Free Republic

As media hype falters and globalists posture, Trump’s campaign to secure the world’s chokepoints reshapes power—and leaves Iran and its allies with little leverage left. Possibly the most amusing fake news item Saturday morning came from The New York Times. Under the rubric “Iran War Live Updates,” a headline screamed, “Iran’s Military Says It Has Reimposed ‘Strict Control’ of Strait of Hormuz.” To which an inquiring mind wants to know, “What Iran military?” It’s gone, Kemo Sabe. The floating bits are at the bottom of the sea. The terrestrial bits have been crushed, blasted, pulverized, or incinerated. Ditto most of...

Shamim Mafi, 44, was arrested at LAX for attempting to smuggle drones, bombs, and millions of rounds of ammunition to Sudan on behalf of Iran.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you, as a Democrat, there was this extraordinary vote this past week in the Senate. Forty Senate Democrats tried to block a U.S. weapons sale to Israel, and that adds to this growing rift we have seen between your party and Benjamin Netanyahu. Do you think Democrats are going to come to regret this break in the alliance? HOCHSTEIN: So I hope that it's not a break in the alliance. I think this, what it really demonstrates is for the last several years, Prime Minister Netanyahu has sacrificed Israel's interest in the United States....

Tucker Carlson has come out strongly against the U.S-Israel attack on Iran — ABC’s Jonathan Karl reports. Karl posted a video to X, Saturday, in which he revealed that he reached out to Carlson for his take on President Donald Trump’s decision to attack. And Carlson was unsparing his assessment. “Absolutely disgusting and evil,” Carlson said — according to Karl.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Sunday urged the EU to end its association agreement with Israel. In an escalation of his criticism against Israel, he said during a rally in Andalusia that “a government that violates international law or the principles of the EU cannot be its partner.” Spain will formally propose the termination of the agreement at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Tuesday in Luxembourg. Sánchez has emerged as one of Israel’s most vocal critics in the EU. He accused Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of committing genocide in Gaza and denounced the joint U.S.-Israel strikes...

Greta Thunberg’s freedom flotilla, which set sail from Barcelona Sunday for another anti-Israel voyage to Gaza, has been rocked by scandal after one of its woke leaders was accused of “sexual misconduct” with at least three volunteers. “A senior leader within the flotilla — a member of the steering committee, the highest governing body of the organization — engaged in sexual relations with multiple activists while on the boat heading to Gaza. Not one person. Not two. Three different individuals,” claimed Palestinian group Heart of Falastin in a social media post earlier this week. “To do it on the boat,...

Perhaps the only thing worse than Tucker Carlson’s deranged understanding of history is his deranged understanding of theology.

Women living under Hamas rule describe how they are sexually abused by the terror group's fighters. 02:12 EDT , updated 02:12 EDT 18 Apr 2026 By - Middle East Correspondant. The world has heard harrowing accounts of Israeli men and women sexually brutalised in Hamas captivity — but now chilling new testimony is emerging from inside Gaza itself. Gazans living under Hamas rule are beginning to break their silence, describing sexual abuse by multiple men, sexual blackmail for aid or money and abuse by people in positions of power. It comes as concerns grow that the group is re-establishing control,...

President Donald Trump on Friday posted about making Lebanon great again amid the country’s ceasefire deal with Israel. “Again! This deal is not tied, in any way, to Lebanon, but we will, MAKE LEBANON GREAT AGAIN!” Trump’s TRUTH Social post said. "I have directed Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Rubio, together with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Razin' Caine, to work with Israel and Lebanon to achieve a Lasting PEACE," the president wrote in a TRUTH Social post. Both nations met earlier this week in D.C. for peace talks, which were mediated by...

Iran rowed back on its decision to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and fired on a tanker attempting to pass the waterway on Saturday. It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.Confusion over the critical chokepoint threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy and push the two countries toward renewed conflict, even as mediators expressed confidence a new deal was within reach.Iran’s joint military command said on Saturday that “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state...

The Speaker of Iran's Parliament has declared the opening of the Strait of Hormuz null and void. In a tweet posted on X, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused President Trump of violating the deal opening the Strait of Hormuz and said the Strait is now closed."With the continuation of the blockade, the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open."Meanwhile, CENTCOM said today they will continue the blockade until Trump tells them not to. https://t.co/1zFz6q3MVt— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) April 17, 2026"With the continuation of the blockade, the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open."Meanwhile, CENTCOM said today they will continue the blockade...

Up to 60 Christians were massacred by Islamists in the province of Ituri, north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), on April 1. A source affiliated to Islamic State (IS – also known as ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) reported that its fighters “targeted Christians” after they “rejected the generous offer made to them by Islamic State, based on the just rulings of Islam.” This “generous offer” was likely a demand for members of the Christian community of Bafwakoa, a village in the territory of Mambasa, to convert to Islam or accept dhimmi status as subjugated, supposedly protected, people. One of several...

Iran insisted its uranium was “not going anywhere” despite Donald Trump claiming a deal had been struck for the US to remove the nuclear material.The US president told Reuters that he would work with the Iranian leadership to extract the radioactive element from the country at a “nice leisurely pace” before taking it back to America.But Iran’s foreign ministry rejected Mr Trump’s claim, insisting that no such deal existed.“Iran’s enriched uranium is not going to be transferred anywhere,” Esmaeil Baqaei, a spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry, said.Tehran officials also denied Mr Trump’s suggestion that the Islamic Republic had agreed...

The U.S. and Iran are negotiating over a three-page plan to end the war, with one element under discussion being that the U.S. would release $20 billion in frozen Iranian funds in return for Iran giving up its stockpile of enriched uranium, according to two U.S. officials and two additional sources briefed on the talks.

Iran rejects temporary ceasefire, seeks broader end to conflict. Iran rejects any temporary ceasefire and is seeking a comprehensive end to conflict across the region, Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Friday.

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire. “I just had excellent conversations with the Highly Respected President Joseph Aoun, of Lebanon, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel. These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “On Tuesday, the two Countries met for the first time in 34 years here in Washington, D.C., with our Great Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. I have directed Vice President JD Vance and...

An attempted attack near the London studios of Iran International has heightened concerns over what the broadcaster says is a growing campaign of intimidation targeting its staff. A suspicious vehicle was denied entry at the main entrance of its site on the evening of April 15. Shortly afterward, incendiary devices were thrown into the car park of a neighboring building just meters from its studios. “Our security team responded immediately, and the police and fire brigade arrived shortly afterwards. We are grateful to them for their swift response,” Iran International’s editorial board said in a statement. London’s Metropolitan Police said...

An attempted attack near the London studios of Iran International, which is affiliated with the Iranian opposition, has heightened concerns over what the broadcaster says is a growing campaign of intimidation targeting its staff. A suspicious vehicle was denied entry at the main entrance of its site on the evening of Wednesday, April 15. Shortly afterward, incendiary devices were thrown into the car park of a neighboring building just meters from its studios. “Our security team responded immediately, and the police and fire brigade arrived shortly afterwards. We are grateful to them for their swift response," Iran International’s editorial board...

President Donald Trump on April 14 directly addressed Pope Leo XIV in another Truth Social post, drawing attention to the Iranian regime’s reported killing of thousands of protesters in the past two months. “Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed, protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable,” he wrote.Protests in Iran erupted in late December 2025 over economic hardships and quickly turned into broader anti-government demonstrations, Zeale News previously reported. Iranian security forces reportedly responded with live ammunition against the...

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem delivered a defiant speech on Monday evening, making it clear that the terrorist organization has no intention of retreating from its positions despite heavy military and political pressure. Qassem directly attacked Lebanon’s top leadership, including President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, claiming that US support for the Lebanese army is intended to drag the country into a civil war in order to destroy Hezbollah. Ahead of a new round of ambassador-level talks scheduled to begin on Tuesday in the United States, Qassem stated unequivocally that Hezbollah opposes any negotiations with Israel. “We have decided...