Free Republic

With about a day left before the deadline expires, the US president held a marathon of calls with regional leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. At the center of the talks was the possibility of a significant escalation in the fighting against the Iranian regime. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed said there should be no ceasefire without removing the threat from Tehran.

At 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 14, Ana Belen Montes, a senior analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), walked into a public telephone booth outside Washington's National Zoo and made two calls to pager numbers later traced by federal agents to Cuba's Directorate of General Intelligence (DGI). She already had compromised the identities of CIA agents, revealed U.S. military secrets and exposed the contents of classified files. But, as Montes sent repeated signals to her DGI handlers during the days immediately following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the ...

Sixty years ago, I first gazed out on the Strait of Hormuz from the Musandam peninsula of Oman. I was there as private secretary to my godfather, Selwyn Lloyd, who had been Britain’s foreign secretary during the Suez Crisis. The previous evening our host, Sultan Said bin Taimur, the ruler of Oman for nearly 40 years, commented gloomily: ‘When two fish are fighting in these waters, the British are behind it.’ I estimate that I must have made at least 250 visits to the Gulf states in the intervening six decades. The key question which would surely now be asked...

"we need to destroy the Iranian axis...this is what stands before us in the coming year, which could be a historic year for the security of Israel... demand two basic qualities: Unity in moments of crisis, and determination in every moment" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Speaks To Israel's Military Leaders September 2025 On Need To "Destroy Iranian Axis"... "I also want to thank our troops for the masterful job they did in the country of Venezuela in a matter of minutes. That hit was quick, lethal violent" President Trump Invokes US Special Forces Op That Captured Venezuelan President Nicolas...

TEHRAN — March 29, 2026 : Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has cautioned senior leadership of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that Iran’s economy could face total collapse within three to four weeks if a regional ceasefire is not achieved, according to informed sources cited by Iran International. The warning reflects growing internal divisions between Iran’s civilian administration and military leadership as the ongoing conflict enters its fifth week, intensifying both economic strain and governance disputes. Internal Tensions Over War Strategy The reported disagreement centers on the direction and management of military operations. President Pezeshkian is said to have directly...

Qatar and Ukraine have signed a defence agreement seeking joint expertise on countering threats from missiles and drones, according to Qatar’s Ministry of Defence, as Iran continues attacking its Gulf neighbours. The agreement was made on Saturday during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Doha, following his stop in the UAE earlier in the day. Earlier on Saturday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates had also agreed to cooperate on defence, a day after signing a deal with Saudi Arabia during his visit to the kingdom on Thursday.

Ukraine signed a defense cooperation pact with Saudi Arabia on Friday, as Gulf countries look to Kyiv for assistance on defending against drone attacks from Iran. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the agreement with senior Saudi officials during his two-day visit to Riyadh. The accord "lays the foundation for future contracts, technological cooperation, and investment. It also strengthens Ukraine’s international role as a security donor," Zelenskyy announced Friday morning. "We are ready to share our expertise and systems with Saudi Arabia and to work together to strengthen the protection of lives. Now into the fifth year, Ukrainians are resisting the same...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian-backed Houthi rebels entered the month-old war in the Middle East on Saturday, claiming two missile launches at Israel. About 2,500 U.S. Marines arrived in the region. And Pakistan’s government said that regional powers plan to meet Sunday to discuss how to end the fighting.

Throughout four weeks of war, Iran has continued to make the United States’ Gulf partners pay a price for Operation Epic Fury and Israel’s Operation Roaring Lion. The Iranians have fired thousands of missiles and dronesat their neighbors, with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) bearing the brunt of the assault. There is also significant damage to energy infrastructure in Bahrain, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. From the first days of the conflict, part of the Islamic Republic’s strategy was immediately clear: inflict significant pain on Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia so that they would in turn pressure the United States...

Gulf states are moving closer to direct involvement in the war against Iran as continuous attacks on their territory and energy infrastructure push regional allies of the United States toward a more assertive stance, the Wall Street Journal reported. Officials and sources familiar with the matter cited in the report said that recent steps by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have strengthened US operational capabilities while stopping short of full military participation. According to the report, these measures include allowing expanded access to military bases and targeting Iranian financial networks, signaling a shift as pressure mounts on Gulf...

"The British Isles are declared to be in a state of blockade,” announced Napoleon Bonaparte, and elaborated: “All commerce and all correspondence with the British Isles are forbidden.” It was 1806, and what would be known as the Berlin Decree aimed to strangle the British economy. The bold scheme seemed economically logical and militarily practical, but it ended up a grand flop. Britain’s economy, coastline, and navy all proved too big for the plan, which also underestimated the kingdom’s link to America and access to the high seas. In fact, Napoleon’s blockade backfired. Europe, it turned out, needed British exports...

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan warned Thursday that the Kingdom’s restraint in the face of escalating Iranian attacks “is not unlimited,” signaling that military action remains on the table — as Arab and Islamic states issued a unified call for Tehran to halt its aggression. “The Kingdom and its partners possess significant capabilities, and the patience we have shown is not unlimited. It could be a day, two days, or a week — I will not say,” he told reporters following an emergency meeting of foreign ministers in Riyadh. In some of his strongest remarks since...

Iran is threatening to execute retaliatory strikes on oil and gas facilities near the Persian Gulf after Israel launched an attack on its South Pars gas field on Wednesday. No one was harmed in the strike by Israel on one of the world's largest natural gas fields. Qatar also operates facilities in the South Pars gas field. Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Majed Al Ansai, was critical of Israel over the attack, calling it "reckless and irresponsible." Several potential targets are bracing for retaliation by Iran. Saudi Arabia, which is across the Persian Gulf from Iran, has at least four major...

...Dubai was supposed to be safe. Instead, it has been under attack by Iran since Feb. 28. More than 260 ballistic missiles and over 1,500 drones have been detected over the U.A.E.; most have been intercepted, but their percussive booms have become part of the city’s soundscape. ...The attacks struck at the fundamental premise of Dubai’s model as a new type of global metropolis. It’s developed into what could be called a city as platform — less a rooted place with people and history than a blank slate for the exchange of capital. Its success has even spawned a term,...

As the conflict between Iran, the United States, and Israel intensifies, one country has emerged as the principal target of Tehran’s retaliatory campaign. Data compiled by Gulf officials shows that nearly half of the missiles and drones launched by Iran since the start of the war have been directed at the United Arab Emirates, making it the most heavily struck country in the region. Officials say the country has been hit by 1,728 Iranian missiles and drones, accounting for roughly 44 percent of the total attacks launched by Tehran. Kuwait ranks as the second-most targeted country, drawing about 24 percent...

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...

The Iranian drone strikes that hit Amazon Web Services facilities in the Middle East have thrust a new question to the forefront of the tech industry: Should data centers be defended like military assets? The attacks — the first known military strikes at an American hyperscaler’s infrastructure — damaged two AWS sites in the United Arab Emirates and one in Bahrain, disrupting services across the region and underscoring how critical data infrastructure is emerging as a potential target in modern warfare. “[Physical attacks] are only going to become more common moving forward as AI becomes more and more significant,” Sam...

Dubai expats have been flooding social media with posts insisting the country remains the 'safest place on Earth' - as frightened holidaymakers and British nationals scramble for flights home, with some families paying up to £100,000 for private jets to escape the war-shaken Gulf state. The extraordinary online campaign comes despite Iranian missiles and suicide drones striking across the region, leaving airports disrupted, flights cancelled and thousands of ordinary Britons desperate to get home. While the United Arab Emirates government insists its air defences are successfully intercepting most incoming attacks, the Daily Mail has learned that behind carefully curated Instagram...