Free Republic

A new US Congress study published last week on the THAAD ballistic missile interception system shed worrying light on the inventory of interceptors available to the US in the near future. The document says, "There is concern that the rate of use of THAAD interceptors during Operation Epic Fury has further reduced the limited stock of interceptors." Despite the problematic reputation that the THAAD system has acquired for itself over the past few years, during which it was deployed in the Middle East, Congress claims that the interception rate of the US system reaches about 90% of all Iranian ballistic...

One of the most persistent and dangerous lies circulating in today’s political discourse is the claim that any American confrontation with Iran-especially under President Donald Trump-is somehow a war “for Israel." It is a falsehood repeated so often that it has begun to calcify into conventional wisdom, echoed by media figures and political commentators who should know better, and some who simply don’t care whether it is true. Let’s say it plainly: this is not Israel’s war. It never was. It is America’s war-forced upon it by nearly half a century of Iranian aggression, bloodshed, hostage-taking, and ideological hatred directed...

In history, authoritarian systems usually fall twice: first psychologically, when fear breaks; then politically, when the men with guns hesitate. Iran’s recent shocks look less like a single crisis than a classic collapse sequence unfolding at speed. The decisive moment in a regime’s collapse is often not the formal end, but the tipping point before it: the moment when the state’s aura of inevitability breaks. Borders may still be guarded, television may still broadcast, officials may still issue decrees. But something more important has changed. The system no longer functions with confidence. That pattern runs through modern history. Regimes die...

This episode spotlights glaring contradictions between Iran’s words and actions that completely unravel the “not a threat” narrative pushed in Western discourse. By walking through real evidence, official statements and strategic patterns, this breakdown teaches you how to spot propaganda, understand what a “threshold nuclear state” really means and why energy politics and misinformation campaigns are just as critical to the story as missiles and warheads...leaving you questioning not just Iran’s intentions, but who benefits from downplaying them.

BREAKING: Immunity for two key figures in the Iranian leadership: Iran regime's FM and Parliament Speaker get temporary immunity from the US and Israel, Channel 14's @bardugojacob reports. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf received temporary immunity from Israel and the United States, valid at least for the entire five days of negotiations underway with Tehran.

Low-cost alternatives to the multimillion-dollar missiles the U.S. is using in its war against Iran are still years away, key Pentagon officials said Tuesday, leaving the military reliant on high-cost munitions that are increasingly in short supply. The U.S.-Israel campaign against Iran has burned through complex weapons that cannot be replaced quickly or affordably enough to maintain the Pentagon’s usual stockpiles. Military officials said at a Senate Armed Services Committee briefing that cheaper munitions are on the long-term horizon, but the U.S. industrial base still needs time to scale up to the Defense Department’s increasing needs. Expanding the American industrial...

Ships carrying Iranian oil are using secret codes to bypass Tehran’s blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a stunning report. This has allowed dozens of vessels — all tied to countries that still purchase Iran’s crude — to escape the perilous shipping lane, while thousands of others remain stranded in the Persian Gulf. Tehran has effectively closed the strait as a result of the war — cutting off a passage that saw some 130 ships travel through its waters every day. Since then, only 90 ships have been able to transit, according to maritime trackers. Huax, a German-Italian...

Russian air defenses downed 389 incoming Ukrainian drones, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday, in what was the largest reported overnight attack on Russian regions and Crimea since Moscow’s forces invaded Ukraine more than four years ago. The drones were stopped over 13 Russian regions as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The attack underlined the growing capability of Ukraine’s domestically developed and manufactured long-range drones. It came a day after Russia fired almost 1,000 drones and 34 missiles at civilian areas of Ukraine in the space of 24 hours, extending its usual nighttime...

Poland placed air defenses on the 'highest state of readiness' as Russian strikes approached NATO airspace, Poland's operational command said Russia launched nearly 400 drones and dozens of missiles across Ukraine overnight Monday, triggering NATO to scramble fighter jets in neighboring countries, according to reports. The massive aerial assault killed at least four and injured >24, with strikes hitting multiple regions including Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv Poland and Romania both scrambled fighter jets as Russian strikes approached NATO airspace, East2West reported, with Warsaw placing air defenses on the "highest state of readiness," Poland’s operational command said. "Due to the activity...

Volkswagen is in discussions with Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defence Systems regarding a deal that would convert one of the German automaker’s factories from car manufacturing to missile defence production, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. The plan involves transforming Volkswagen’s Osnabrück plant to produce components for Rafael’s Iron Dome air defence system, according to the report. The Israeli state-owned company’s system would be manufactured at the German facility under the proposed arrangement. The deal aims to preserve all 2,300 jobs at the Osnabrück site in western Germany, which has faced potential closure. The two companies plan to market the defence...

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was “the first” person in the Trump administration to push for war with Iran, the president claimed Monday. Trump revealed during a public safety roundtable in Memphis, Tenn. that he had surveyed his top military brass about how he should handle the situation, and Hegseth quickly advocated for military action to stop the theocratic regime from obtaining a nuclear weapon. “I called a lot of our great people. We have great people, and I said, ‘Let’s talk. We got a problem in the Middle East. We have a country known as Iran that, for 47...

"This is Hitler’s last days with Persian characteristics." —LH Grey on X It’s not only darkest before the dawn, but the groupthink is murkiest, and the light at the end of the tunnel might be an explosion up your wazoo. Iran’s increasingly headless Revolutionary Guard (the IRGC) whirls in its gyre of martyrdom as the last traps are sprung under it. Tell the wide-eyed houris of paradise to primp for a fresh harvest of true believers. Looks like Mr. Trump is not chickening-out, as his detractors like to insist. Looks like somebody is already turning off the juice around Tehran,...

Judging by Donald Trump’s outbursts of late, he can’t seem to decide whether reopening the Strait of Hormuz is easy or hard. He also can’t seem to decide whether he needs international allies to help with this urgent task or not. Iran’s blockade on oil shipments exiting the strait—done in response to Trump’s attack—is causing worsening global consequences daily. So it would be useful for Trump to settle these arguments in his own mind already. But Trump’s incoherence on the Strait of Hormuz actually reveals something else, as well: a massive political weakness. .....

A senior Iranian official told Al Jazeera that messages were being passed between Tehran and Washington via Egypt and Turkey in an attempt to reduce tensions. He said the US was refusing to accept basic conditions from Iran, including compensation and recognition of "aggression"...

Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Monday that Moscow is "sending signals" to Washington about the danger of targeting the joint Russia-Iran Bushehr nuclear power plant. "Of course, corresponding signals are being transmitted to the American side," he told the reporters, noting that the US strikes pose "a very serious security threat" to the plant. Furthermore, he urged a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, claiming that the war should have ended "yesterday." Peskov confirmed that Russia is in constant dialogue with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regarding the Bushehr nuclear plant.

While Gulf countries cautioned US President Donald Trump not to launch a war against Iran in the runup to the conflict, most of them are now urging Washington to continue striking the regime, four senior officials representing different Gulf capitals told The Times of Israel. There is still some frustration with the way the US and Israel are prosecuting the war, but there is a desire among Gulf countries — particularly the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar — to ensure that Iran comes out of this war with its military power sufficiently degraded to cease posing a...

As the United States and Israel prepared to go to war with Iran, the head of Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, went to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a plan. Within days of the war’s beginning, said David Barnea, the Mossad chief, his service would likely be able to galvanize the Iranian opposition — igniting riots and other acts of rebellion that could even lead to the collapse of Iran’s government. Mr. Barnea also presented the proposal to senior Trump administration officials during a visit to Washington in mid-January. Mr. Netanyahu adopted the plan. Despite doubts about its viability among...

British cabinet minister Steve Reed ​said on Sunday that there was no ‌assessment that backed claims Iran is planning to strike Europe with ballistic missiles, or that it even has ​the capacity to do so. On Saturday, the ​Israel Defence Forces posted on social media that ⁠Iran has missiles "that can reach London, Paris ​or Berlin". "There is no assessment to substantiate what's being ​said," British Housing Secretary Reed told the BBC. "I'm not aware of any assessment at all that they are even ​trying to target Europe, let alone that they ​could if they tried."

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP Mar 21, 2026, 7:44 PM

Iran on Saturday issued an unusual evacuation warning to residents of Doha, Qatar, calling on them to leave the city immediately. According to the notice, due to the deployment of American forces and assets and incitement against it, the area has become a legitimate target, and it places responsibility on the leadership of Qatar. Later, Iranian TV denied the reports, saying that no official evacuation announcement had been issued for Doha. Earlier this month, Iran came under fire for attacking Doha without warning. The strikes had targeted locations associated with the United States military presence in the region. .....