Free Republic

US naval forces in the Gulf and the Arabian Sea have over 320 Tomahawk missiles, capable of hitting any target in Iran, Interfax reports. The US Fifth Fleet has two groups of aircraft carriers headed by aircraft carriers Abraham Lincoln and Carl Vinson. The US naval forces in the region include two aircraft carriers, two cruisers with 26 cruise missiles each, four destroyers with 8-56 missiles each, two Annapolis submarines with 12 missiles and the Georgia with 154 Tomahawks. Another aircraft group will arrive, headed by the aircraft carrier Enterprise, a missile cruiser and three destroyers. The total number of...

Racism against Turks in Iran Documentary on Iranian Azerbaijanis who have escaped to Turkey "Our documentary film's issue is Azerbaijani Turks in Iran who had to escape from Iran and temporary live in Turkey under United Nations refugee status who are out of having education in their own language (mother tongue) as their basic rights which is issued in Iranian constitution (basic law) and sustain to be assimilated and also because of supporting their fundamental (basic) rights as human or citizens of Iran, they and their families were threatened , arrested, tortured and kept out of their social rights as...

After a relatively quiet weekend that saw nearly 50 people killed, heavy shelling resumed this morning in the neighborhood of Bab Amr in the city of Homs, Syria. Tuesday marks the tenth day of the Syrian Army's assault on Homs, and activists tell ABC News that over 500 people have been killed since February 4th. The livestream over Bab Amr shows a constant stream of shelling and gunfire, and there are unconfirmed reports that several people have died in the early attacks. Video posted on YouTube shows flames shooting into the air after an apparent explosion.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had a clear and unified message coming out of their meeting in Washington, D.C. Monday: They are looking for a political solution in Syria and won't consider putting international troops there unless the Syrian regime agrees. Clinton and Davotoglu spent the afternoon preparing for the upcoming inaugural meeting of the "Friends of Syria" group this weekend in Tunisia. Following the meeting, they both urged the international community to support the Arab League's recommendations for Syria following their Sunday meeting in Cairo, which included a request for a U.N.-Arab peacekeeping...

The Arab League called on Sunday for the UN Security Council to send a joint UN-Arab peacekeeping mission to Syria and decided to scrap its own monitoring team, according to a resolution approved by ministers and obtained by Reuters. Arab ministers met in Cairo to revive diplomatic efforts after Russia and China vetoed a UN resolution that called for President Bashar Assad to step aside. That resolution was based on an Arab peace plan and had Western backing.

Saudia Arabia would move quickly to acquire nuclear weapons if Iran successfully tests an atomic bomb, according to a report. Citing an unidentified Saudi Arabian source, the Times newspaper in the U.K. (which operates behind a paywall) said that the kingdom would seek to buy ready-made warheads and also begin its own program to enrich weapons-grade uranium. The paper suggested that Pakistan was the country most likely to supply Saudi Arabia with weapons, saying Western officials were convinced there was an understanding between the countries to do so if the security situation in the Persian Gulf gets worse. Pakistan and...

In the face of Iran's continued pursuit of a nuclear weapon, Israel tested the Arrow missile defense system on Friday in what officials said was a successful demonstration of the country's ability to defend itself in a future war. At 11 a.m., an F-15 Israel Air Force (IAF) fighter jet launched a Blue Sparrow, a missile developed by Raphael to impersonate long-range Iranian ballistic missiles. The Arrow's radar and detection system, developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) detected the incoming "enemy" missile and tracked it together with the US X-Band radar deployed in the Negev dessert.

Twin explosions rocked security installations in the Syria city of Aleppo, Syrian TV reported on Friday, with reports of at least 25 dead on the scene, with 175 wounded. The so-called "terrorist explosions" shook Aleppo, Syria's second largest city, only a day after the city's first wave of anti-government demonstrations was reported.

Iran and Syria have maintained close ties since the early years of the Islamic Republic and Syria now serves as Iran’s key Arab ally and partner in the region. The advent of the Iran-Iraq War provided Syria with an opportunity to gain another regional ally against Saddam Hussein. In contrast with nearly all other Arab countries, Syria supported Iran during the Iran-Iraq War. In 1982 the two states brokered a deal allowing Syria to receive shipments of subsidized Iranian oil, and in return, Syria shut down Iraq’s oil pipeline through its territory. Syrian support for Iran wavered in 1986 when...

Syria's military has begun stockpiling chemical weapons and equipping its soldiers with gas masks near the city of Homs, opposition sources reported on Thursday. Opposition activists said they had received reports that the Syrian army had transferred a significant quantity of grenades and mortars containing chemical agents to a school building in Homs.

AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian forces bombarded opposition-held neighborhoods of the city of Homs with rocket and mortar fire on Thursday, activists said, as divided world powers struggled to find a way to end the violence. The United Nations chief condemned the ferocity of the government assault on Homs, heart of a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad that broke out nearly a year ago and is getting bloodier by the day.

Report: Iran Quds Forces March into Syria In a recent order, Ayatollah Khamenei has given the duty of stabilizing the Assad regime in Syria to Iran’s Quds forces. 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...

More than two-thirds of Iran's lawmakers have endorsed a statement calling for cutting off oil sales to the European Union before EU sanctions on their country go into effect. The statement, which was read Wednesday in an open session of parliament broadcast on state radio, said "in the case of the continuation of illogical policies" by the EU, Iran will look for alternative customers for its oil before the European embargo goes into effect in the summer. The statement was signed by 200 of the parliament's 290 lawmakers.

(CNN) -- As violence raged in Syria, U.S. officials made clear Tuesday that the United States has lost patience with President Bashar al-Assad. "Your days are numbered," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said in comments directed at the Syrian leader. "It is time and past time for you to transfer power responsibly and peacefully." Her remarks came as two senior administration officials told CNN that, while the U.S. focus remains on exerting diplomatic and economic pressure on Damascus, the Pentagon and U.S. Central Command have begun a preliminary internal review of U.S. military capabilities in order to...

The American aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and its strike group are taking naval drills along the country's east coast ahead of their deployment to the Persian Gulf. Reports suggest the drill map shows a country resembling Iran. The battleships are practicing cruise maneuvers through contested straits, preparing them for any possible conflict with Iran as they pass through the Strait of Hormuz, says the American newspaper The Navy Times. The drill map depicts a 56 km (35 miles) wide strait located some 320 km (200 miles) from the coast. The mock strait's shape and width is identical to the Strait...

Is the world counting down to "D-Day"? After US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta estimated that Israel would attack Iran by June, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned government officials against "Iran chatter," A European diplomat based in Pakistan said that if Israel attacks, Islamabad will have no choice but to support any Iranian retaliation. The diplomat's statement raised the specter of putting a nuclear-armed Pakistan at odds with Israel, which is widely believed to have its own significant nuclear arsenal.

As the rampant speculations that Israel will soon launch a military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities continue, a report on NBC on Friday revealed what such an attack may look like. The report, the main points of which were presented by Israel's Channel 10 News, is based on conversations the American network held with current and former officials in Israel and the United States. The report suggests that an attack on Iran will combine air and ground forces but will not include naval forces. The officials interviewed said that the attack will be led by the Israeli artillery, which will...

While President Obama's supporters hailed his withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq as the end of the war in the middle east, behind the scenes the Pentagon has been quietly massing troops and armaments on two islands located just south of the Strait of Hormuz, and within easy striking distance of Iran. In addition to some 50,000 U.S. troops currently in the region waiting for orders (apparently they won't be home by this past Christmas as was originally promised), Nobel Peace Prize winner President Barack Obama is deploying an additional 50,000 soldiers to be ready for 'any contingency' by March:...

Speaking at Herzliya Conference, Moshe Ya’alon calls the possibility of a nuclear Iran a 'nightmare to the free world,' says explosion at Iranian missile base targeted missile system that would have threatened the U.S. All of Iran's nuclear faculties are vulnerable to a military strike, Vice Prime Minister and Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya’alon said on Thursday, calling the potential of a nuclear Iran a "nightmare to the free world."

No source yet. Several dead as egyptians storm soccer field after game. Police do nothing, stock market collapses.

France will send a "Charles de Gaulle" nuclear aircraft carrier into the Persian Gulf, Interfax reported citing Israeli media. It is expected that in March-April at least four U.S. and French aircraft carrier battle groups will be placed in East of Persian Gulf, according to Interfax.

Events in Syria seem to have reached a stalemate. On the one hand, the regime is failing to quell the civilian rebellion against it, while on the other hand, the opposition to Bashar Assad cannot yet be seen as an alternative to the regime. Indeed, the apparent Free Syrian Army (FSA) had signaled cracks in the coalition of forces rallied around Bashar Assad, certainly in his most powerful bastion. However, it looks as if the FSA has lost its momentum and has not been successful in rallying entire units of the Syrian army to its cause. Up until now, army...

This is a region given to even less to racial and cultural diversity than it is to economic cooperation. Desperate to show their commitment to Arab nationalism, minority Christian communities helped become its leading ideologues. Michel Aflaq after all founded Ba'ath. While Aflaq, and later Hannan Ashrawi and George Habash, manifested their anti-Jewish animus, the Christian minority in an independent Palestine and a post-Saddam Iraq face extinction. Ancient communities and cultures such as the Assyrians are in dire straits at risk of permanent exile from their own homeland. It would not be the first time. Turkey is often touted as...

Tehran has stepped up its bellicose warnings of conflict in the Persian Gulf as potentially crippling new European Union and American sanctions have been approved on Iran's oil exports and central bank. The US defied the warning of a top Iranian general this week and sent the USS Abraham Lincoln – flanked by British and French warships – through the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf. A senior Iranian lawmaker scoffed that the US "did not dare" to send its ship alone, because of the danger posed by the Islamic Republic. If Iran were to close the...

(MEMRI) — Yassir Al-Burhami: Appointing infidels to positions of authority over Muslims is prohibited. Allah said: “Never will Allah grant the infidels a way [to triumph] over the Believers.” We are not afraid of losing the elections or of not getting votes. We are not trying to ingratiate ourselves before the people. Can the Christians of Egypt be compared to the Jews of Al-Medina? The case of the Jews of Al-Medina is one example of the relations between the Muslims and the infidels. The Muslims can implement any form of conduct used by the Prophet Muhammad. When the Prophet Muhammad...

"Radical cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed threatens Syria with a wave of suicide bombs" SNIPPET: "Omar Bakri Mohammed, the radical cleric banned from Britain for glorifying terrorism, has told The Daily Telegraph from his base in the Middle East that al-Qaida is poised to wage war against the Syrian regime. Bakri, once nicknamed the Tottenham Ayatollah, said hard-line Salafi Muslim groups, including al-Qaida, and his al-Ghuraba group were ready to help their "Muslim brothers" with a campaign of suicide attacks against Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president." SNIPPET: "Speaking from his new home in Lebanon, the self-styled cleric, who caused controversy after...

A senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Saad al-Katatni, was elected as Egypt's parliament speaker on Monday, in the first session of the newly-elected assembly. Al-Katatni, who received 399 votes out of 498 cast, is a member of the brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, which won the largest number of seats - 47 percent - in recent elections.

Underscoring its desire to keep U.S. aircraft carriers from the Persian Gulf, a senior Iranian military commander today announced his possible plan to ambush the American fleet. Chalk this one up to more bluster, or part of a mounting back and forth rhetoric headed nowhere good, either way - Tehran plans to rely on its subs. Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Army's Self-Sufficiency Jihad, Rear Admiral Farhad Amiri told Fars that Iran has the finest electic diesel submarines in the world, and that while the U.S. has focused on Tehran's "astonishing surface capabilities," it has forgotten about the underwater threat....

TEL AVIV: External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on Tuesday said India and Israel have made impressive strides in areas of critical importance to both countries ranging from agriculture and water management to latest the hi-tech applications in communications, health and energy. Krishna in his remarks at the at the reception to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between India and Israel, said: "Twenty years may appear to be a short period but the impressive and multi-faceted development of our bilateral relationship shows how much can be achieved even in a few years given the necessary commitment and...

Some 1,000 Israel Defense Forces paratroopers participated in the Paratroopers Brigade's first complete exercise in 13 years on Tuesday. The exercise, which took place at a base in southern Israel, came as a result of an IDF decision to reintroduce full-scale drills that mimic military operations, and comes after more than a decade during which paratroopers solely participated in less complicated parachuting practices.

Mitt Romney has ex-POW John McCain vouching for him. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum highlights his time on the Senate Armed Services Committee. And former House Speaker Newt Gingrich frequently calls himself an "Army brat" who grew up on military bases. While Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Texas Rep. Ron Paul are the only GOP candidates to have worn a military uniform, all of the Republican presidential contenders are emphasizing their military ties these days in a state that's home to 413,000 veterans and eight military bases, with thousands of people on active duty. ...Perry, for one, has struck an...

For Turkey, busy riding an economic boom and preoccupied with soccer scandals and revolutionary shifts across its borders, the race for the U.S. Republican nomination hasn’t exactly been a box office draw. Until Tuesday, that is … Late Monday, Texas governor and presidential hopeful Rick Perry said that Turkey was governed by “what many perceive to be Islamic terrorists,” and should be booted out of NATO. The governor’s remarks, made during the Fox News Channel and Wall Street Journal GOP debate in South Carolina, came in response to a question from the moderator over whether Turkey still belonged in...

TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian state radio says Tehran will give the United States a model of the American surveillance drone captured by the Islamic Republic. The report Tuesday said the toy model of the RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone will be sent to the White House in response to a formal request from Washington last month asking Iran to return the aircraft that went down over Iran in December.

Martin Luther King, Jr., was an opponent of the jihad against Israel. While there are some disputed quotations circulating in this connection, here are some key and authenticated MLK quotes: "I cannot stand idly by, even though I happen to live in the United States and even though I happen to be an American Negro and not be concerned about what happens to the Jews in Soviet Russia. For what happens to them happens to me and you, and we must be concerned." "Israel's right to exist as a state in security is uncontestable."

Iran's Gulf Arab neighbors should not raise their production to replace Iranian oil if the European Union goes ahead with a ban on Iranian crude imports, Iran's OPEC governor said on Sunday. The EU has agreed in principle to ban imports of Iranian oil, while the United States has pressured Asian buyers to reduce imports to starve Iran of revenue for its disputed nuclear program.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Thursday for talks with Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, and other senior defense and intelligence officials. The visit comes as the United States attempts to coordinate with Israel on the issue of Iran's nuclear capabilities, and to determine Israel's intentions with regard to a possible attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Thousands of mourners chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" on Friday during the funeral of a slain nuclear expert whom Iranian officials accuse the two nations of killing in a bomb blast this week as part of a secret operation to stop Iran's nuclear program.

Turkey says a Russian ship, allegedly carrying tons of weapons, has docked at a Syrian on port on Thursday after Cypriot officials allowed it to leave. The ship had made an unscheduled stop in Cyprus, violating an EU embargo on arms shipments to Syria, which has killed thousands in a crackdown on dissent. Cyriot officials on Wednesday allowed the ship to leave after it changed its destination to Turkey.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is relying on a secret channel of communication to warn Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that closing the Strait of Hormuz is a “red line” that would provoke an American response, according to United States government officials.

Former Israeli defense official tells NYT ambiguous policies are best when it comes to efforts to prevent all-out war with Iran. Tehran says retaliation will 'reach beyond region' The covert war waged against Iran is a practical strategy, a former top Israeli defense official told the New York Times Thursday. The comment followed the assassination of yet another Iranian nuclear scientist, Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan – who served as the deputy director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility – in Tehran on Wednesday.

The carrier, along with the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group, reaches the region as tensions are rising with Iran. Deployed San Diego-based ships in the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and Makin Island groups are now in the Middle East, the U.S. Fifth Fleet and Central Command has announced. The sailors, Marines and airmen aboard the ships arrive after Iranian officials recent threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for the world's oil supply, and warned a departing U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS John C. Stennis, not to return to the Persian Gulf.

A timeline of explosions that killed Iranian scientists and blasts that rocked Iranian nuclear facilities from January 12, 2010 to January 11, 2012.

American sailors have come to the rescue of distressed Iranian fishermen for the second time in less than a week, the Pentagon said Tuesday. The United States Coast Guard cutter Monomoy "picked up six Iranian mariners after their vessel broke down" in the Persian Gulf Tuesday, the BBC reported Tuesday.

ISTANBUL - Turkish customs officials intercepted four trucks on Tuesday suspected of carrying military equipment from Iran to Syria, a Turkish provincial governor. The governor of Kilis province said the trucks were confiscated at the Oncupinar border crossing into Syria after police received information about their cargo, according to Dogan news agency. "The four trucks were confiscated by customs. They are alleged to be carrying military equipment," Governor Yusuf Odabas said. He said experts were being sent from Ankara to examine the cargo.

Moscow regrets Tehran's decision to enrich uranium near the city of Qom, Itar-Tass state-run news agency quoted a foreign ministry official as saying on Tuesday. "Moscow has met reports on the start of uranium enrichment at an Iranian plant near Qom with regret and concern," the agency quoted a Foreign Ministry official as saying.

Israel is preparing for an Iran with nuclear capabilities within the next 12 months, according to a report by the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), an Israeli think tank. The U.K. daily Times newspaper published extracts of the report by the Tel Aviv University institute on Monday, according to an AFP report. The INSS was asked to prepare possible scenarios in case Iran carries out nuclear weapons tests by security, intelligence and diplomatic officials, AFP reported the Times as saying.

BEIRUT (AP) — The Arab League demanded Sunday that the Syrian government immediately stop all violence and allow more monitors in, as activists reported at least 10 more civilians, including two teenagers, were killed by regime forces.

Rick Perry established a new gold standard for hawkish foreign policy at Saturday night’s GOP debate in New Hampshire. Not only is he mad President Obama withdrew US forces, he wants to put them back on the ground there immediately. “I would send troops back into Iraq,” Rick Perry told a New Hampshire audience at Saturday night’s GOP debate, warning that without yet another military operation in Iraq it would fall under the influence of neighboring Iran. “I think it’s a huge error for us,” he said. “We’re going to see Iran in my opinion, move back in at literally...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The same U.S. aircraft carrier group that Iran warned not to return to the Gulf has rescued 13 Iranians held hostage for weeks by pirates in the Arabian Sea, the Pentagon said on Friday. The rescue operation took place on Thursday, when forces with the USS John C. Stennis carrier strike group received a distress call from the master of the Al Molai, an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel, who said he was being held captive by pirates.

HOUSTON — If Iran were to follow through with its threat to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit route for almost one-fifth of the oil traded globally, the impact would be immediate: Energy analysts say the price of oil would start to soar and could rise 50 percent or more within days. An Iranian blockade by means of mining, airstrikes or sabotage is logistically well within Tehran’s military capabilities. But despite rising tensions with the West, including a tentative ban on European imports of Iranian oil announced Wednesday, Iran is unlikely to take such hostile action, according to...