Latest Analysis and Commentary
by Khaled Abu Toameh • June 30, 2025 at 5:00 am
"The conventional army loses if it does not win. The guerrilla wins if he does not lose." — Henry Kissinger, Foreign Affairs, January 1969. Iran's regime may have lost its nuclear sites, but it has not lost its appetite to kill Jews and wipe Israel off the map. Would the Allied forces have left the Nazi Party as the rulers of Germany after World War II? Ideally, such a campaign should be spearheaded by the Iranian people themselves with the backing of Western countries, including the US, and Arabs and Muslims who oppose the Iranian regime and view it as a direct threat to their national security. These countries include Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states in addition to the recognized governments of countries home to Iran's current and former proxies: Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. They will cooperate once they see that the US is serious about standing against, not appeasing, those who threaten the security and stability of the Arab countries. With China, Russia, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran and its proxies, Trump may be underestimating the intensity of their desires. With an enriched Iran, freely selling its oil to China, the temptation to rebuild a war machine might be hard to resist. The weakening or removal of the Iranian regime can only facilitate the mission of obliterating Hamas and PIJ in Gaza, and freeing all the Israeli hostages they hold. It is time for the Trump administration and its Western allies to understand that there can be no genuine deals or compromises with either Sunni or Shiite jihadists who consider America and Israel as the big and small "Satans." If the US and the West do not want to be directly involved in bringing about regime change in Iran, they should at least encourage and back any opposition individuals or groups working to topple Iran's Islamist regime. Reinstating economic sanctions on Iran could help accelerate the downfall of the mullahs and their terror proxies. That is the only way to bring peace and stability to the Middle East and prevent further violence and bloodshed. When your enemies say they want to eliminate you, you have every right to eliminate them first.
Iran's regime may have lost its nuclear sites, but it has not lost its appetite to kill Jews and wipe Israel off the map. Would the Allied forces have left the Nazi Party as the rulers of Germany after World War II? Pictured: A funeral procession, featuring banners memorializing senior officers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who were killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran's Enqelab Square on June 28, 2025. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)
The United States and Israel have, according to reliable sources, "obliterated" or "severely damaged" Iran's nuclear installations, but so long as the regime and its terror proxies continue to exist, the mission remains unaccomplished. "The conventional army loses if it does not win. The guerrilla wins if he does not lose," Henry Kissinger observed in 1969. The continuing rule of Iran and its terror proxies remains a major threat to security and stability in the Middle East. Let us not forget that their main goal is to destroy not only Israel (the "Little Satan"), but also the US (the "Great Satan").
Continue Reading Article
by Lawrence Kadish • June 29, 2025 at 5:00 am
Iran's regime has not only been committed for nearly half a century to "Death to Israel" and – as "a policy," according to Iran's Supreme Guide Ali Khamenei -- to "Death to America." To implement this policy, the regime has also been committed to acquiring nuclear weapons and the intercontinental ballistic missiles to fire them across the Atlantic. Pictured: Khamenei gives a speech on November 1, 2023, televised on Iran's Channel 1. (Image source: MEMRI)
The Iranian regime, by violating US President Donald J. Trump's ceasefire after only four hours, did the world a great favor. It should now be clear, if it was not, before, that Iran's government -- called by the US Department of State, the "world's leading state sponsor of terrorism for the 39th year running," -- does not look as if it will suddenly agree to become the compete opposite of itself. As big-hearted as it is for Trump -- who deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for bringing an end to the war with Iran in just 12 days, and the US operation in just 37 hours -- to agree to talks with Iran's ruling mullahs, in Shiite Islam, unfortunately, whenever Islam might appear under threat, dissimulation, taqiyya, is recommended.
Continue Reading Article
by Amir Taheri • June 29, 2025 at 4:00 am
[A] war must end with an acknowledged winner. [N]o victor could self-anoint and wear the garland unless the adversary acknowledges defeat. This time it was, again, the United States to remove the cup of victory from their lips. The do-gooders who imposed the fishtail outcome forgot that the duty of a war is to change an unstable status quo and replace it by a new one acceptable to protagonists by clearly designating a victor and a vanquished. The do-gooders and peddlers of ceasefire turn war into a knife that remains in the wound, to be turned again and again. In other words, in some cases, ceasefire could be an enemy of peace. Normally, that should cast Israel as the clear winner in the 12-day war. And, yet, as in previous cases described above, Israel is once again not only left with un-cashable chips but described as the loser.... "We defeated both the Great Satan and its Zionist agent," says one-star [Iranian] general Ibrahim Jabbari. "But we should not let things and there. We should keep our boot on Netanyahu's neck until he is suffocated." Once again in Middle Eastern history, a hasty ceasefire motivated by short-term political calculations is set to prolong a decades-long war, each phase of which is deadlier than the previous one.
By any military standards, Israel scored a major win in the 12-day war that Trump halted. And, yet, Israel is once again not only left with un-cashable chips but described as the loser by Iran and, more surprisingly, by some so-called experts in the US and Europe. Pictured: Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei delivers an address, aired on IRINN TV on June 26, 2025, saying "I should congratulate the people. First, I would like to congratulate them on the victory over the fake Zionist regime. With all its clamor and pretension, the Zionist regime was almost annihilated and crushed under the blows of the Islamic Republic." (Image source: MEMRI)
According to an adage, the history of any war is written by the victor. This is because the loser is either dead or too wounded to have the energy to write or, in some cases, hopeful of turning the victor into friend. But for that adage to apply, a war must end with an acknowledged winner. And that poses another problem: no victor could self-anoint and wear the garland unless the adversary acknowledges defeat. This is the conundrum that Israelis have experienced ever since they fought to put their tiny country on the map. This time it was, again, the United States to remove the cup of victory from their lips.
Continue Reading Article
by Majid Rafizadeh • June 28, 2025 at 5:00 am
What Israel, along with the United States, has done in the past two years far surpasses anything the self-proclaimed defenders of freedom in Brussels or Berlin have done in the past 80 years. As European leaders lecture Israel about ceasefires, "de-escalation", "proportionality" and "restraint" from the comfort of their distant homes and elegant dinners, Israel has dismantled, destabilized, and struck a crippling blow to four terrorist regimes and organizations, the Iran and its proxies as well as Syria's Assad regime — all while under constant attack. It is a miracle of military strategy, intelligence precision and moral clarity. The world owes this tiny, demonized nation, its defense forces, Netanyahu and Trump a massive debt of gratitude as well as a Nobel Peace Prize. The West has been feeding a lot of crocodiles for far too long. Giving the Iranian regime sanctions relief, nuclear deals, and diplomatic back channels, the so-called liberal world order enabled the rise of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its lavishly funded war machine. Israel has been doing the dirty work that Western powers refused to do -- all of them. Israel has not just been fighting for its own people — it is fighting to prevent World War III. If Iran were to acquire nuclear weapons, no capital in the free world would be safe. Iran's ruling ayatollahs do not just hate Jews. They hate Christians and all "unbelievers" in Allah. They hate the West. They hate freedom. There is no reason to think they would not have used a nuclear bomb. Just look at what their barrages of ballistic missiles without nuclear warheads did to one tiny nation, the size of New Jersey. Israel did not stop there. Israel, with Trump delivering the difficult final blow, launched the most daring, comprehensive, and devastating strikes inside Iranian territory in modern history. Israel's operation alone, called "Rising Lion," targeted more than 100 strategic sites tied to Iran's nuclear weapons program. That program, costing the Iranian people $2-3 trillion, and decades in the making, took a fatal hit in less than 37 hours. This was not just a series of airstrikes -- it was a message to every tyrant: if you aim to annihilate Israel, if you chant "Death to America," if you fund terror across the globe, there will be consequences. Thanks to Trump and Netanyahu, the world now knows what real leadership looks like. [W]ill the West finally grow a spine and stand with Israel?... At the very least, if they are too scared to lead, they should fully support the small country that led unapologetically. Let Israel lead. Let Israel strike. Let Israel save the world from the nightmare that the rest allowed to fester. Peace is not achieved through weakness, funding the enemy, legitimizing terror organizations or tolerating genocidal regimes. Peace comes from defeating them. The democracies of the world -- the peace lovers, the free thinkers, the believers in Western civilization -- owe Israel not just thanks, but allegiance. In just two years, this tiny nation has done more to safeguard global security than the entire EU, the UN, and most of the free world combined -- which were busy condemning it and protesting against it.
What the international community and Western powers lacked the spine to do, tiny Israel, under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's steady leadership and US President Donald Trump's historic decision, put an end to the charade and finally delivered the blows to Iran's nuclear weapons program that needed to be dealt. Pictured: Trump shakes hands with Netanyahu at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 7, 2025. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
For decades, when it came to confronting the Islamic Republic of Iran, the so-called "international community," particularly the Western powers that pride themselves on being defenders of democracy and human rights, chose cowardice over conviction. Instead of drawing a red line then sticking to it, they drew circles. Instead of acting, they offered concession after concession. They fed the beast and even funded its industry of death. They threw Israel under the bus again and again to placate tyrants. They talked about diplomacy while Iran built centrifuges, enriched uranium, and spread terror throughout Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and even inside Iran. This year alone, 2025, Iran's regime has already conducted 1,700 executions – and it is only June.
Continue Reading Article
by Robert Williams • June 27, 2025 at 5:00 am
The system that many global elites and governments are planning for us is the totalitarian Communist system of China: The government and the globalist elites -- while they continue flying on their private jets between their various mansions -- will decide your means of transport, how much energy you are allowed to consume to heat your home, drive your car, and even how much you will be allowed to eat and drink -- not to mention going on holiday or other "leisure." Oh, and you will not be allowed to complain about it, because that would be "hate speech."
The system that many global elites and governments are planning for us is the totalitarian Communist system of China: The government and the globalist elites -- while they continue flying on their private jets between their various mansions -- will decide your means of transport, how much energy you are allowed to consume to heat your home, drive your car, and even how much you will be allowed to eat and drink -- not to mention going on holiday or other "leisure." Oh, and you will not be allowed to complain about it, because that would be "hate speech." (Image source: iStock)
In 2013, Sir David Attenborough, the renowned nature expert and one of the greatest filmmakers ever, famously declared humanity a pestilence. "We are a plague on the Earth," he postulated. "It's coming home to roost over the next 50 years or so." His recommendation was that the world needed a smaller population. "It's not just climate change; it's sheer space, places to grow food for this enormous horde [of people]." The idea that humanity itself is the problem has only been reinforced by a mainstream media that can tend to overheat (such as here and here). Humanity requires the growing of food and livestock; it needs energy to make necessary consumer goods and cars, and to heat homes, which must be built in the first place. The World Economic Forum (WEF), however, would prefer you to "own nothing and be happy." Whatever you need, it added reassuringly, can be delivered by drone.
Continue Reading Article
by Drieu Godefridi • June 26, 2025 at 5:00 am
Europol reports indicate that Europe is now home to tens of thousands of radicalized individuals. The attacks in Paris (2015) and Brussels (2016) demonstrate the feasibility of complex operations by small groups. Will people who criticize Islam be dragged through the courts by a desperate regime, while those who outspokenly fantasize about murdering Jews are granted a blank check? Is quoting Islamic law "inflammatory"? The answer is completely arbitrary. The European Court of Human Rights often upholds convictions if statements about Islam are deemed to disrupt "religious peace" or "target Muslims". This subjective determination reflects a legal trend in Europe to prioritize "social cohesion" over freedom of speech, unlike the U.S. First Amendment. "Whomsoever God has cursed, and with whom He is wroth, and made some of them apes and swine, and worshippers of idols — they are worse situated, and have gone further astray from the right way." — Qur'an 5:65. "And He brought down those of the People of the Book who supported them from their fortresses and cast terror in their hearts; some you slew, some you made captive. And He bequeathed upon you their lands, their habitations, and their possessions, and a land you never trod. God is powerful over everything." — Qur'an 33:26. In such a cultural context, in this atmosphere of hatred, can it not be considered legitimate or even desirable, from that perspective, to participate in collective action against Jews? Let us never forget that the vast majority of Muslims in Europe are peaceful and take no part in terrorist activity. But even if only 0.01% of Europe's Muslims were to take up the cause and seek revenge for the supposed "genocide" committed by "the Jews", this would still represent thousands of potential "jihadists".
Europol reports indicate that Europe is now home to tens of thousands of radicalized individuals. The attacks in Paris (2015) and Brussels (2016) demonstrate the feasibility of complex operations by small groups. Pictured: Rescue teams evacuate wounded people outside the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels on March 22, 2016, after jihadi terrorists exploded a bomb there. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)
Europe in 2025 has been facing rising tensions linked to Islamist radicalization, These have been fueled by conflicts in the Middle East, jihadist propaganda on social networks and gaps in security coordination among countries.
Continue Reading Article
by Rahul Mishra • June 25, 2025 at 5:00 am
Just as China has been attempting to redraw maritime boundaries in the South China Sea —renaming reefs, building artificial islands and militarizing waters in defiance of international rulings — it is now exporting a similar playbook to land borders. These moves are about more than maps. They are about creating a norm of impunity, where might makes right and ambiguity is weaponized. Over the past two decades, China has transformed contested reefs, shoals and rocks into militarily fortified islands, backed by creative "historical" narratives, domestic law, and a selective reading of international norms. The region is now a textbook case of how intangible symbolic acts, when repeated enough to become normalized, can evolve into tangible material dominance. In 2020 alone, China, in the same way it has renamed places in Arunachal Pradesh, renamed more than 80 features in the South China Sea. These were not acts of housekeeping, but of strategic myth-making, designed to weave a narrative of historical ownership and administrative control. Each new name is backed by maps, public pronouncements and military deployments. Over time, this creates "facts on the ground" — realities that others must deal with, regardless of legality. Finally, China employs narrative warfare, by leveraging state media and diplomatic messaging to delegitimize counter-claims and cast China as the aggrieved party. China's renaming campaign is a test of whether the world will allow international borders to be changed -- not by war, but by quiet, obdurate manipulation. The question is not about words. It is about the survival of an international rules-based order that is being eroded by passively doing nothing to confront unyielding infiltration. If the international community does not push back against China's provocations -- which may seem minor -- it risks enabling a model of complete surrender that bypasses diplomacy, multilateralism and international law.
Just as China has been attempting to redraw maritime boundaries in the South China Sea —renaming reefs, building artificial islands and militarizing waters in defiance of international rulings — it is now exporting a similar playbook to land borders. These moves are about more than maps. They are about creating a norm of impunity, where might makes right and ambiguity is weaponized. Pictured: A Philippine Coast Guard ship faces off against a China Coast Guard ship at Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea on August 26, 2024. (Photo by Jam Sta Rosa/AFP via Getty Images)
In May 2025, China announced a new list of renamed places in Arunachal Pradesh, India's northeastern state that Beijing insists on calling "Zangnan." It is the fifth such list since 2017, and not just symbolic. These cartographic aggressions of renaming places seem to be part of a long-running strategy to undermine territorial norms and chip away at international boundaries using lawfare, infrastructure and semantics (the branch of linguistics concerned with meaning). In geopolitics, names matter. They signal claims, establish narratives and lay the groundwork for future confrontations. China's repeated renaming of places it does not control represents not only a challenge to India, it is an affront to the principles of the rules-based international order that the US and the West designed after World War II.
Continue Reading Article
by Lawrence Kadish • June 24, 2025 at 1:00 pm
Trump's decision to use military force to destroy Iran's nuclear weapons program is a historic turning point for world peace and the legacy of a president who has used Teddy Roosevelt's "big stick" to push the world back from the brink of a Middle East nightmare that would have engulfed us all. Pictured: A B-2 bomber escorted by two F-22 fighters over Washington, DC, July 4, 2019. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
The media world is flooded with analysis and commentary regarding the joint American-Israeli strikes on Iran's nuclear weapons infrastructure, but little is being said regarding what the future would hold if Teheran's radical Islamic regime had been able to move ahead to create an atomic bomb. Much the way Hitler's book, Mein Kampf, left nothing to the imagination were he to secure power, as far back as 2005, then Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was unequivocal when he called for Israel to be wiped off the map. The Qatar's state-owned Al Jazeera TV network reported on the Iranian's leader address before hundreds of students: "'As the Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map,' said Ahmadinejad, referring to Iran's revolutionary leader Ayat Allah Khomeini."
And how does one "wipe Israel off the map?" The obvious and only answer is with nuclear weapons.
Continue Reading Article
by Khaled Abu Toameh • June 24, 2025 at 5:00 am
The letter [from the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Salah Abdel Haq] shows that the Muslim Brotherhood has officially endorsed the Iranian regime's slogans of "Death to Israel!" and "Death to America!" The [Muslim Brotherhood's] founder, Hassan al-Banna, accepted the utility of political violence, and members of the Muslim Brotherhood conducted assassinations.... The takfirism doctrine's endorsement of "extreme violence" is why several Islamic countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Mauritania have banned the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood has dozens of branches, offshoots and affiliates in many countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, Kuwait, Mauritania, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Belgium and the United States. Qatar has publicly funded and supported Islamist groups, and its state-owned Al-Jazeera TV network continues to serve as a platform for the Muslim Brotherhood. "What is needed today is a genuine dismantling of the Muslim Brotherhood's machinery in the Arab world: Its platforms, associations, online accounts, and cultural facades. The Muslim Brotherhood is still alive and kicking, just waiting for the right moment to reproduce itself through more violence...." — UAE columnist Hani Salem Masshour, al-ain.com, June 20, 2025. It is time for the US government to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. There is no reason why Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, is designated by the US as a terrorist organization, while the Muslim Brotherhood itself has not been banned.
In a letter to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (pictured), the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, the world's largest and most influential Islamist Sunni organization, has come out in support of the Iranian regime. The letter shows that the Muslim Brotherhood has officially endorsed the Iranian regime's slogans of "Death to Israel!" and "Death to America!" (Image source: MEMRI) As the Iran-Israel war enters its second week, the Muslim Brotherhood, the world's largest and most influential Islamist Sunni organization, has come out in support of the Iranian regime. In a letter to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Salah Abdel Haq, named Israel, the US, and other western countries as a common enemy of the Islamic ummah (nation). The letter reflects an ideological affinity with the rhetoric of the Iranian regime and its terror proxies: Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and the Houthis in Yemen. The letter shows that the Muslim Brotherhood has officially endorsed the Iranian regime's slogans of "Death to Israel!" and "Death to America!" Abdel Haq wrote in the letter: "On behalf of myself and the Muslim Brotherhood, I would like to reaffirm our full support for the Islamic Republic of Iran in the face of the brutal Israeli aggression...
Continue Reading Article
by Gordon G. Chang • June 23, 2025 at 5:00 am
[E]xpect Xi to up the pressure on Taiwan and others in coming weeks. Xi fully backed Iran and its three main proxy terrorist groups — Hamas, Lebanon's Hezbollah, and Yemen's Houthis — against Israel, with Beijing providing economic, diplomatic, propaganda, intelligence and weapons support. For a time, Beijing looked as if it was driving events with its sly proxy war conducted by Iran. Now, China's Iranian proxy, and its proxies in turn, are being decimated, and Beijing cannot respond other than by cutting and running. The mighty People's Republic of China is bugging out of the Middle East. But China is not entirely out of the fight. In addition to the renewed air campaign against Taiwan, Beijing has upped the pressure against the Philippines in the South China Sea. On June 19, the same day China started its most recent air campaign against Taiwan, the Philippine Coast Guard announced that more than 50 of China's maritime militia vessels moved close to Iroquois Reef in the South China Sea, a feature within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines. A Philippine Coast Guard spokesman correctly called the Chinese action an "illegal swarming." China claims most of that crucial body of water, including features such as Iroquois, which are far from recognized Chinese shores. This we learned on June 21: The United States is truly a great power — and China is not.
China's President Xi Jinping fully backed Iran and its three main proxy terrorist groups — Hamas, Lebanon's Hezbollah, and Yemen's Houthis — against Israel, with Beijing providing economic, diplomatic, propaganda, intelligence and weapons support. Now, China's Iranian proxy, and its proxies in turn, are being decimated, and Beijing cannot respond other than by cutting and running. Pictured: Xi meets with Iran's "Supreme Leader" Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on January 23, 2016, in Iran. (Image source: khamenei.ir)
China apparently tried to protect Iran, its client state, with a threat against Taiwan in the days preceding America's destruction of Iranian nuclear sites on June 21. Beijing's gambit failed. President Donald Trump, from all indications, stared down Xi Jinping. Nonetheless, expect Xi to up the pressure on Taiwan and others in coming weeks. Beginning late June 19, China sent 74 warplanes near Taiwan's airspace. Sixty-one of the craft crossed the median line, the unofficial boundary running down the middle of the Taiwan Strait. The Chinese provocation came after a long period of quiet in the skies over that contested body of water. Then, on June 21, the Pentagon told Reuters it had sent B-2 bombers to Guam. At the time, many saw the development as a final warning to Iran.
Continue Reading Article
by Nils A. Haug • June 22, 2025 at 7:30 am
The fiction of a "Palestinian people" was admitted by a late Palestine Liberation Organization senior official Zuheir Mohsen in an interview for the Dutch Newspaper Trouw: "The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism. Yes, the existence of a separate Palestinian identity exists only for tactical reasons...." — Zuheir Mohsen to James Dorsey, "Wij zijn alleen Palestijn om politieke reden", Trouw, March 31, 1977. None of the nations that vehemently supported the irrationality of a Palestinian state ever mentioned the slaughter by Hamas of Israel's innocents; the 54-59 hostages still held by Hamas, only 21 of whom are believed to remain alive, or that Hamas, not Israel, had started the war, or that the war could end immediately if Hamas returned the hostages, which they had no business kidnapping in the first place, and laid down its arms. The short reply of the US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee to Macron was: "No Palestinian state likely in our lifetime." "Britain is choosing to appease its own Islamists, while treating as an enemy the country that is not only fighting the same existential foe but is vital to help the United Kingdom defend itself against it." — Melanie Phillips, JNS, June 5, 2025. It is a choice: the West is allowing its hard-won freedoms, primacy of individual rights and freedom of expression to be compromised.
France's President Emmanuel Macron, true to his predictable outlook, declared that "[t]he existence of a Palestinian state 'is not just simply a moral duty but also a political necessity,'" The short reply of the US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee to Macron was: "No Palestinian state likely in our lifetime." Pictured: Huckabee at his Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing on March 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
The mass campaign to "Globalize the intifada" essentially means "Globalize Jew-hate" -- a short step to the stated intent of some Islamists to ultimately eradicate Jews globally. This outcome is what many demonstrators seem to seek when they use supporting the cause of the so-called Palestinian people as a subterfuge, a Trojan horse, to hide their homicidal aims against the Jews, starting with Israel.
Continue Reading Article
by Amir Taheri • June 22, 2025 at 4:00 am
I think the overall mood in Iran, including in the ruling circles, is against Khamenei's "to the last drop of blood" posturing, if only because people know this is posturing from a leader who is personally secure in his hideout. None of the 12 full generals -- active or in retirement -- that the regime still has, have adopted Khamenei's end-of-times posture. Nor is there any sign of the countless number of pot-bellied one-star generals whose boastful presence polluted Iranian airwaves and screens for decades.
After a week in purdah, "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenei broke his silence on Wednesday with a brief and enigmatic message (pictured) recorded in his current secret location. (Photo by Iranian Supreme Leader's Press Office via Getty Images)
After a week in purdah, "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenei broke his silence on Wednesday with a brief and enigmatic message recorded in his current secret location. Well, the location may be secret to most of us but not to Israel and its US ally, who claim they know where the "Guide" is hiding. This was a strange message. At no point did the "Guide" admit that Iran was facing a major crisis. He spoke of "an imposed war" without specifying who imposed it and how, while implicitly claiming that Iran had no part in provoking it. In other words, if he doesn't know why the war was imposed, he can't pretend to have any idea how to end it. Instead, he seemed to wish the war to continue ad infinitum by pretending that the US was demanding Iran's "unconditional surrender," something that, he boasted, the Iranian nation shall never accept.
Continue Reading Article
by Majid Rafizadeh • June 21, 2025 at 5:00 am
This tiny country [Israel], by itself, has begun putting an end to a "forever war" that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been waging on the West for 46 years. The potential success of such a David-vs-Goliath endeavor would not be possible without the strength, determination, and leadership of US President Donald J. Trump. America finally has a president willing to act against terrorism. This moment also makes clear that Trump's actions are not provoking World War III, they are preventing World War III – which Iran has been threatening for almost half a century. Now, once again, when Israel needs a true ally — not just someone to offer sympathetic words then threaten to withhold weapons — Trump has offered consistent support. "Israel has to do what they have to do," he said. This kind of Churchillian clarity does not cause chaos—it stops it, just as the allies stopped it in the last century in Germany and Japan. Trump and Netanyahu deserve the Nobel Peace Prize for taking one of the world's greatest terrorist states off the table. This kind of Churchillian clarity does not cause chaos — it stops it, as the WWII allies did in the last century in Germany and Japan. Trump and Netanyahu deserve the Nobel Peace Prize for taking one of the world's greatest terrorist states off the table. Strength does not invite war—it deters it. "When people see a strong horse and a weak horse," observed the late esteemed psychologist, Osama bin Laden, "they will naturally want to side with the strong horse." The Middle East is safer today not because of handshakes and summits and signed pieces of paper that usually one side disregards. Russia disregarded the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, under which Russia, the United States and Ukraine agreed that Ukraine's borders would be respected in exchange for giving up the nuclear weapons it had at the time. And half a ton of documents showed that Iran had been cheating on its JCPOA "deal." The Middle East is safer today because Israel struck after... Israeli intelligence determined that Iran was on the brink of assembling a bomb -- and because the United States stood behind Israel. To those who still criticize, who still think diplomacy alone can solve everything, the answer is simple. As the great Secretary of State George Shultz noted, "Negotiations are a euphemism for capitulation if the shadow of power is not cast across the bargaining table" -- in short, diplomacy works best when the enemy knows that it is backed up by force. Iran's leaders did not take Trump's 60-day warning seriously, probably because they did not believe he and Netanyahu had the courage to act. They also may be assuming that they can absorb a few blows and build back their nuclear weapons program after that – and precisely why it is crucial to destroy Fordow: to make sure no one can resuscitate it later. The time for appeasement is over. For this, we owe our gratitude to three pillars: Trump, the USA under his leadership, and the brave people of Israel who refuse to be victims.
What the world witnessed this past week was not merely a military operation. It was the courageous act of a free nation — Israel — taking one of the bravest and most humane steps in recent memory to stop evil in its tracks. This tiny country, by itself, has begun putting an end to a "forever war" that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been waging on the West for 46 years. The potential success of such a David-vs-Goliath endeavor would not be possible without the strength, determination, and leadership of US President Donald J. Trump. Pictured: Israel Air Force F-15 fighter jets. (Photo by IDF Spokesman's Office)
What the world witnessed this past week was not merely a military operation. It was the courageous act of a free nation — Israel — taking one of the bravest and most humane steps in recent memory to stop evil in its tracks. This tiny country, by itself, has begun putting an end to a "forever war" that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been waging on the West for 46 years. The potential success of such a David-vs-Goliath endeavor would not be possible without the strength, determination, and leadership of US President Donald J. Trump. While many global leaders have stood by passively, hedging their words and calling for "restraint," Trump showed what true leadership looks like. He did not waver. He did not equivocate. He supported Israel in its fight on behalf of all of us in the Free World -- not just in words, but in action, strategy, and unwavering moral clarity.
Continue Reading Article
by Nils A. Haug • June 20, 2025 at 5:00 am
For those Jewish scholars and experts from abroad, often invited by the local community in Australia to visit and share their views and expertise, there is news: you might not be permitted to enter Australia. Your visa, even if approved at some earlier stage, could be revoked and you might be silenced. If, however, you are a dedicated Palestinian from Gaza, you are most likely welcome in Australia -- little vetting required. In France, Jew-hatred is on the rise again.... French President Emmanuel Macron, possibly to please his growing Muslim constituency, intended to recognize "steps toward" a borderless, atrociously governed, terrorist State of Palestine – contrary to the interests of Israelis, the Middle East, and especially the Palestinians. "If France is really so determined to see a Palestinian state, I've got a suggestion for them: Carve out a piece of the French Riviera, and create a Palestinian state. They're welcome to do that... but they're not welcome to impose that kind of pressure on a sovereign nation." — US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, i24 News, June 1, 2025. Are Macron's government and others not only denying Israel, and its majority Jewish population, the necessary arms to defend itself, but also seeking to recognize a hostile Islamist state inside another country's borders? What is the word for "chutzpah" in French?
Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke (pictured) revoked the entry visa for Hillel Fuld, an American-Israeli tech columnist and advisor to Google and Microsoft, who was scheduled to speak in front of thousands of people at a fundraising event for Australian Friends of Magen David Adom (the official Israeli ambulance and medical emergency service devoted to saving lives of all people). Burke gave as his reason for revoking Fuld's visa a false accusation of "'islamophobia rhetoric' which risked inciting discord against Australia's Muslim population." (Photo by Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images)
Pro-Palestinian activists at Sydney University, Australia, a recent investigative report revealed, have been freely disrupting university lectures, shouting antisemitic slogans and carrying banners declaring "Jews not allowed." According to the report: "Jewish workers and students experienced antisemitism daily whilst on campus, creating a workplace of fear, anxiousness and a fear of retribution towards Jewish workers and students because they were Jewish people."
As has become typical in the West, the report's recommendations were ignored and a full investigation of the university not undertaken.
Continue Reading Article
by Lawrence Kadish • June 19, 2025 at 12:00 pm
Pictured: A satellite image from Planet Labs PBC from March 19, 2025, showing the aboveground part of the Fordow nuclear site, in Iran. (Graphic by Clea Peculier, Sabrina Blanchard, Fred Garet, Frederic Bourgeais/AFP via Getty Images)
President Donald J. Trump has a problem. If he leaves Iran's major nuclear research and centrifuge sites, such as the Fordow uranium enrichment plant or Natanz, under their protective mountains, the countless centrifuges sheltered there will remain a permanent temptation -- an "attractive nuisance" -- for the Iranian regime to resurrect to terrorize its neighbors with again. What Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appears to want -- and what Iran's regime has said it wants since the Islamic Republic's founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini put it in 1979 – is: "We shall export our revolution to the whole world. Until the cry 'There is no god but God' resounds over the whole world, there will be struggle."
— Quoted on p. 42 of Shireen T. Hunter's The Foreign Policy of Iran: Ideology and Pragmatism (Praeger, 1984).
Continue Reading Article
|
