Free Republic

China’s defense minister met Thursday with Iran’s navy commander in the latest sign of warming ties between their two militaries following their first joint naval drills in the Persian Gulf last month. […] China has been building closer ties with the militaries of U.S. rivals such as Russia to help counter American naval dominance in the Asia-Pacific region.China and Iran also maintain close economic links, although Beijing has joined international efforts to prod Iran into cooperating with the global community over its nuclear programs. …

China says it’s against referring ally North Korea to the International Criminal Court over its human rights record. The U.N. General Assembly’s human rights committee is considering a resolution calling on the Security Council to take that step, citing the North’s dismal and well-documented record of sprawling political prison camps, starvation and mass executions. …

Iran's Supreme Leader has approved co-operation with the US as part of the fight against Islamic State (IS) in Iraq, sources have told BBC Persian. Ayatollah Khamenei has authorised his top commander to co-ordinate military operations with the US, Iraqi and Kurdish forces, sources in Tehran say. Iran has traditionally opposed US involvement in Iraq, an Iranian ally. However, Shia Iran sees the extremist Sunni IS group, which views Shias as heretics, as a serious threat.

A recent United Nations report, still classified, confirms that Iran is implicated in exporting longer-range missiles to the region, such as the M-302 rockets launched from Gaza. UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. — Evidence that Hamas is firing more sophisticated weapons at Israel – including longer-range rockets – than in past conflicts is focusing a new light on Iran’s role in arming the militant organization....

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday his government will lift some of its sanctions on North Korea in response to Pyongyang’s decision to create a committee to investigate the fate of at least a dozen Japanese who were abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s. Abe said he was satisfied the committee has the mandate to carry out a serious investigation into the abductions, though previous deals with the North have fallen through. Japan will continue to abide by UN-sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs. …

BRUSSELS — Iran is directing surveillance drones over Iraq from an airfield in Baghdad and is secretly supplying Iraq with tons of military equipment, supplies and other assistance, American officials said. Tehran has also deployed an intelligence unit there to intercept communications, the officials said. The secret Iranian programs are part of a broader effort by Tehran to gather intelligence and help Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s government in its struggle against Sunni militants with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, the head of Iran’s paramilitary Quds Force, has visited Iraq at least twice to help...

In a shocking declaration on her 1 p.m. ET hour MSNBC show Tuesday, host Andrea Mitchell asserted that one of America's fiercest enemies was actually a friend to the U.S. before George W. Bush came along: "Up until that moment, Iran was cooperating with the United States on the border of Afghanistan, it was post-9/11, Iran was more or less an American ally. By being included in the Axis of Evil, it turned the Iranian government in a completely different direction." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump] The topic came up when The Washington Post's...

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North Korea has sent a fax to South Korea threatening to “strike mercilessly without notice” after protests against the secretive regime. The message warned that North Korea would strike if “the provocation against our highest dignity is to be repeated in the downtown of Seoul.” The fax addresses protests earlier this week in which conservative protesters rallied in Seoul, burning effigies of the country’s leaders as well as its flag during an anti-North Korean rally on the second death anniversary of former leader Kim Jong Il. …

A European Parliament delegation has arrived in Iran, the first visit to Tehran by the EU’s legislative institution in more than six years. […] The visit is a sign of warming ties in the wake of an interim deal reached in November in Geneva between the Islamic Republic and six world powers to ease some sanctions on Iran for a series of nuclear concessions. …

(Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear agency said on Thursday it had seen releases of steam and water indicating that North Korea may be seeking to restart a reactor that experts say would be capable of making plutonium for atomic bombs.

Iran struck a historic nuclear deal Sunday with the United States and five other world powers, in the most significant development between Washington and Tehran in more than three decades of estrangement between the two nations. Obama hailed the deal as putting ‘‘substantial limitations’’ on a nuclear program that the United States and its allies fear could be turned to nuclear weapons use. ‘‘While today’s announcement is just a first step, it achieves a great deal,’’ Obama said. ‘‘For the first time in nearly a decade, we have halted the progress of the Iranian nuclear program, and key parts of...

General: 'Slightest military mistake' could set off Iran's 'capabilities' In a pointed message to Washington, the second in just days, an Iranian general has warned of great destruction being delivered to the United States. “The Americans’ catch-phrase ‘the military option is on the table’ (over the nuclear issue) is a bluff,” said Gen. Massoud Jazayeri, deputy chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces. “They are aware of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s capabilities. The slightest military mistake against Iran will make the Americans witness the heaviest damage in their history in their own eyes,” the semi-official Fars News Agency reported...

The United States believes Iran is a year or a more away from being able to produce a nuclear weapon, President Barack Obama said in an interview with the Associated Press released on Saturday, although he described the estimate as "conservative." "Our assessment continues to be a year or more away, and in fact, actually our estimate is probably more conservative than the estimates of Israeli intelligence services," Obama said in reply to a question about the U.S. intelligence assessment of Iran's ability to produce nuclear weapons. Obama has directed U.S. officials to try to work out an agreement with...

Iran on Tuesday denounced US President Barack Obama for keeping the "threat" of military force on the table to coerce the Islamic state into curbing its controversial nuclear activities. "It is a source of regret that he still uses the language of threat after we told them to replace it with one of respect," Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham told reporters. In an earlier statement, Afkham said it was "unjustifiable" that the White House could "violate international rules and the UN charter to cater to the interests of lobbies by resorting to the military option."

Photo credit Israel Ministry of Defense Visiting US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey met with top Israeli military brass on Wednesday to discuss regional cooperation and the strengthening of military ties between Israel and the US. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon stressed the central role that Iran was playing in current events and the need for Israel to remain vigilant. “The instability in the Middle East is due, in part, to the Iranian regime, which is involved in every conflict in the area,” he said. “We also need to be prepared for a prolonged conflict...

The White House confirmed on Monday that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is traveling to North Korea, but sought to distance itself from his visit, calling it a “private trip.” … Carter had previously announced that he was planning on traveling to North Korea in an effort to secure the release of American citizen Kenneth Bae, who is being held by the regime. …

Kim Jong Un building 'mini world' with replica Big Ben and Eiffel Tower Chubby tyrant Kim Jong Un is building a “miniature world” in North Korea – with a replica of London's Big Ben at its heart. The dictator is set to open the theme park in capital Pyongyang – and has included the iconic clock tower. The new attraction, which opens this year, will also boast a copy of Paris’ Eiffel Tower. The secretive state famously doesn’t allow its citizens to leave the country – so it appears Jong Un has decided to bring the world to his people....

Ahmadinejad: Chavez Will Return With Jesus and 12th Imam A day after his death, Hugo Chavez is already being touted as a martyr and a messiah by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who equated the now deceased Venezuelan leader to Jesus and Shiite Islam’s 12th imam Wednesday, saying, “I have no doubt that he will return, along with the righteous Jesus and the perfect human.” Ahmadinejad also reiterated claims made by Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro that Chavez died of a “suspect illness” but didn’t go as far as Maduro had in equating Chavez’s death to that of late Palestinian Liberation...

The alleged father of Iran's nuclear program, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh-Mahabadi, is believed to have been present in North Korea last week in order to observe its third nuclear test, Britain's The Sunday Times reported citing Western intelligence sources. According to the sources, Fakhrizadeh-Mahabadi was responsible for the development of a warhead "small enough to fit on to one of the ballistic missiles developed by Iran from North Korean prototypes," the report stated.