Free Republic

Top News Story Reuters NEW YORK (Reuters) - Iran is pressing Shi'ite militias to step up attacks against the U.S.-led forces in Iraq in retaliation for the Israeli assault on Lebanon, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq told The New York Times in an interview. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad also told the Times in Baghdad on Friday Iran may foment even more violence as it faces off with the United States and United Nations over its nuclear program in coming weeks. The newspaper reported on the interview in Saturday editions. The remarks were the first public statements by a senior Bush...

Top News Story Iran caught dead-handed. New York Post reported that despite Iranian denials that Iranian are involved in the fighting in Lebanon, the bodies of members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard were found among Hezbollah fighters killed by Israeli forces.   More news from Lebanon. Chicago Tribune reported that Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt has emerged as a lone voice of dissent amid the clamor of pro-Hezbollah cheerleading. "If I were opportunistic, I would tell you now, `Long live Nasrallah.' I am not going to tell you that."Rooz Online reported on a speech in Iran by Mohammad Mohsen, a...

Top News Story Mike Wallace interviews Ahmadinejad. CBS News reported that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sat down with Mike Wallace in Tehran in a rare, exclusive interview. Ahmadinejad said that in response to President Bush's failure to answer his 18-page letter: "Those who refuse to accept an invitation will not have a good ending or fate."The entire report will be broadcast on 60 Minutes this Sunday at 7 p.m. ET/PT.   Tehran Bus Union leader released on bail. Radio Free Europe reported that imprisoned Mansoor Osanloo, the president of the Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran Bus Company, a...

Top News Story Pakistan warns Iran of India's support for Iranian rebels. Hindustan Times reported that Pakistan has asked Iran to monitor the Indian consulate in the Iranian border city of Zahidan, alleging it was aiding nationalist rebels in the southwest Balochistan province.   Has Hezbollah's war become a propaganda bonanza for Iran? The Guardian argued that the war in Lebanon has become a propaganda tool for Iran.   Iran opposes UN resolution on Lebanon. Radio Free Europe reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki described a U.S.-French draft UN resolution on the Mideast conflict as "an operation against...

Top News Story M.A.D. won’t stop the Iranian from using the bomb. Bernard Lewis, The Wall Street Journal argued that Iran's apocalyptic leaders do not fear killing Palestinians in a nuclear attack on Israel nor do they fear an Israeli nuclear counter attack on Iran because in both cases the Muslim dead will be accepted by Allah into heaven. A must read.   Iranian dissident Batebi on hunger strike in Evin Prison. Iran Press News reported that Iranian student leader, Ahmad Batebi is now being detained and if new charges are not leveled against him, he will only have...

Sunni Muslims Standing in Unity with Shiite Hezbollah By Chris Zambelis The latest crisis in the Middle East involving Hezbollah and Israel and ongoing sectarian violence in Iraq has focused attention on an emerging divide between Sunnis and Shiites. The positions of heads of state in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Pakistan, among others, who represent predominantly Sunni populations, in not taking a stronger stance in opposing Israel lends credence to the theory that Sunnis are tacitly siding with Israel against Hezbollah in order to check Shiite and, by extension, Iranian influence. In reality, the opposite is the case. Regional...

Top News Story Are we witnessing the signs of a coming war with Iran? Omar Fadhil, Philly.com reported that he sees the signs that Iran may be starting to launch the mullahs' version of an Armageddon, exploiting the religious beliefs of devout Shiites in the region.Henry Porter, The Guardian argued that the present crisis with Iran reminds him of his grandfathers' stories when learned they would probably be going to war.   Iran makes it clear to the UNSC: NO! Islamic Republic News Agency reported that the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, said Iran will...

Top News Story Secret Iranian uranium shipment stopped. The Times Online reported that Iran is seeking to import large consignments of bomb-making uranium from the African mining area that produced the Hiroshima bomb. A huge shipment of smuggled uranium 238, uncovered by customs officials in Tanzania destined for the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.   Iranian dissident Mohammadi's funeral. SOSIran published a translation of a report on the condition of the body of the Iranian dissident. Graphic language.Iran Press News published photos of the funeral of Iranian dissident Akbar Mohammadi.   Regime newspaper: Open a corridor for the drug...

Top News Story Stratfor An Iranian parliament member Aug. 5 called on Muslim states to impose political and economic sanctions on Saudi Arabia for Riyadh's policies on the Lebanese crisis, Iran's Fars News Agency reported. Rafat Bayat described the Israeli-Hezbollah war as a clash of opposing schools of thought. She called on Muslims not to go to on the pilgrimage this year, and to use the money to reconstruct Lebanon instead. A Daily Briefing of Major News Stories on Iran: Ebadi protests Interior Ministry ban Hezbollah equipped like the Syrian, Iranian army Russia warns Iran over deadeline Airbrushing Iran’s...

Top News Story Iranian leaders threaten to kill its political prisoners if UNSC acts against Iran. Iran Press News reported that the Islamic Republic has now specifically announced that should their nuclear dossier be voted for referral by the United Nations Security all political prisoners, whether on furlough or in prison, will be summarily executed.   Hezbollah executes Christians and Druze as spies. Iran Press News reported that Hezbollah executes 18 Lebanese Christians & Druze for exposing Hezbollah hideouts.   Iran sends bin Laden's son to Syria to create al Qaeda cells to fight with Hezbollah. Reuters reported that...

Top News Story Ahmadinejad rejects UNSC resolution. Dow Jones Newswires reported that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejected a U.N. Security Council resolution that would give his nation until Aug. 31 to suspend uranium enrichment.   Iranians think the West will give in on the nuclear issue. Rooz Online reported that the spokesman for the Majlis Leadership said: The West will yield on the nuclear issue.   Iranian Ayatollah pleads for Muslims to arm Hezbollah. Aljazeera.net reported that Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati called on Muslim countries to arm Hezbollah in its struggle against Israel.   Iran cuts another major deal with...

Three years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the fall of Saddam Hussein, confusion and controversy still surround the insurgency in Iraq's Sunni Triangle. Part of this is due to the nontraditional character of the Sunni Arab insurgency, which is being waged by amorphous, locally and regionally based groups and networks lacking a unifying ideology, central leadership, or clear hierarchical organization.1 The ambiguities inherent in insurgent warfare also make insurgencies difficult to assess. In conventional military conflicts, we can compare opposing orders of battle, evaluate capabilities, and assess the fortunes of belligerents using traditional measures: destruction of enemy forces,...

Top News Story Iranian student leader dies of torture while on hunger strike in prison. Iran Press News reported that a beloved student leader, Akbar Mohammadi, died as a result of brutal torture by Islamic regimes' judiciary at the infamous Evin Prison. Mohammadi had just been returned to his cell in ward 350 after a brutal torture session. He was on his 9th day of a hunger strike. He gave his life for freedom. Photos.   UNSC passes a resolution giving Iran until the end of the month. The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.N. Security Council passed...

Top News Story Iran is preparing operation "Judgment Day?" Yehudit Barsky, InfoIsrael.net reported that little attention has been paid to Tehran's preparations for a possible showdown with America and its allies for a confrontation code-named "Al-Qiyamah," which is Arabic for "Judgment Day."   The head of the IRGC tells forces to “prepare to take revenge” on Israel and the U.S. Or did he speak to soon? Reuters reported that the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said hard-line forces should get ready to take revenge on Israel and the United States for the offensive on Lebanon. The regime later retracted...

Top News Story Iran preparing its people for war with Israel. Ottawa Citizen reported that a former Canadian Secret Intelligence Service informant says the Iranian regime is "mentally and spiritually" preparing its people for war against Israel.Yahoo News reported that Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei feted Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah as the "people's favorite person all over the world."   Iranian state radio: Iran will reject UN resolution. FOX News reported that Iranian state radio said Saturday that the government would reject a proposed U.N. resolution that would give it until Aug. 31 to suspend uranium enrichment or...

Top News Story People’s Daily Online Iran awarded Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday the country's highest medal of honor for his support for Iran's nuclear program, the official IRNA new agency reported. "The medal was given to President Chavez for his support for Iran's stance on its nuclear case at international circles, especially Venezuela's vote against an anti-Iranian resolution adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," the IRNA said. Venezuela opposed an IAEA decision to report Iran's nuclear case to the UN Security Council in February. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad awarded the medal to Chavez in Tehran...

Top News Story Ahmadinejad's promised message to the world coming soon... August 22nd? Eli Lake, The New York Sun reported that Israeli strategic planners are closely watching whether Iran will deliver on President Ahmadinejad's promise last week to make an announcement that would neutralize Israel's nuclear threat.Robert Spencer, FrontPageMagazine.com reported that Western officials are concerned with the message that Iranian President is planning for August 22nd. He examines the significance of the date in Islamic history and fears it is Iran's day of terror.Lt. Col. Gordon Cucullu, FrontPageMagazine.com concerned about Ahmadinejad's August 22nd surprise announcement outlined what Iran and...

Top News Story Iranian regimes own newspaper confesses Iranian anger over government support of Hezbollah. Iran Press News reported on the Iranian people’s rage and hatred for Hezbollah was in evidence in the regime-run newspaper Aftab’eh Yazd where readers of the newspaper messages have been published, for example: “Hassan Nassrollah, the coward is hiding out while the people of Lebanon are paying his price.” A must read.   The human rights abuse of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran Focus reported that the European Union issued a statement that expressed “serious concern about the deteriorating situation with regard to...

Top News Story Iran demands a seat at the table of any international peace deal in Lebanon. The Guardian reported that Iran warned the west that attempts to broker a Lebanon peace deal at today's Rome summit are destined to fail and that the West ignores Iran "at your peril."SF Chronicle reported that diplomats from the West and the Middle East gathered in Rome, two weeks after a cross-border attack spiraled into deadly warfare, minus Iran and Syria.   Iran appeals for Russian help in the current Middle East crisis. The Jerusalem Post reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin...

Top News Story The West's solidarity cracking over Lebanon? The Washington Times reported that some analysts fear that Iran's suspected support for the recent Hezbollah attacks on Israel could undo the international community's solidarity over Iran's nuclear program.John Batchelor, The New York Sun argued that Europe will not fight in Lebanon to support Israel and America in suppressing Hezbollah. Because rather, Europe is collectively suffering the double wall of denial.Michael Ledeen, The National Review Online see the West replaying two old blunders in dealing with Syria. The first is the Friend Who Has Gone Too Far, and the second...