Free Republic

The Turkish news is reporting that Iran Quds forces are marching into Syria to quash the rebellion. The Tatler reported: According to the Turkish newspaper, Sabah, the commander of the Quds forces, Qassem Soleimani and 15,000 of his fighters have entered Syria with the mission of assisting in the suppression of the Syrian protestors. The Quds forces will act as a firewall for the Assad regime as the Syrian army is finding itself in a difficult situation where many officers are joining the opposition because they do not approve of the mass killings of the civilians, which so far has...

(JPost) — Israel’s Mossad is responsible for training and paying the assassins of a number of Iranian nuclear scientists over the past two years, TIME magazine reported Saturday citing unnamed Western intelligence sources. In addition to the assassinations of the scientists, all of which were carried out using nearly identical magnetic bombs attached to the side of their cars, the intelligence sources claimed Israel was responsible for an explosion at an Iranian missile base outside Tehran late last year. Majid Jamali Fashi, one of several suspects arrested, tried and sentenced to death by the Islamic Republic in the past two...

BERLIN – Rising criticism from prominent German- Iranians, NGOs and the federal commissioner for culture and media prompted an elite cultural foundation on Tuesday to eject Iran’s acting Deputy Foreign Minister Mostafa Dolatyar from its board of trustees because he called for the destruction of Israel. According to a report in Iran’s Mahan News in 2010, Dolatyar said, “We hope that the prophecy of the Imam [Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini] regarding the downfall of this regime [Israel] will occur very soon and that we will witness it.” A spokesman for Bernd Neumann, Germany’s federal culture commissioner, told The Jerusalem Post that...

AN IRANIAN nuclear facility has been hit by a huge explosion, the second such blast in a month, prompting speculation that Tehran's military and atomic sites are under attack. Satellite imagery seen by The Times confirmed that a blast that rocked the city of Isfahan on Monday struck the uranium enrichment facility there, despite denials by Tehran.

I received via email the following statement from the Confederation of Iranian Students and the Iranian Freedom Institute regarding the Basij-led attack (that's what they're calling it - the Iranians are calling the attackers 'students') on the British embassy in Tehran on Tuesday. As the U.S. and its European allies begin to impose effective sanctions on the Islamic Republic, the western democracies should anticipate that the regime will initiate more of these fully-authorized, staged incidents under the guise of a student movement. The so-called students, of course, are plain-clothed basiji following orders from the regime. Even Moussa Ghornani, a member...

Smallpox is an acute, highly contagious and often fatal disease caused by the variola virus. The virus is so dangerous and potentially deadly that one confirmed case of smallpox is considered to be a public health emergency. Oh .. and there is no proven treatment for the disease once a person falls ill. You just administer fluids and antibiotics to handle any secondary infections, and hope that the patent is one of the 70%. The other 30% will die. In case you don't already know, Smallpox has been eradicated worldwide. The eradication is so complete that we don't even vaccinate...

Somewhere in the heavens above Amarillo, angry shouts rang out from the back of Southwest Airlines Flight 3683. “You’re all going to die,” a man dressed in black screamed at passengers Tuesday afternoon. “You’re all going to hell. Allahu Akbar,” translated as God is great in Arabic. Federal authorities arrested Ali Reza Shahsavari, 29, of Indialantic, Fla., onboard the Boeing 737 after pilots made an emergency landing at Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport at 3:30 p.m. He is being held in the Randall County jail on a federal charge of interfering with a flight crew. None of the 136 passengers...

WASHINGTON—U.S. authorities said Tuesday they had charged two men in an Iranian-directed plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the U.S. The alleged assassination plot would represent an escalation in the confrontation between mostly Shiite Iran and mostly Sunni Saudi Arabia, two longtime Middle East rivals. The charges are also a rare instance of Washington accusing Iranian groups of fomenting terrorism on U.S. soil. Elements of the Iranian government were ready to spend $1.5 million to hire what they believed was a drug-cartel hit squad from Mexico, said U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Prosecutors filed several criminal charges against...

A top Iranian banker who resigned amid a massive embezzlement scandal, one that has soured the political fortunes of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has fled the country and is reported to be in the Toronto area – where a $3-million home is owned in his name. The scandal is described as the biggest fraud in that country’s history. The amounts of money involved exceed even the $2-billion loss the Swiss bank UBS recently sustained due to a rogue trader.

<p>Reza Badiyi, a prolific television director whose credits included "Get Smart" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and who set a Directors Guild of America record for directing the most hours of episodic series television, has died. He was 81.</p>

Yayladagi, Turkey - Iranian snipers are being used in Syria to put down the growing tide of demonstrations against president Bashar al-Assad, claims a member of the regime's secret police who has fled to Turkey. The 25-year-old officer offered a detailed account of increasingly brutal tactics used by security forces to end the five-month uprising, including parading women naked through the streets and shoot-to-kill orders against unarmed protesters.

EXCLUSIVE: A book celebrating suicide bombers has been found in the Arizona desert just north of the U.S.- Mexican border, authorities tell Fox News. The book, "In Memory of Our Martyrs," was spotted Tuesday by a U.S. Border Patrol agent out of the Casa Grande substation who was patrolling a route known for smuggling illegal immigrants and drugs. Published in Iran, it consists of short biographies of Islamic suicide bombers and other Islamic militants who died carrying out attacks. According to internal U.S. Customs and Border Protection documents, "The book also includes letters from suicide attackers to their families, as...

Israel was keeping an eye Tuesday on two Iranian Navy warships that crossed the Suez Canal for the first time in over 30 years in a belligerent move that Israel claims is an attempt by the Islamic Republic to project its power throughout the Middle East. The two ships - the Khark which has 250 crew members and can carry three helicopters and the Alvand which is armed with torpedoes and anti-ship missiles – entered the Suez Canal early Tuesday morning and arrived in the Mediterranean Sea by the evening.Israeli defense officials said that the ships did not pose a

Does anyone know anything about the Iranian Royal Family? Members, extended family, that sort of thing?

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's opposition on Sunday renewed its call for a rally in support of protesters in Tunisia and Egypt despite a government warning of repercussions if demonstrations take place, a reformist website reported. In a statement published on Kaleme.com, the opposition urged its supporters to rally on Monday in central Tehran and accused the government of hypocrisy by voicing support for the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings while refusing to allow Iranian political activists to stage a peaceful demonstration.

An Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning was subjected to a mock execution by hanging. In preparation for her death, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani wrote her will and embraced her cellmates in Tabriz prison. But the mother-of-two, who was acquitted of murdering her husband but found guilty of adultery, was not led to the gallows. Her son told The Guardian: ‘Pressure from the international community has so far stopped them from carrying out the sentence but they’re killing her every day by any means possible.’

The US insists that an Iranian nuclear scientist who has turned up in the country is there voluntarily and is free to leave. The state department rejected claims by Tehran that Shahram Amiri, who surfaced at a Pakistani embassy building, had been abducted by US agents. Mr Amiri vanished more than a year ago. In June, three videos apparently showing him - and containing contradictory information on his whereabouts - emerged. He said in the first that he had been kidnapped by US and Saudi agents, in the second that he was living freely in Arizona, and in the third...

Egypt allowed at least one Israeli and 11 American warships to pass through the Suez Canal as an Iranian flotilla approaches Gaza. Egypt closed the canal to protect the ships with thousands of soldiers, according to the British-based Arabic language newspaper Al Quds al-Arabi. One day prior to the report on Saturday, Voice of Israel government radio reported that the Egyptian government denied an Israeli request not to allow the Iranian flotilla to use the Suez Canal to reach Gaza, in violation of the Israeli sea embargo on the Hamas-controlled area. International agreements require Egypt to keep the Suez open...

Europe Could Face Hundreds Of Iranian Missiles - Gates By REUTERS June 17, 2010 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence showing Iran likely would have the capability to attack Europe with "scores or even hundreds" of missiles factored into the Obama administration's decision to overhaul missile defenses, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday. Citing the growing Iranian missile threat, the United States announced plans last September to integrate sea- and land-based missile defenses in and around its NATO allies in Europe, referred to as the "phased adaptive approach." "One of the elements of the intelligence that contributed to the decision...

Half will be sent through Istanbul; Iranian MPs will fly to Gaza. Two Iranian cargoes of humanitarian aid for Gaza will leave next week and one of them will be shipped through Istanbul, the official Iranian news agency, IRNA reported Monday. The announcement quoted Mohammad Ali Nouraee, an aid official, who said one cargo will be sent to Turkey, and then shipped to Gaza from Istanbul while the other will leave from the port of Khorramshahr. Nouraee said that the ships would sail without protective security because the Iranians “do not want to fight", however he emphasized that "we are...

Hamburg - A senior Iranian ayatollah called Friday for the formation of a new United Nations after the UN Security Council passed new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programmes. "This UN is not the UN of independent world states but the UN of imperialistic and hegemonic powers," Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said in the Friday prayer ceremony carried live by Iranian radio.

SEATTLE -- There are more questions than answers in the case of a suspected international arms dealer caught in Washington state with a stockpile of sniper rifles. Oliver King is an Iranian citizen who, in the past, has been a licensed gun dealer. King appeared in court in Seattle on Wednesday, accused of keeping a stash of guns and ammunition hidden in a storage unit near the U.S.-Canada border. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, King lied to enter the U.S. near Blaine last week. Agents with U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement became suspicious of King when he showed up...

MCMINNVILLE, Ore. - Federal agents say an Iranian citizen lied to get across the U.S.-Canadian border and then stashed weapons near the border after transporting them from McMinnville, according to a court document. Agents said last Tuesday night Oliver King crossed the border on a false passport telling customs he had to “pick up his wife at the Target store.” But agents followed him down Interstate 5 to McMinnville, watched him pull up to an office building he leases which is a gun shop, load up boxes and drive back to Ferndale, Wash. There in a storage unit, agents said...

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- The Iranian regime is notorious for cracking down on dissent inside Iran. Now Mahmoud Ahmadenijad and the mullahs are targeting dissidents in other countries -- including those in the United States. And they are using an international organization to do it. Shahram Homayoun fled Iran for the United States 19 years ago. He was a marked man in his native country, because of his support for democracy and human rights. Now the regime has finally caught up with Homayoun: not in Tehran, but in Los Angeles. "They have managed to keep me here, and it seems...

The US Fifth Fleet and US aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower in the Gulf of Oman were not allowed to shoot at an Iranian Fokker F27 aircraft which on April 21 hovered for 20 minutes 900 meters over the carrier and no more than 250 meters away, even though they saw its flight crew gathering intelligence on the Eisenhower and its warship escorts.DEBKA-Net-Weekly's military sources report that the US Persian Gulf command went public on the incident on April 28, a whole week later, only after Gulf military circles, amazed at the American naval and air units' passivity in the...

Iran is closely watching the unfolding crisis between Israel and the United States over Israeli settlements – and Jerusalem clashes with Palestinians that injured more than 100 today – for ways to rejuvenate its diminished influence in the Middle East. Iran has seen its reputation tarnished across much of the Middle East by weeks of violent street clashes after the June 2009 presidential election, which many Iranians believe was rigged. “The Iranians are going to see an opportunity to improve their position in the region, to capitalize on Israel’s reduced standing vis-à-vis the US, to reduce the chances of an...

The thing that caught our eye in the plot to blow up John F. Kennedy International Airport and its oil lines concerns a detail in respect of the arrest of one of the key Guyanese suspects. It was the fact that the former member of the Guyanese legislature who was fingered in the plot, Abdul Kadir, was arrested in Trinidad on his way to Caracas, Venezuela. According to Mr. Kadir's wife, who was quoted in the Guyanese press, he was there to pick up an Iranian visa that would enable him to attend an Islamic conference in Tehran. No doubt...

Iran's first nuclear power plant will be operating by mid-2011, Iranian and Russian officials say. The Bushehr plant was begun in 1974 and abandoned five years later. Russia took over building work in the 1990s, but it has been beset with delays. Iran's semi-official Fars news agency quoted the head of Iran's atomic agency as saying that the plant had passed most tests successfully.

A remote-controlled bomb killed a Tehran University nuclear scientist today, state media reported, in an attack which Iran blamed on US and Israeli agents. The blast which killed professor Massoud Ali-Mohammadi occurred at a time of heightened tension in the Islamic Republic, seven months after a disputed presidential election plunged the major oil producer into turmoil.

The US administration is heading towards placing "paralyzing" sanctions on Iran, Israeli Ambassador to Washington Michael Oren said Tuesday. Speaking to Army Radio, Oren added that although it was "too early," the US had also not yet abandoned the military option. "The Americans attribute the highest importance to the Iranian issue," he said during the interview. "The US, along with other countries, is preparing to impose paralyzing sanctions on [Iran], and preparations are happening even now." Oren went on to reject claims that US President Barack Obama was trying to downgrade relations between Washington and Jerusalem, saying, "The man is...

Here is truly amazing (and graphic) video of a crowd in Sirjan, Iran storming police to prevent the public execution of two people. The video shows the crowd storming the gallows and cutting down the bodies of two men in the process of being hanged. It shows the protesters being shot at by Iranian forces as they tried to get away with the men. The condition of the men cut down from the gallows is not clear. Reports indicate several protesters were killed in the shooting. Gateway Pundit has much more on the dramatic incident. . . .

They came wanting to say their Islamic prayers, and ended up praying to Jesus for salvation!

Iran 'sentences three to death' President Ahmadinejad's re-election in June triggered mass protests Three people detained after June's disputed presidential election have been sentenced to death, Iran's Isna news agency reports. The judgements are preliminary and must be confirmed by a higher court, Isna says. Full names have not been given. So far the only named opposition activist reported as having been sentenced to death over post-election protests is Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani. The unrest was triggered by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election. On Saturday Isna quoted Zahed Bashiri Rad, a justice ministry official, as saying: "Three people who were accused...

The latest reports of senior nuclear scientists defecting from Iran to the West have caused considerable embarrassment and concern to the regime in Tehran. The reports first broke in Londown-based newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat, and were followed up in the Iranian media. The reports suggest that at least one scientist, Shahram Amiri, who worked on nuclear research and development, defected several months ago to the west during the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. One more person, whose identity and specialization remains unclear - he may have been a scientist or held another key position in Iran's nuclear program - may have...

The revelation of a second uranium enrichment facility in Iran proves that Iran is seeking to build a nuclear bomb, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was quoted as saying Saturday. Lieberman urged immediate action, saying, "Without wasting time, we must work towards the overthrow of the mad regime of Teheran." Lieberman's comments came a day after evidence of a second clandestine uranium enrichment facility was presented Friday by US President Barack Obama and the leaders of Britain and France at the G-20 economic summit in Pittsburgh. At a news conference in New York, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country had...

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- New York businessman and prominent Democratic fund- raiser Hassan Nemazee was indicted Monday for allegedly defrauding three banks out of $292 million in loans. Nemazee, 59 years old, was charged with aggravated identity theft and three counts of bank fraud in the indictment. Each bank fraud count carries a term of up to 30 years in prison. A lawyer for Nemazee didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Nemazee, who was involved in various presidential campaigns and once served as finance chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, was initially charged criminally in August related...

Hello there. For every post, I need an insperation. This time, it was a song. I usually wait for the right mood, that itching that makes you start tapping away at your keyboard like hell was loose on earth and only your words could save the world from going up in flames. I’m not going to argue that hell exists or not, I –as an atheist– have done quite a lot of that already on the net; of course I’d be dead in a blink if I revealed that in real life. What I mean is that you have to...

The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) has accepted an offer by Iran to provide it with weapons produced by the Iranian defense industries, a newspaper in Lebanon reported on Wednesday. According to Al-Akhbar, the proposal was sent from the Iranian Embassy in Beirut. In their response, LAF officers said the army was in need of anti-aircraft weaponry. Israeli officials have expressed concern that the existence of such weapons in Lebanon, whether in the hands of Hizbullah or the army, would constitute a change in the strategic balance between Israel and Lebanon.

A young Iranian soldier, arrested late last week for allegedly stealing weapons for opposition groups, was killed in custody and his body returned to his family on Saturday, sources in Teheran said. The sources said the bodies of several dissidents, arrested in the course of anti-regime protests in Iran in recent weeks and evidently killed in detention, had also been returned to their families in the past few days. Several of the bodies bore signs of beatings, the sources said.

Cross Posted from www.niacouncil.org Washington DC – Last night, the Senate voted unanimously to adopt legislation that aims to aid the ability of the Iranian people to access news and information by overcoming the electronic censorship and monitoring efforts of the Iranian government. The Victims of Iranian Censorship (VOICE) Act was introduced by Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Joseph Lieberman (ID-CT), Ted Kaufman (D-DE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Robert Casey (D-PA) as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. “The world has been astonished and inspired by the courage of millions of Iranians pressing their regime for nothing more than...

tt { font-family: courier; } td { font-family: helvetica, sans-serif; } caption { font-family: helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: left; } Arrested 24 Iranian army officers detained Rank Name Surname Division Serving at Residence 1 Captain Mehdi Moqaddam Civil & Fortifications Fat’h Garrison Lavisan Army Residential Compound 2 2nd. Lt. Sohrab Lavassani Armoured Parandak Parandak Army Residential Compound 3 Major Seyed Morteza Amiri Telecommunications Fajr Logistics Base Lavisan 4 1st Sergeant Haadi Shafahi Civil & Fortifications Parandak Parandak Army Residential Compound 5 Captain Mohsen Eta’ati Siah-Kuh Health Ground Forces Staff Kuy Zaynabieh Army Residential Compound 6 2nd Warrant Officer Ali...

July 3, 2009 European leaders warn Iran regime over British arrests European leaders finally began to throw their weight behind Britain today after Iran announced that British embassy staff would be forced to stand trial in Tehran. In a co-ordinated diplomatic move, EU nations responded by simultaneously summoning Iranian ambassadors across Europe. They will be asked to explain the arrest of British diplomats for allegedly inciting the violence and demonstrations that greeted the re-election of President Ahmadinejad.

A top Iranian cleric says some of the detained Iranian staffers of the British Embassy in Tehran will be put on trial. Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, who is close to Iran’s supreme leader, has made the announcement in a Friday prayer sermon. He says the detained staffers “made confessions.” Jannati does not say how many staffers will be tried or on what charges. Earlier Iranian officials said all but one of the eight embassy personnel arrested on June 27 had been released, but European Union officials said they believed more than one was still being held. Jannati is the head of...

Iranian police clash with up to 3,000 protesters AP – In this photo taken on Monday, June 15, 2009, a woman passes Iranian police officers, as they stand guard … By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer Witnesses in Iran say police have clashed with up to 3,000 protesters near a mosque in north Tehran. They say security forces fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, and some demonstrators fought back, chanting: "Where is my vote?" Witnesses at the scene tell The Associated Press that some protesters claimed they suffered broken arms or legs in Sunday's clashes around the Ghoba...

A hardline Iranian cleric called on Friday for the execution of leading rioters to teach a lesson to the thousands who have protested against the June 12 presidential election result. I want the judiciary to ... punish leading rioters firmly and without showing any mercy to teach everyone a lesson, Ahmad Khatami told worshippers at Tehran University. Khatami, a member of the Assembly of Experts, said the judiciary should charge the leading rioters as being mohareb or one who wages war against God. They should be punished ruthlessly and savagely, he said. Under Iran's Islamic law, punishment for people convicted...

(IsraelNN.com) Iranian anti-regime activists are hoping for an Israeli technological hand to help them fight the Islamic Republic. As of now, hundreds of protesters have been killed by the regime, which is evidently using Arabic-speaking armed thugs from Hizbullah to help perpetrate the violence. "Dear Israeli Brothers and Sisters," writes Iranian dissident Arash Irandoost, "Iran needs your help more than ever now. And we will be eternally grateful

The son of the late shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, was Monday carrying in his breastpocket a photograph of the slain protester known as Neda said to have been killed in the Tehran protests. "I have added her (Neda) to the list of my daughters. She is now forever in my pocket," Pahlavi told AFP fighting back tears, after calling at a press conference for Western media and governments to stand strongly alongside the protest movement in Iran. The former crown prince of Iran took from his left breastpocket photographs of his wife, Yasmine, and three daughters, Noor, Iman and...

The Iranian authorities have ordered the family of a student shot dead in Tehran to take down mourning posters as they struggle to stop her becoming the rallying point for protests against the presidential election. Neda Salehi Agha Soltan, 26, was killed as she watched a pro-democracy protest, and mobile phone footage of her last moments have become a worldwide symbol of Iran's turmoil. The authorities had already banned a public funeral or wake and have prevented gatherings in her name while the state-controlled media has not mentioned Miss Soltan's death. Today it was reported that they had also told...

The last eight years well intentioned people of different political beliefs, different religious faiths, and different cultural perspectives have been quietly asking themselves some vital questions. Is Islam a religion of peace? Is the goal of Islam violent global conquest or rather the persuasion of non-Moslems that Islam is the true religion? There are many good Moslems in our world, but is that because of Islam or in spite of Islam? These questions will be answered in Iran. There is no question (or there should not be) that the Iranian people -- actually, the different peoples of the nation of...