Free Republic

A war monitoring group says Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters seized 36 women and children during simultaneous attacks on the southeastern province of Sweida last week. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday that 20 women and 16 children were seized from al-Shobki village in Sweida during the Wednesday attacks. The ambush by suspected ISIS militants left at least 221 people dead. Reports on social media suggest ISIS has sent photos of some of the kidnapped women, most of them from the minority Druze sect prevalent in Sweida, to their families in via WhatsApp. The...

The timing of the exercise is unusual, as it appears to be similar in scale and nature to a drill that ordinarily happens later in the autumn. It comes just days before the U.S. reimposes sanctions on Tehran after its withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said several dozen boats were out training early Thursday morning. The vessels are mostly small attack boats, and there have been no interactions with U.S. ships in the area, the official added, according to AFP. In a statement, Captain Bill Urban, the military's Central Command spokesman, said...

Full Title: 'Death to the dictator!' Violence on streets of Iran as police use tear gas on furious protesters, including chador-clad women, demonstrating against 'corrupt regime' ruining the country while waging ideological war abroad Protests have broken out in a number of cities against Iranian regime this week Comes after the dramatic drop of Iran's currency and other economic problems 'The nation is forced to beg while the leader lives like God,' protesters chanted 'Death to the dictator!' Violence on streets of Iran as police use tear gas on furious protesters, including chador-clad women, demonstrating against 'corrupt regime' ruining the...

North Korea has resorted to a "massive increase" of illegal ship-to-ship transfers of oil products at sea to evade UN sanctions and enlisted a Syrian arms broker to sell weapons to Yemen and Libya, a UN report said Friday. In a 62-page report sent to the Security Council, the UN panel of experts also listed violations of a ban on North Korean exports of coal, iron, seafood and other products that generate millions of dollars in revenue to Kim Jong Un's regime. North Korea also "attempted to supply small arms and light weapons (SALW) and other military equipment via foreign...

Iran's currency is continuing its downward spiral as increased American sanctions loom, hitting a new low on the thriving black market exchange. The Iranian rial fell to 112,000 to the dollar on Sunday, from 98,000 to $1 on Saturday. The government-set exchange rate was 44,070 to the dollar, compared to 35,186 on Jan. 1. The Iranian rial has been declining steadily for years but the drop has accelerated in recent months after the U.S. decision to pull out of the nuclear deal with Iran in May and announcement of increased sanctions beginning next month.

Russia has used a closely guarded communications channel with America's top general to propose the two former Cold War foes cooperate to rebuild Syria and repatriate refugees to the war-torn country, according to a U.S. government memo. The proposal was sent in a July 19 letter by Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the Russian military's General Staff, to U.S. Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Russian plan, which has not been previously reported, has received an icy reception in Washington. The memo said the U.S. policy was only to support such efforts if there...

Israel claimed Syria's long-running civil war had effectively come to an end Thursday and predicted the Golan Heights frontier between the two countries would be much quieter over the coming months. Syrian President Bashar Assad has sought to restore central rule in several southwestern areas of the country in recent weeks, with a particular focus on reclaiming Golan Heights — an area of strategic and political significance for both Damascus and Jerusalem. "From our perspective, the situation is returning to how it was before the civil war, meaning there is a real address, someone responsible, and central rule," Israeli Defense...

As the Syrian regime army prepares to launch a campaign for the recapture of Idlib in northern Syria, the Chinese Ambassador to Damascus, Qi Qianjin, told the pro-regime daily Al-Watan on August 1 that the Chinese military would be willing to participate "in some way" in the campaign in Idlib or other parts of the country. The ambassador expressed support for what he called Syria's war against the terrorists, and noted that there is cooperation between the Syrian and Chinese armies. The report also quoted the Chinese military attaché in Syria as saying that the Chinese military wishes to enhance...

Not a single Christian was among the 1,112 Syrian refugees resettled in the UK in the first three months of this year, the Home Office has admitted. It agreed only to resettle Muslims and rejected the four Christians recommended by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), despite past US declarations that Isis was committing genocide against them. The disclosure was obtained by the Barnabas Fund, a charity that supports persecuted Christians, under freedom of information laws after a protracted tussle with the Home Office.

President Trump on Monday insisted that the United States will not drop sanctions against Moscow. “Sanctions on Russia will remain as is,” Trump said, even as Putin demands that they be dropped. Italy’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte first broached the subject and said lifting the sanctions would be “unthinkable.” Trump also scolded Germany — just as he did at the NATO summit — for agreeing to use a Russian natural gas pipeline while, in his estimation, not paying enough for defense.

Russia cannot compel Iranian forces to quit Syria, Moscow's ambassador to Tel Aviv said on Monday, rebuffing Israel's long-standing demand that it should work to ensure their total withdrawal from the country. "They are playing a very, very important role in our common and joint effort to eliminate terrorists in Syria," Ambassador Anatoly Viktorov told Israel's Channel 10 television in an interview. "That is why, for this period of time, we see as non-realistic any demands to expel any foreign troops from the entirety of the Syrian Arab Republic," he said. "We can talk with our Iranian partners very frankly...

Russia’s ambassador to Israel said in an interview Monday his country cannot force Iranian forces to withdraw from Syria, despite Israeli calls for Iran to withdraw from the country. Speaking with Channel 10 news, Anatoly Viktorov said the Iranians are “playing a very, very important role in our common and joint efforts to eliminate terrorists in Syria. Viktorov said Russia can talk to its “Iranian friends” about a full withdrawal from Syria, as Israel demands, but “we cannot force them.” “The Iranian presence in Syria… is fully legitimate according to the UN principles and the UN charter,” he added. He...

The hundred-some billion dollars that President Obama sent to Iran apparently has come and gone, leaving the Iranian economy once again desperate to avoid collapse.  The pallets containing more than a billion dollars in hard currency have funded terror groups, and the rest of the haul apparently has gone to pay for debts, spending, and graft, leaving the real economy gasping for air, unable to generate hard currency yet dependent on imports. Steve Hanke reports at Forbes: Iran's rial plunged from 98,000 IRR/USD on Saturday to 112,000 IRR/USD on Sunday on Tehran's Ferdowsi Street.  That stunning 12.5% one-day plunge has pushed the...

Iran By Alan Peters, Contributing Editor TheClerics Lash Back as Iranians Question Their Legitimacy VIGOROUS ATTACKS ON THE CREDIBILITY and legitimacy of the clerical leadership in Iran have continued to mount since the February 20, 2004, Majlis (Parliament) elections which, despite the removal of so-called “reformists” from the ballot, still failed to attract a meaningful voter turn-out. The elections showed the extent of electoral fraud to which the clerics were forced to turn, highlighting their tenuous hold on power. There are now signs that the underpinnings of the clerics will be attacked still further, especially as evidence is now available...

A court in Egypt sentenced 75 members of the Muslim Brotherhood to death for their involvement in a protest against the military coup in 2013. The sentencing of 660 other members of the Muslim Brotherhood will be announced...

The British government has reportedly halted cooperating with the U.S. over two British members of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) due to concerns they could face the death penalty. Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, who are accused of involvement in the killing of more than two dozen hostages, are two members of a cell of ISIS fighters known as "The Beatles" because of their British accents. The U.K. government faced backlash earlier this month after agreeing to cooperate with the U.S. and share intelligence about the cases without seeking assurance that they would not face the...

Something interesting linking the New York Times to a state-run newspaper in Iran. When searching the domain registrar for “Iran” daily’s website, linked to the mullahs’ regime, the registrant and admin telephone number for the domain is the same New York Times calling number (212-556-1831). In addition to the phone number belonging to The New York Times, the registrant domain address is the same address as The New York Times building.“620 8TH AVE NEW YORK NY 10018-1618 US”

ASPEN, Colo. — Iranian hackers have laid the groundwork to carry out extensive cyberattacks on U.S. and European infrastructure and private companies, and the U.S. is warning allies, hardening its defenses and weighing a counterattack, say multiple senior U.S. officials. {snip} While Russia may be the most aggressive, multiple senior U.S. officials said Iran is making preparations that would enable denial of service attacks against thousands of electric grids, water plants, and health care and technology companies in the U.S., Germany, the U.K. and other countries in Europe and the Middle East. {snip} On July 13, Coats told the Hudson...

Full title................'You wouldn't dare attack': Tehran goads 'passive' Trump and says he 'can't do a damn thing to Iran' after his all-caps warning to president Rouhani...............Iran has hit back at Donald Trump after the President warned Tehran to 'never, ever threaten the US again' in an all-caps Twitter outburst that raised the specter of war. A top Iranian general bragged on Monday that America 'won't dare' attack despite Trump threatening 'consequences few throughout history have ever suffered' a tweet-storm late on Sunday night. General Gholam Hossein Gheibparvar, chief of the Revolutionary Guard's Basij force, dismissed Trump's message as little more...

A commander in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards shot back at President Trump’s warning to the Islamic Republic about threatening the United States as “psychological warfare,” according to a report on Monday. “America wants nothing less than (to) destroy Iran,” Gholamhossein Gheybparvar said, Reuters reported, citing state media. “Trump cannot do a damn thing against Iran.” “We will never abandon our revolutionary beliefs,” the brigadier general added. “We will resist pressure from enemies.” His comments came after Trump in an all-caps tweet late Sunday blasted Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for warning the US’ hostile policies would lead to the “mother of...