all its capabilities at Oman’s disposal in support of any measures it may undertake,” the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement on X. For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app. Saudi Arabia warned of “the serious consequences of Iran’s continued violations of states’ sovereignty” in a manner that undermines the region’s stability and...

Francis and Konstantin break down the rapidly escalating Middle East crisis LIVE with former MI6 spy Aimen Dean and NYT bestselling national security journalist Richard Miniter. Trade on what happens next with Kalshi. Subscribe to Triggernometry: https://triggernometry.substack.com ABOUT OUR GUESTS Aimen Dean spent 8 years as MI6's top spy inside al-Qaeda. Author of "Nine Lives: My Time As MI6's Top Spy Inside al-Qaeda." Host of the Conflicted podcast. 🎙️ / @conflictedyoutube 🔗 https://linktr.ee/conflictedpod Richard Miniter is a New York Times bestselling investigative journalist and author of Losing Bin Laden, Shadow War, and Mastermind. Former Wall Street Journal and Sunday Times...

Two Iranian drones attacked the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, on Monday night. Since the joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes wreaked havoc on Iran, killing many Islamic Republic military leaders including the country’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, Tehran has hit back with a series of counterattacks on U.S. personnel and allies in the region. Little information on the attack is available as of yet, though CNN’s Nic Robertson was live reporting on the incident Monday night from Riyadh. SEE NEWS REPORT IN THIS X POST https://x.com/WesternJournalX/status/2028653782918218125?

One of the most important oil facilities on the planet — Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery — has reportedly been hit. Fires. Shutdowns. Export disruption. This isn’t just another strike. This is an attack on the world’s energy lifeline. Ras Tanura is the artery through which vast amounts of global oil flows to Europe and Asia. If that artery is threatened, the economic consequences ripple across the entire planet — fuel prices, markets, supply chains, everything. The conflict has now crossed a dangerous threshold. This is no longer regional escalation. This is global economic warfare.

...November 20, 1979, and Islam's holiest site... had been taken over by more than 200 armed militants. The weeks-long siege of the Grand Mosque, led by Juhayman, an anti-monarchy Islamist, would see gunbattle inside the mosque and in the holy city...Masjid al-Haram's armed seige came to become a watershed moment for the Muslim world. It turned Saudi Arabia into a hardcore Sunni nation, creating a huge rift with post-revolution Iran. The Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979, the same year as the seige of Mecca, turned a moderate Iran into a radical Shia country.The creation of two radical power centres...

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...

Saudi Arabia joined Israel in lobbying the US to launch strikes against Iran. Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, argued in favour of an attack during multiple phone calls with Donald Trump in the past month, sources told the Washington Post. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, also continued his long-standing campaign urging the US to join strikes on Iran, the Post reported. Iran has continued its retaliation after the US and Israel launched a barrage of strikes on Saturday morning, killing its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Correspondents in Dubai reported a fresh round of explosions on Sunday...

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 has conveyed to Washington that it will not permit the United States to use its airspace for any military action against Iran

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.