Free Republic

Iran’s oil minister, Mohsen Paknejad, has resigned and been replaced by the country’s top oil executive, the president’s office says in a statement, amid a blockade on Tehran’s oil exports by the United States. “Following the acceptance of Mohsen Paknejad’s resignation, Hamid Bovard,” the CEO of the National Iranian Oil Company, “has been appointed as acting Minister of Oil by a decree from the president,” says the statement carried by state broadcaster IRIB. In a news bulletin on the minister’s resignation, state television runs an interview with an official from the Iranian presidential office who says Paknejad initially offered his...

An Iranian man accused of being part of a hacking scheme that breached more than 150 US universities and companies while targeting data worth over $3 billion has been extradited from Montenegro to the US to face criminal charges, police in the European country and a person familiar with the case said Thursday. Amir Barati, 40, is expected to face wire and computer fraud charges in the US Southern District of New York, where he and 16 other Iranian nationals were charged in a superseding indictment in August. Montenegrin police arrested Barati, who is also a Turkish citizen, in June...

The Left’s cries of “genocide” against Israel ring hollow when many of its loudest critics ignore the far bloodier histories of their own ancestral homelands. On October 7, 2023, Hamas killers slaughtered 1,200 people, more than two-thirds of them civilians, inside Israel. For the ensuing three weeks, they refused Israel’s demands to turn over the 251 hostages and to surrender the architects of the massacre. No matter—within a day of the attacks, when Hamas gunmen were still fighting Israeli troops on Israeli soil, the American Left was already screaming “genocide!” They did not mean Hamas’s intended genocide of Jews, a...

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps put out a 25-page letter addressed to Americans urging them to oppose President Donald Trump during the upcoming midterm elections. The IRGC, which as repeatedly tried to sway the Nov. 3 US elections, claimed that the president and his support of Israel were the cause of the war — as they urged voters to reject both in the voting booth. “America’s national security and the lives of its service members are entrusted to someone who is not only an inveterate liar but is also an insanely avaricious man whose only motivation in life ​is the...

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a terrorist organization formally belonging to the Iranian armed forces, published a 26-page open letter to the American people on Tuesday inviting Americans to visit the Strait of Hormuz, insisting “death to America” did not mean Iran wished death on America, and suggesting the September 11, 2001, jihadist attacks were a “false-flag operation.”“It should be fairly obvious that the phrase ‘Death to America,’ which Iranians have been chanting since the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, does not in any way express any ill will toward the American people,” the IRGC officials wrote. “Death to...

To the honorable people of the United States of America—the scholars, the students, and the members of the media, We begin this letter by saluting the noble souls of God’s greatest prophets—Noah, Abraham,Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, may His peace and blessings be upon them all. … …it should be fairly obvious that the phrase "Death to America," which Iranians have been chanting since the triumph of the Islamic Revolution… is a prayer for the eradication of the diabolical ruling elite whose seat of power is the White House. The men enthroned at the White House oppress both Iranians and Americans....

The Omani copilot who stabbed the pilot on the flydubai flight yesterday discussed killing Jews on social media, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.The official adds that the attacker asked the Emirati crew members to kill him, citing conversations with passengers on the flight. “This was a person who was willing to commit suicide,” says the official. “His social media accounts [say] clearly that he has been radicalized into jihadist ideology. He talks about killing Jews.”“We can’t say for sure until the investigation’s over,” the official continues, “but it certainly seems like he was a suicide actor who...

Democratic Maine Senate hopeful Troy Jackson complained that Jewish residents of his state have been reluctant to label Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip a genocide, saying that hesitation was “only because they’re Jewish.”Jackson, who has faced pressure from his left flank to more forcefully condemn the Jewish state, made the comment Tuesday to Portland’s NBC affiliate. “It’s unfortunate that there are people here in Maine that don’t like to use that term only because they’re Jewish and what that means to them, with the Holocaust,” said Jackson, according to Jewish Insider. “[Israel’s war in Gaza] fits that...

For months, Hamas has been releasing the names of "martyrs," including doctors, aid workers, and "journalists"; that fact has been screamed from the rooftops by independent journalists. More "mainstream" journalists have looked the other way, after spending years peddling the lie that Israel has been targeting journalists for execution in Gaza. Much has been made of the fact, and it is part of the ongoing propaganda campaign against our ally. Now, finally, the story is getting picked up, and the Beeb is "urgently" reviewing its coverage. The BBC has reported the deaths of 53 “journalists” in Gaza who have been...

Everyone is watching the wrong thing this morning. The headline is that President Trump rejected Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend. Oil jumped. Brent is back above $106. The pundits are calling it another setback for peace. They’re missing what actually happened. Iran offered to reopen the Strait within seven days if the U.S. lifted its naval blockade, released frozen assets, and eased sanctions. Six months ago, that offer would have been taken seriously. Hormuz was the single most valuable card Tehran held. Twenty percent of the world’s oil ran through it, and Iran could...

But it brings a dangerous moment for the U.S. DUBAI—Iran’s ability to choke off oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz—and use that as leverage in talks with the U.S.—is breaking down, raising the risk it will resort to military escalation to bolster its position. The erosion of Iran’s position comes as the U.S. Navy and Gulf oil producers have become better at fending off or evading Iranian attacks, allowing more tankers to cross the strait. Middle Eastern crude exports rebounded this month to around their highest level since the war began in February, oil data trackers say. Shipments via...

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has moved back toward pre-war levels ... [Iranian] Oil exports have also collapsed ... Inflation is nearing 70%, food prices have more than doubled, and unemployment is above 9% ... youth unemployment at 20.1%

Larry Alex Taunton@LarryTaunton·22hPassing time in a tightly packed airport coffee shop recently, I ended up in conversation with a thirty-something couple sitting only inches from me. I was coming from Mexico City and they were going there. After the usual banter, I asked where they were from and learned they were New Yorkers moving out of that city. They didn’t offer a reason and I didn’t press for one.They asked me what I did for a living and I explained that I was a writer currently investigating how cartels were smuggling people into the US. I say I was chatting...

From my balcony in the Judean mountains, I can see the lights of Jordan on a clear night and the skyline of Amman at sunrise. On other nights, I simply look south and east and know that the same Iranian missiles and drones from the Houthis in Yemen threatening my children and grandchildren are also threatening the mosques, holy cities, the oil fields, and the very capital that keep the House of Saud in power. That is the uncomfortable intimacy of this region. We are not friends. We are not yet even fully acknowledged as legitimate neighbors. Yet Riyadh is...

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman cast the deciding vote for a resolution that would've directed President Donald Trump to withdraw armed forces from Iran. Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote against the War Powers Resolution on Thursday. The resolution was rejected by a 49-50 vote. Republican Sen. Dave McCormick also voted against the resolution Thursday. Fetterman has publicly supported the war in Iran from the get-go, but an increasing number of Republicans have opposed it. On Thursday, three Senate Republicans voted in support of the resolution. If the resolution passed, it would require Trump to receive congressional approval before continuing...

Fox News senior strategic analyst Jack Keane joins Brian Kilmeade to discuss Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's powerful United Nations address, Hamas' brutal tactics and his own recent 11-day visit to Israel. Netanyahu's powerful address to the United Nations sparks strong support as Fox News senior strategic analyst General Jack Keane joins Brian Kilmeade to analyze the conflict. Highlighting Israel's efforts to protect civilians, Keane rejects genocide allegations and details his recent 11-day visit to the region, including Gaza's extensive tunnel network. The retired general condemns Hamas for using human shields during the war.

The Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday that it had eliminated Mahmoud Abd al-Fattah Awad, a Hamas commander who, according to the military, held seven hostages in a Gaza tunnel during the war. Awad, who was killed in an airstrike in the Gaza City area over the weekend, took part in holding hostages Daniella Gilboa, Karina Ariev, Doron Steinbrecher, Naama Levy, Ziv Berman, Omri Miran and Eitan Mor, according to the military. Awad had recently planned terror attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians, and also worked to rebuild Hamas’s capabilities “in systematic violation of the ceasefire,” the IDF said. “Prior...

Broad international front at UN: Iran and the Houthis in Yemen face condemnation from dozens of countries and the European Union over disruption to shipping routes and threats to energy security. Statement calls for immediate implementation of UN Security Council resolution: "Shipping and seafarers must never be used as leverage."

A funny thing happened on the Iranian President's way to the U.N... But before we get to President Donald Trump's newest and latest and most magnificent troll, please let me take a moment to remind you of just how high he set the bar for himself. Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Tex.) told the story to Sage Steele on a video podcast way back in 2024. "I want to leave Afghanistan," Trump is supposed to have said at a high-level meeting with the Taliban during his first administration. "But it's going to be a conditions-based withdrawal," unlike the rushed and bloody mess...

The Iran war could reshape the midterms as Democrats, Iran’s regime, dissidents, and Kurdish rebels weigh the political and military stakes of the next 50 days. Many narratives swirl around the U.S. war with Iran as the November 3 midterm elections loom. The Left is giddy with confidence that Democrats may take control of Congress. It is therefore planning a circus of impeachments, lawfare, and investigations to neuter the last two years of the Trump administration. High gas prices and the current unpopularity of the Iran conflict, coupled with the historical reality that the president’s party has lost seats in...