Free Republic

On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” former Defense Secretary and former CIA Director Leon Panetta responded to President Joe Biden scolding Israel for seemingly assassinating Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh by saying that “one of the things that we’ve encouraged Israel to do is to target the leaders of Hamas that were involved in the attack on Israel.” And that this is what Israel should do. Panetta acknowledged that the killing could have an impact on ceasefire talks, but argued, “that is what war is all about. And ultimately, it’s the price you have to pay in order...

During an interview with Portland CBS affiliate KOIN 6 on Friday, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) responded to Israel killing some of Hamas’ leaders and its potential impact on ceasefire talks by stating that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is going to just have to find a way to show some restraint and bring people together.” And Netanyahu, “in particular, is going to have to have some diplomacy to bring about restraint.” Co-host Elizabeth Dinh asked, “So, now to Gaza, of course, we want to talk about there was a wrench thrown in peace talks after the killing of some top...

S. J. RES. 106 JOINT RESOLUTION To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against the Islamic Republic of Iran for threatening the national security of the United States through the development of nuclear weapons.{... many grievances later ...} Whereas, on July 23, 2024, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence published an assessment, in accordance with Iran Nuclear Weapons Capability and Terrorism Monitoring Act of 2022 (22 U.S.C. 8701 note; Public Law 117–263), which stated, “Iran continues to increase the size of its uranium stockpile, increase its enrichment capacity, and develop, manufacture, and operate advanced centrifuges. Tehran...

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said a short-range projectile was behind the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh and accused the United States of supporting the attack which it blamed on Israel, state TV reported Saturday. The televised statement, which reiterated a call for retaliation, said a rocket with a seven-kilogram (about 15-pound) warhead was used to target the residence of Hamas' political leader in the capital Tehran on Wednesday, adding it caused heavy devastation. It didn't share details of the residence's location. “The action was designed and carried out by the Zionist regime and supported by the U.S.,” said the...

A Pentagon statement said the new deployments would "improve US force protection... increase support for the defence of Israel, and ... ensure the US is prepared to respond to various contingencies". The deployments would include additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers, it said. The US military had also intensified deployments before 13 April, when Iran launched an attack on Israel with drones and missiles. Israel and its allies shot down almost all of roughly 300 drones and missiles that were fired. Israel has not commented directly on the strike which killed Haniyeh. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his...

Iran's massive missile and drone barrage targeting Israel over the weekend is similar to Russian tactics used in frequent strikes on Ukraine, according to a new assessment, after Iran launched its first-ever direct strike from its own territory into Israel. "Iran's use of drones and missiles shows how Iran is learning from the Russians to develop increasingly dangerous and effective strike packages against Israel," the U.S. think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Saturday. Russia has launched thousands of missile and drone strikes on Ukraine in nearly 26 months of all-out war in the country....

International inspectors this week found Iran has uranium enriched to 84% purity, just 6% below that needed to produce a nuclear weapon, Bloomberg News reported Sunday. The International Atomic Energy Agency is preparing its quarterly report on Iran's nuclear program, and two monitors found the near-nuclear weapon capability — the highest found to date.

(Subtitle) Isolated and embattled, Russia and Iran are increasingly cooperative. Russia once viewed the G-20 group of leading economies as the world’s key cooperative forum. No longer. The November 15-16 meeting in Bali will not be attended by Vladimir Putin and there is therefore little chance that his isolation will be illustrated through face-to-face condemnations from Western leaders. That’s not to say that Russia has no friends, just that it has fewer than before its all-out war on Ukraine began in February. North Korea, for example, has reportedly drawn closer to the Kremlin through supplies of military equipment to aid...

Ukrainian Telegram Channel legitimate #Rumors Our source reports that the damage in the energy system of Ukraine is already 40%. Colleagues correctly write that the unified energy system is facing the risk of complete collapse. If the Russians continue to hit non-stop, then in a week there will be nothing left. Add to this the shortage of spare parts and components, and you will understand that Ukraine will soon be in a “complete blackout”. That's when the hardest times begin. This also applies to western Ukraine, which hoped that they would carry over and all the hardships, as usual, would...

KIEV, October 19/TASS/.Air raid sirens went off late on Tuesday night in the Odessa, Kirovograd and Poltava regions, local authorities reported on their Telegram channels. An air raid alert also sounded in the Sumy, Kharkov, Nikolayev and Dnepropetrovsk Regions.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell took three Republican senators along on a surprise trip to Kyiv Saturday for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — where he called on the US to designate Russia as a “terrorist state.” “I believe that this visit once again demonstrates … the strength of ties between the Ukrainian and American nations,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address, even as a bipartisan bill to send $40 billion in additional aid remained stalled in Congress — while both Finland and Sweden inched closer to joining NATO.

TEHRAN, IRAN — Iran's government abruptly raised gasoline prices and imposed strict rations early Friday prompting large protests in major cities across the country with angry crowds calling for the ouster of President Hassan Rouhan. The price of fuel has been increased by up to 300 percent in some locations exacerbating the fears of protesters already struggling under extreme economic pressure as its economy worsens under U.S. sanctions.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani traveled to the city of Yazd on Sunday to deliver a speech about Iran’s economy, the oil sector and to express sympathy with earthquake victims. He also revealed massive allegations of corruption. In a rare rebuke, the president attacked the oil minister and demanded to know where $700 million in funds have gone, and slammed the judiciary and the Central Bank over a separate $2 billion corruption case. Rouhani began his speech with good news, arguing that since April, the economy of Iran has stabilized, despite difficult pressures from abroad – a reference to the US...

PA reportedly tells Israel it will issue "State of Palestine" passports - with or without its consent. The Palestinian Authority (PA) has notified Israel that it intends to begin issuing passports which bear the inscription "State of Palestine", Army Radio reported on Wednesday. Currently, passports issued to residents of the PA bear the inscription "the Palestinian Authority". A PA official quoted by Army Radio made clear that the move would go ahead even without Israel's consent. The PA has been making plans to issue passports for the "State of Palestine" for several years, ever since 2012, when the United Nations...

ran will not cooperate with the United States on the “fight against terrorists in Syria”, a top adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted as saying by state media on Wednesday. “Iran will not cooperate directly or indirectly with the United States,” Ali Akbar Velayati was quoted as saying on Press TV after a meeting with Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad in Tehran.

In the latest embarrassing blow to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who presided over the talks in Vienna, Abbas Araghchi insisted that Iran would refuse to be shackled by nuclear deal. According to the CIA's Open Source Center, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister has told state television that that he'd insisted the deal continued to allow Iran to 'buy weapons from wherever possible' as well as to 'provide weapons to whomever and whenever it considers appropriate'. Araghchi's worrying claims come just one day after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's highest religious authority, told supporters that nuclear deal would not change Iran's...

Politics: President Obama removed Cuba as a state sponsor of terror Friday, forgetting the dictatorship's long record of killing, smuggling and, yes, terror. If this is the new standard, why not just scrap the list entirely? The lifting of Cuba from the list of nations that support terrorism was a farce that may well come back to the haunt the United States. After all, the ruling Castro regime that benefits from it in the name of normal relations with the U.S. and new access to World Bank loans is the same regime that once tried the first 9/11, aligning itself...

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon predicted on Monday that the “momentum” of countries recognizing the “state of Palestine” will grow. Ban, who spoke before a UN committee on Palestinian rights, urged Israel and the Palestinian Authority to "step back from the brink" and return to peace talks. "The Israeli and Palestinian people face a shared fate on shared land. There is no erasing the other," Ban said, according to the AFP news agency. "Governments and parliaments are taking action. That momentum will grow," said Ban, referring to recent moves by governments in Europe to recognize “Palestine”. British lawmakers voted overwhelmingly...

Edward Levine, a Kerry confidant who formerly worked on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, lambasted the anti-terror mandate in a recent analysis for the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. Requiring Iran to cease its terror activities against the United States could harm the negotiations over its contested nuclear program, according to Levine. “This language would mean that if, say, Hezbollah were to explode a bomb outside a U.S. firm’s office in Beirut, the sanctions would go into effect (because Iran gives financial and other support to Hezbollah) even if Iran’s nuclear activities...

Many Iranian youths rallied in streets across the country, shouting "Death to Ahmadinejad," in celebrations marking the end of the Persian calendar year. The last Wednesday of the Persian calendar is celebrated as the Fire Festival in Iran, with bonfires and firecrackers marking the occasion. In the western city of Ahvaz, angry mobs declared "Freedom is our legitimate right" while demonstrators in the western city of Sanandaj shouted "Death to (Iranian President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad," Ynetnews reported Wednesday.