Free Republic

Top News Story Iranian student leader to meet with VP Cheney about "regime change" in Tehran. Telegraph reported that an Iranian student leader, Amir Abbas Fakhravar, who was imprisoned and tortured before fleeing to the United States in May, is to meet Vice-President Dick Cheney and deliver his message about the need for "regime change" in Tehran.   The West has no choice but wait for Tehran? Reuters reported that Western diplomats and analysts said the West has no choice but to wait as Tehran plays for time. The latest "deadline" for Iran is July 12.Yahoo News reported that...

Top News Story Karen Hughes kills Bush's US broadcasting nominee who sought a return to the principles that proved so effective during the Cold War. Joel Mowbray, The Washington Times reported that in a stunning move, Karen Hughes sided with the Democratic members of the Broadcasting Board of Governors earlier this month in shooting down the Republicans' preferred candidate to head up U.S. radio services who would like to return to the principles that proved so effective during the Cold War, namely targeting key decision makers with serious programming laced with the values and ideals inherent to free societies....

Top News StoryIran and EU have been "talking daily." So what is Wednesday's meeting for? Dow Jones Newswires reported that top Iranian and European envoys will meet Wednesday to discuss "ambiguities" in a package of Western incentives, but the ambiguities shouldn't there since the EU's Solana and Iran's Larijani are "in contact on a daily basis."The New York Times reported that Iran again rejected a deadline to respond to an international proposal to end the standoff over its nuclear program.   Hersch: on the problems with military strikes on Iran. More "anonymous sources." Symour M. Hersh, The New Yorker...

Saddam's Wife, Daughter on Wanted List Saddam's Wife and Daughter, New Leader of al-Qaida in Iraq Among 41 on Iraq's Most-Wanted List By BUSHRA JUHI The Associated Press BAGHDAD, Iraq - Saddam Hussein's wife and eldest daughter are among 41 people on the Iraqi government's most wanted list, along with the new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, a top official announced Sunday. The photo of the daughter of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, Raghad, is seen on the Iraq government's new list of wanted outlaws at a press conference, Sunday, July 2, 2006,in Baghdad, Iraq. Iraqi National Security Advisor Dr....

Top News Story CBC News Senior United States military commanders have told the Bush administration that military strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities would probably fail to destroy them, the New Yorker magazine reported on Sunday. The senior commanders also warned that any attack could have "serious economic, political, and military consequences for the United States," the article says, citing unidentified U.S. military officials. "The target array in Iran is huge, but it's amorphous," the magazine quotes one unidentified general as saying. The article is by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who was the first U.S. journalist to report on the...

Top News StoryIranian rebels blow up railway line. Reuters reported that suspected tribal militants, fighting for greater political and economic autonomy, blew up a railway line linking southwestern Pakistan to Iran early on Saturday.Middle East Newsline reported that Iran was said to have been besieged by unrest. Iranian opposition sources reported a sharp increase in civil unrest throughout the country.   Syria detains Iranian rebels. Kuwait Times reported that a human rights group said Syria detained several leading Iranian Arab rebel leaders yesterday. The human rights group fear they will send them back to Iran.   G8 fear Iran...

Top News Story Iran invests in $1/3 Billion to suppress its internal opposition. Rooz Online reported that the Islamic Republic of Iran spent $350 million to equip and arm 2 brigades of Baseej mass-mobilization forces with heavy weapons. These two brigades had been involved in crushing the student protests. (But the US still can't provide $75 million to support them.) A must read.   Iranian fighters captured in Iraq. Excite News reported that Iraqi and U.S. troops battled Shiite militiamen in a village northeast of Baghdad on Thursday. Iraqi security officials said Iranian fighters had been captured in the...

RAMADI, Iraq (June 29, 2006) -- In recent days, the tempo of security operations have significantly increased in this insurgent stronghold. As U.S. and Iraqi forces push further into the city they plan to hold the ground they take by setting up small outposts on the insurgents' doorstep. Under sporadic small-arms, rocket and mortar fire, five Marines emplaced over 300 concrete barriers in 27 hours to provide secure borders for a new Iraqi army outpost in this capital city of the Al Anbar province. The Marines, from Combat Logistics Detachment 115, utilized heavily armored forklifts, commonly referred to as TRAMS,...

Top News Story A serious crack in US/EU Unity on Iran. Reuters reported that Germany's defense minister said Iran should be allowed to enrich uranium for power generation provided there is close monitoring by U.N. inspectors to ensure that it is not trying to develop atomic weapons.   Foreign Ministers meet in Moscow on Iran... Yahoo News reported that a meeting between EU foreign policy Chief Javier Solana and Iran's top nuclear negotiator has been postponed until after Group of Eight foreign ministers meet on Thursday.The Washington Post reported that Foreign ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations...

Top News Story A serious crack in US/EU Unity on Iran. Reuters reported that Germany's defense minister said Iran should be allowed to enrich uranium for power generation provided there is close monitoring by U.N. inspectors to ensure that it is not trying to develop atomic weapons.   Foreign Ministers meet in Moscow on Iran... Yahoo News reported that a meeting between EU foreign policy Chief Javier Solana and Iran's top nuclear negotiator has been postponed until after Group of Eight foreign ministers meet on Thursday.The Washington Post reported that Foreign ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations...

Top News Story 5 Reasons you should not believe the media's favorite "Iran Experts." In today’s news reports alone, we have plenty of reasons to distrust these so-called experts. Please consider the following myths promoted by some of these experts: MYTH: Iranians are united in support of Ahmadinejad. FACT: There were nearly 500 protests inside of Iran in the past month. Iran Focus reported that there have been some 480 anti-government protests inside of Iran in the past month. But the Western media remains silent. Photo. FACT: Ahmadinejad's mentor, Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi hopes to convince 10% of Iran will...

Top News Story Canada to world: Arrest Tehran's Prosecutor. Eli Lake, The New York Sun reported that an Iranian prosecutor, Mr. Mortazavi, who is accused of condoning the torture, rape, and murder of a Canadian photojournalist has eluded arrest after Canadian Prime Minister Harper made an appeal to the world to use "all manner of law" available to apprehend him. A preview of UN sanctions on Iran?   What will Iran do with $60 billion? Strategiy.com reported that Iran expects to earn 60 billion dollars from oil exports in its current financial year that ends on March 20, 2007....

Top News Story Iran admits it has influence over Al Qaeda. RIA Novosti reported that Tehran is prepared to assist in releasing four Russian diplomats abducted by Al Qaeda insurgents in the Iraqi capital. By making this statement, Iran has admitted it's over Al Qaeda.   Iran's Holocaust Conference scheduled for October. Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported that Iran is to hold its controversial proposed conference on the Holocaust in October.   Iran warns the West of its Oil Weapon.... again. Yahoo News reported that Iran's oil minister warned that Iran would use oil as a weapon if its interests are...

Wives and family members of soldiers fighting in Iraq have received telephone calls, believed to include death threats, from insurgents, according to military documents seen by The Sunday Telegraph. The "nuisance" calls have been made with increasing frequency over the past few weeks after insurgents managed to obtain home numbers from soldiers' mobile telephones. The growing number of calls has led to an investigation by the Royal Military Police, which has issued a warning to all soldiers in Iraq to take great care when using mobile telephones to call home. document issued to soldiers of the London Regiment, a Territorial...

Top News Story The fissures in the Iranian regime increase. Abbas Milani, The Washington Post reported that despite Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei insistence that there are no fissures in the Iranian regime, something is clearly rotten in the state of Iran. They discuss the four main factions struggling for control in the Islamic republic.The Guardian reported that Rafsanjani is preparing a quixotic final bid for political power - with backing from some surprising quarters. If he succeeds he will be in prime position to become Iran's next Supreme Leader. But some factions consider Rafsanjani a traitor to the...

Top News Story Canada demands the arrest of Iran's UN Human Rights Council representative. CTVNews reported that Canada Prime Minister Stephen Harper demanded Saeed Mortazavi be arrested before he leaves Germany, after Iran sent the infamous Mortazavi to the new UN Human rights Council.Dow Jones Newswires reported that the State Department said Iran showed a lack of concern for basic human rights by appointing a known rights violator to its delegation at a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council.OpenDemocracy reported that Iran also sent another infamous human rights abuser to the UN Human Rights Council: justice minister Jamal...

Top News Story Iranian dissident: There is "no consensus on the nuclear issue in Iran." Rooz Online reported that the famed Iranian imprisoned journalist Akbar Ganji declared in Paris said, “There is absolutely no consensus on the nuclear issue in Iran and everything that is attributed to be ‘national’ in this regard is merely ideological propaganda.”   Bush: The Iranian people deserve to "determine their own future." Voice of America reported that in a recent speech, President George W. Bush called on the Iranian government to accept the proposal and said: "The people of Iran, like people everywhere, also...

Today: June 23, 2006 at 0:45:44 PDT Casey: U.S. Forces in Iraq to Shrink By LOLITA C. BALDOR ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) - 0622dv-pentagon-briefing The top U.S. commander in Iraq predicted on Thursday that the size of the U.S. fighting force will shrink this year, although he said he had not made new recommendations to his Pentagon bosses on the size and timing of any cuts. "I'm confident that we'll be able to continue to take reductions over the course of this year," Army Gen. George Casey told a Pentagon news conference with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld at his...

The top U.S. commander in Iraq has accused Iran of increasing its involvement in the Shiite insurgency in Iraq, and using its allies to launch attacks on U.S. forces. At a news conference at the Pentagon, General George Casey also said Sunni insurgents have been increasing their efforts to make peace with the new government. But he indicated that he will not be able to recommend further reductions in U.S. forces in Iraq until he has had a chance to work more with Iraq's new leaders. General George Casey (l) and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld General Casey says Iran has...

Top News Story The world condemns Iran for sending a human rights abuser to the "new and improved" UN Human Rights Commission. Canada.com reported that the Iranian prosecutor implicated in the death of Montreal photojournalist Zahra Kazemi is part of a delegation at a new UN human rights body. Human rights organizations immediately condemned his presence. A must read.Mehr.org produced a petition to protest the legitimization of Islamic Regime by the United Nations new human rights commission.   The Iranian regime plans harsher treatment of dissidents in Iran. Rooz Online reported that after the arrest of two student activists...