Free Republic

Bernie Sanders continues his campaign to undermine Israel in favor of a brutal, aggressive Iran. The liberal media approached the latest outbreak of violence in the Middle East as a renewal of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, if not a return to the Arab-Israeli Wars of half a century ago. Former president George W. Bush, however, saw the situation for what it was. In an exclusive interview with Fox News on May 19, he correctly stated that what "you're seeing playing out is Iranian influence targeted toward Israel." The 4,000 rockets fired by the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists from Gaza were...

There are several truisms about the Iranian regime. It is a deeply intolerant, religiously fanatical regime with a death grip on power through suppression and a corrupt system of bribes, payoffs and family connections.Tony Soprano has nothing on the mullahs’ regime.Like any insular group of Mafiosos, the mullahs ruling Tehran are a deeply paranoid bunch. They regularly suspect traitors in their midst and engage in periodic purges that would do Josef Stalin proud; right down to public hangings.They also desperately manipulate—sometimes clumsily—social media and the Internet in general in a vain attempt to trash opponents and to stifle debate about...

Iran’s foreign minister took to YouTube on Thursday to criticize President Donald Trump’s threat to withdraw from the nuclear deal, saying Iran will not “renegotiate or add onto” the atomic accord. Mohammad Javad Zarif’s video, which was also posted to Trump’s favorite social media platform, Twitter, appeared to be taking his message to the masses after earlier speaking to news outlets across the United States to defend the deal. It comes as Trump has signaled he will withdraw from the agreement by May 12 if it is not renegotiated and changed. Those changes have included proposals to limit Iran’s ballistic...

A worried dictator sings a worried song, even if he feels obliged to deliver its refrain with a fired gun in place. For even Hassan Rouhani, leader for now of Iran's theocracy, seems to have felt obliged to note publicly that the natives have grown restless. And has had to add his support of their expression, if through clenched teeth. "People want to talk about economic problems, corruption and lack of transparency in the function of some of the organs (of the state) and want the atmosphere to be more open," he has been forced to admit on Twitter. He's...

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday blasted the United States for threatening to cut aid to countries that vote at the UN General Assembly to reject President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. “Trump regime exposes contempt for democracy through its threats against those who dare resist its thuggish demands at the UN—all while Trump insults Iran crudely as ‘dictatorship,’” Zarif tweeted. “US version of democracy stops at rhetoric of ‘either with us or against us,’" he added. .....

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres is warning that Iran may be defying a U.N. call to halt ballistic missile development even as it complies with the nuclear treaty with six world powers. He says in a report to the Security Council that the United Nations is investigating Iran’s possible transfer of ballistic missiles to Houthi Shiite rebels in Yemen that may have been used in launches aimed at Saudi Arabia. He says several other launches have also been brought to his attention. …

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is offering support to Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) amid a war of words between the latter and President Trump. "Sen. Corker is a valuable member of the Senate Republican caucus and he’s also on the Budget committee and a particularly important player as we move to the floor on the budget next week and he’s an important part of our team,” McConnell said Monday in Kentucky, according to the Associated Press. Asked about whether he agreed with Corker's criticism of Trump, McConnell sidestepped, adding: "[Corker is] an important part of our team and he's...

And this is precisely why change to the Iranian regime will never come from within it. It cannot. Absolute dictatorial regimes – be they religious or otherwise – are structured for the purpose of perpetuating themselves. They are not democratic in nature, subject to the will of the people they rule or even of the people within them. Any true moderate or reformist influences will not enjoy a fair and equal opportunity to advance based on the merits of their ideas in the eyes of their peers. They will be silenced and stamped out as “heretical”. Iran desperately needs a...

London is a more “Islamic” city than much of the Muslim world put together, a leading Muslim scholar has argued. Maulana Syed Ali Raza Rizvi, a prominent Shia cleric, who was born in Pakistan and studied in Iran, said he “feels more Islamic” in Britain than other countries because of the freedom to worship and the multicultural mix. He said Islam could be summed up as being about “love and justice”, but that the “Muslim political leadership” around the world was failing to foster this. …

A top terror expert says ISIS is now so weak that it could be decimated within hours. According to a London Express report Monday evening, Russian airstrikes, unruly leadership and numerous defections have destabilized the terror organization to the point that it wouldn’t be capable of fighting off even a small attack. Terror analyst Dr. Afzal Ashraf told the paper that ISIS has drastically exaggerated its military power, prompting an international counterattack. Ashraf urged Western leaders to act now to wipe out the jihadi group. The U.S. has led a coalition of airstrikes against ISIS. The New York Times reported...

President Obama is pushing back against the idea that he’s been outmaneuvered in Syria by Russian President Vladimir Putin since the two met at the United Nations on Monday. Obama appeared frustrated by the suggestion during a press conference this afternoon, dismissing it as a notion only talked about in the Washington D.C. “Sometimes the conversation here in the Beltway differs from the conversation internationally,” Obama responded. Obama accused Putin of acting in Syria “out of weakness,” repeatedly referring to Russia’s weakening economy. He also compared his coalition to act against ISIS in Syria to Putin’s unilateral decision to prop...

Iranian leaders view the nuclear deal signed by western powers as a “surrender” to Iran, and as cementing the Islamic Republic’s status as a “superpower.” An analysis by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has shed light on the sense of victory held by Iran’s most senior leadership, as neighboring countries prepare for a surge in terrorism sponsored by an emboldened Tehran. Among the comments translated by MEMRI was a statement made by Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan at an armed forces general command ceremony on August 30, in which he boasted that Iran had forced the “surrender” of...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Wednesday blasted the Obama administration for reducing the debate on the Iran nuclear deal to "a partisan contest" that "raises even more serious questions about its durability and merits." "While the president may be able to sustain a veto with the tepid, restricted and partisan support of one third of one House of Congress over Americans' bipartisan opposition, it will require a bipartisan Congress to strengthen our defenses in the Persian Gulf and to stand up to the inevitable Iranian violations of the agreement that will need to be addressed after he has left office,"...

The more one knows about the Iran Deal, the more obvious it becomes that it is not a deal so much as it is a fraud. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of a fraud is “something that is meant to look like the real thing in order to trick people.” That precisely describes the Iran Deal. Virtually every claim made for it is either not true or insignificant. There are no “anytime, anywhere” inspections, as Americans were promised during the negotiations.No American or Canadian inspectors will be allowed into Iran.The agreement obligates all the parties, including the...

President Barack Obama is using a Friday webcast to try to allay concerns from Jewish communities about the nuclear agreement with Iran. Obama will deliver remarks about the agreement and take questions from participants. The webcast is being organized by two major Jewish organizations that have held similar events with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. …

Iran appears to have built an extension to part of its Parchin military site since May, the UN nuclear watchdog said in a report obtained by the Reuters news agency on Thursday. A resolution of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Parchin file, which includes a demand for fresh IAEA access to the site, is a symbolically important issue that could help make or break Tehran's July 14 nuclear deal with six world powers. The confidential IAEA report obtained by the news agency says, "Since (our) previous report (in May), at a particular location at the Parchin site, the agency...

One by one, U.S. Senate Democrats are announcing that after much deliberation ‎‎(translated as arm twisting by President Barack Obama), they have decided to support the ‎Iran deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, despite serious misgivings. Each of the senators wants you to ‎know that they were personally wrestling with this decision for weeks, talking to ‎experts (provided by the Obama administration for the most part), reading the ‎agreement carefully, weighing and balancing risk versus reward. Each Senate ‎Democrat joining the charade of moving from indecision to decision, makes sure to add that they want to do everything to...

The Iran deal has potential, both because of public opinion and the way the administration is positioning itself, to hurt Democrats in much the same way that the Iranian hostage crisis did in 1980 and 1981. Should New York Senator Chuck Schumer succeed in killing the deal, he will be saving the Democrats from what appears to be a grave political mistake. President Obama has branded opponents of the deal as either ideological extremists or ignorant. In his speech at American University, he compared the agreement’s opponents with Iranian extremists chanting “death to America.” He pointed out that most of...

Britain is to reopen its embassy in Tehran, four years after it closed. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond will visit Iran at the weekend with a delegation of business leaders, a senior government source said. The embassy was closed in 2011 after it was stormed by Iranian protesters during a demonstration against sanctions imposed by Britain. The visit comes weeks after Tehran reached a deal with six world powers aimed at curbing its nuclear program. …

Iran, in an unusual arrangement, will be allowed to use its own experts to inspect a site it allegedly used to develop nuclear arms under a secret agreement with the U.N. agency that normally carries out such work, according to a document seen by The Associated Press. The revelation is sure to roil American and Israeli critics of the main Iran deal signed by the U.S., Iran and five world powers in July. Those critics have complained that the deal is built on trust of the Iranians, a claim the U.S. has denied. The investigation of the Parchin nuclear site...