Free Republic

BARCELONA (AP) — Iran is boasting that it has hypersonic missiles and says it already has begun firing the cutting-edge weapons at Israel.There is no evidence that Iran has unleashed the missiles, and experts are skeptical of the claim.But the use of these fast-moving projectiles could test Israel’s vaunted missile-defense system and alter the course of the fighting between the two bitter enemies.Here’s a closer look at these advanced weapons:What is a hypersonic missile and what makes them so feared?Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed Wednesday that it had fired what it said were hypersonic “Fattah 1” missiles toward Israel. But...

Iran is suffering blow after blow, and Russia, its most powerful supporter, is apparently not prepared to do much of anything about it. Not long ago, backing the West’s least-favorite power in the Middle East had its uses. In prosecuting his war of attrition in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has made confrontation with the West the organizing principle of his foreign policy. In that context, edging closer to Iran and its partners in the “Axis of Resistance” made sense. ........... A defenseless Iran will not respond well to Russian sticks, and in any case, Moscow is unlikely to take a punitive...

A few years ago, the sudden, near-simultaneous killing of Bagheri, Salami, and a host of other senior leaders would have been unthinkable. Over three decades, the hard-liners who control Iran’s regime had built up what seemed like a formidable system of deterrence. They stockpiled ballistic missiles. They developed and advanced a nuclear enrichment program. Most important, they established a network of foreign proxies that could routinely harass Israeli and U.S. forces. But Iran’s hard-liners overplayed their hand. After Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, the regime’s leaders opted for a campaign of maximum aggression. Rather than letting Hamas and...

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei defiantly declared Wednesday that Tehran isn’t frightened by President Trump’s “absurd rhetoric” — as he rejected the United States’ demand to surrender in its war with Israel. “The US President threatens us. With his absurd rhetoric, he demands that the Iranian people surrender to him. They should make threats against those who are afraid of being threatened. The Iranian nation isn’t frightened by such threats,” Khamenei said in a statement on X. He vowed Iran would never back down and that any US strike would have “serious irreparable consequences.” “The US entering in this...

'Fighting 1,500 km from home isn’t a walk in the park,' says IAF pilot Maj. N’ of the first strike in Iran; 'We saw Iranian jets take off—then flee and vanish, and we stayed two hours and could’ve gone back—again and again'“This is my correction for October 7—this time we were the initiators,” says Maj N. (31), an F-15 pilot from Squadron 133, one of the first to take part in the unprecedented Israeli airstrikes over Iran at the start of Operation Rising Lion Now, he shares what it was like to wait for the green light, the challenges of...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday called the April 1 Israeli strike on the Iranian diplomatic mission in Damascus that left at least 13 people dead, including a high-ranking general, a “political killing,” Anadolu Agency reports. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Lavrov condemned the Israeli attack in a phone talk with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. “Any attacks on diplomatic and consular facilities, the inviolability of which is guaranteed by the relevant Vienna Conventions, are categorically unacceptable, as well as political killings,” he said. Seven Iranian military advisers are said to have been killed in the...

Russia has strongly defended Iran’s right to maintain peaceful nuclear installations. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Iran had the right to such facilities in the past, holds it now, and will continue to do so in the future. She made these remarks while speaking to Sputnik Radio, stressing that peaceful nuclear sites are now under direct attack. Zakharova warned that the threat of nuclear conflict in the Middle East is no longer a theory but a real and growing danger. She said these attacks are not only increasing tensions but also posing a serious threat to both the...

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned on Wednesday that direct U.S. military assistance to Israel could radically destabilise the situation in the Middle East, where an air war between Iran and Israel has raged for six days. In separate comments, the head of Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service, Sergei Naryshkin, was quoted as saying that the situation between Iran and Israel was now critical. Ryabkov warned the U.S. against direct military assistance to Israel or even considering such "speculative options," according to Russia's Interfax news agency.

Analysts say the Kremlin is prioritizing its own war against Ukraine, as well as its relations with Gulf nations that don’t want to see a stronger Iran.Iran aided the Kremlin with badly needed drones in the first year of its Ukraine invasion, helped Moscow build out a critical factory to make drones at home and inked a new strategic partnership treaty this year with President Vladimir V. Putin, heralding closer ties, including in defense.But five months after that treaty was signed, the government in Iran is facing a grave threat to its rule from attacks by Israel. And Russia, beyond...