Latest Analysis and Commentary
by Majid Rafizadeh • August 30, 2025 at 5:00 am
In his latest statement, Amir Hayat-Moqaddam [member of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission] openly declared that Iran is capable of striking all of Europe and even US cities such as Washington and New York with missiles launched from offshore Iranian ships. Western policymakers had been hoping for decades that engagement, dialogue and economic deals could temper Tehran's revolutionary zeal. The regime's latest statements, however, show that such hopes are illusory: Iran is not guided by pragmatic statecraft but by an uncompromising ideology that explicitly calls for global expansion of its revolution. Hayat-Moqaddam's words are not vague threats. They are a boast, a proclamation of a plan decades in the making. Such statements must be taken seriously: they reveal the true intentions of the regime: to extend its deterrent power by threatening both Europe and America, and to hold the West hostage to the fear of devastating missile strikes. Iran's investment in its ballistic missile arsenal is not defensive; it reflects a doctrine of "deterrence by punishment," the idea that Iran can intimidate adversaries by holding their cities, infrastructure, and populations at risk of destruction. In this sense, Iran's missile arsenal is not just a tool of war — it is an instrument of political leverage, designed to project power far beyond Iran's borders. [J]ust one missile tipped with a nuclear warhead hitting a European or American city would be catastrophic. Iran is estimated to still have thousands of ballistic missiles that can reach Europe when launched from Iranians soil. If launched from ships at sea, the continental United States is also within range of Iran's missiles, as Iran is now openly warning. Iran's threat is not hypothetical; it is a proven capability paired with a proven willingness to use it. Since 1979, Iran's leaders have always regarded the United States and Europe as enemies, even before the West imposed sanctions or intervened in regional conflicts. The hostility is not reactive; it is ideological. Like Nazism in the 20th century, the Iranian regime's ideology cannot be appeased with compromises. The West must abandon the false hope that diplomacy alone will alter Tehran's course. Sanctions must be maintained and expanded, not lifted in exchange for empty promises. The United States must keep a military option on the table, making clear that if Iran crosses red lines, it will face devastating consequences. Iranian diplomats who serve as spies or agents for the regime's ideological mission should be expelled, embassies shuttered, and Iran's international presence curtailed. Equally important is supporting the Iranian people, many of whom have repeatedly risked their lives in protests calling for an end to clerical rule. The collapse of the regime from within is the only real long-term solution to the threat Iran poses to the world. Iran's leadership openly declares its intent to spread its revolution and to target Europe with missiles. To ignore such declarations would be an unforgivable mistake. Unfortunately, the Iranian regime's threats are not empty rhetoric. They are a continuation of a consistent ideological vision that has driven its policies since its Islamic Revolution in 1979. Iran's leadership openly states that they seek not only the destruction of Israel but also the subjugation of the West. Iran's missile arsenal and naval drills show that it is actively preparing for this confrontation; its ambitions for nuclear weapons underscore the urgency. The West must not turn a blind eye or entertain illusions of "moderation." Just as Europe once ignored Hitler's ideology at its peril, ignoring Iran's Islamist regime would be a historic mistake. The only path forward is to maintain relentless pressure, prepare militarily, support the Iranian people, and never allow this radical regime to realize its apocalyptic goals.
A senior Iranian official has openly declared that Iran is capable of striking all of Europe and even US cities, saying that Iranian ships could be moved within approximately 2,000 kilometers of the U.S. coastline, from where Washington, New York, and other American cities would be within striking range. Iran's threat is not hypothetical; it is a proven capability paired with a proven willingness to use it. During the 12-day war in June, Iran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel, dozens of which broke through Israeli defenses and wreaked destruction on both civilian and military targets. Pictured: Rescue workers search a residential building in Beersheba, Israel that was heavily damaged by an Iranian ballistic missile on June 24, 2025. Five civilians were killed in the missile strike, which destroyed multiple buildings. (Photo by Aldema Milstein/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
Recent remarks by a senior Iranian official, Amir Hayat-Moqaddam, a member of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, once again confirmed what many in the West have feared: the Islamic Republic of Iran's grand strategy has always included targeting not only Israel and its neighbors but also Europe and the United States. In his latest statement, Hayat-Moqaddam openly declared that Iran is capable of striking all of Europe and even US cities such as Washington and New York with missiles launched from offshore Iranian ships.
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by Pesach Wolicki • August 29, 2025 at 5:00 am
Behind this narrative lies a calculated strategy: the weaponization of humanitarian suffering, orchestrated by Hamas — the entity that controls Gaza and its distribution of aid — and amplified by willing accomplices in the United Nations system and global media. The goal is not to report the truth but to smear Israel, rally international condemnation, and shield Hamas from accountability. In May 2024, Israeli government data directly contradicted the IPC's claims. In June and July 2024, media reports continued to cite a "high risk of famine," but none could point to actual data proving that famine had occurred. The famine never arrived, but the headlines kept coming. [I]n late June 2024, the IPC issued a report titled, "Famine Review Committee: Gaza Strip, June 2024 – IPC's third review report." It showed that the previous famine predictions were not plausible, contradicted all available data, and were based on incorrect assumptions.... [T]he findings of the "Famine Review Committee" were barely covered by the media outside of Israel. Regardless of the consistent failure of the dire warnings of famine to come to fruition, the repetition of statements and headlines throughout 2024 set the narrative in the minds of the world: Famine in Gaza. Tellingly, the warnings were always couched in language that allowed for plausible deniability. There was always a "risk" of an "imminent" or "looming" famine -- a famine that just never arrived. According to the World Food Programme, sustaining Gaza's estimated population of 2.1 million people requires approximately 62,000 metric tons of food per month. From March through December 2024, 788,216 tons of food aid entered Gaza — an average of 78,821 tons per month, more than 25% above the WFP's stated threshold. Famously, on May 20, 2025, Tom Fletcher, head of the UN's Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told BBC Radio that "there are 14,000 babies that will die in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them." While this claim was walked back by the UN, the narrative damage was done. The food was entering Gaza — far above the minimum necessary — so why was there any hunger at all? The answer is straightforward: Hamas has weaponized food. The terrorist group that controls Gaza has systematically blocked, diverted, looted, hoarded, and resold humanitarian aid at exorbitant prices. Operating four sites in the southern and central Gaza Strip, the GHF is an American project operating in close coordination with Israeli authorities. The purpose of the GHF is to deliver food aid directly to individual Gazan families while bypassing Hamas-controlled distribution networks. The GHF operates with a high level of logistical transparency, tracking aid deliveries with barcodes and GPS to ensure that food reaches its intended recipients. "[S]o who's doing the killing? That's a good question. You honestly think it's some U.S. contractors, or it's the IDF just gunning people down. Or is it Hamas... because it's business to them. If they can keep people from getting the free food, then they can sell the food that was supposed to be given to them for free. That's what no one seems to be wanting to talk about. Why not?" — US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, August 8, 2025. The daily claims of deaths at from IDF fire distribution sites always come from staff at Hamas-controlled hospitals or unverified eyewitness testimonies. There has yet to be even a single video clip of such an incident occurring, even as virtually every move anyone makes in Gaza is recorded on a smartphone and shared widely. Macron's pledge to recognize a Palestinian state – quickly joined by the UK, Canada and Australia – and the most recent surge in aid into Hamas-controlled areas through airdrops and increases in trucks entering Gaza, together with the aggressive demonization of Israel in the media and diplomatic arena, have led Hamas to believe that time is on their side. Hamas knows that it has no chance of beating the Israel militarily, but its propaganda war has been a smashing success. If all it takes is keeping Gaza's civilians hungry and desperate, that is a price Hamas is more than happy to pay.
Since the invasion of Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023, the international media, humanitarian organizations, and UN-affiliated agencies have relentlessly pushed one of the most damaging blood libels in history: that Israel is deliberately starving the people of the Gaza Strip. In headline after headline, and through "official" UN reports and viral images, the world has been told that Gaza teeters on the edge of famine — or that famine has already taken hold. However, these warnings, loudly declared, have repeatedly failed to materialize. Pictured: Gazans cheer after receiving food parcels from a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution point on June 26, 2025, in central Gaza. (Photo by Moiz Salhi/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
Since the invasion of Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023, the international media, humanitarian organizations, and UN-affiliated agencies have relentlessly pushed one of the most damaging blood libels in history: that Israel is deliberately starving the people of the Gaza Strip. In headline after headline, and through "official" UN reports and viral images, the world has been told that Gaza teeters on the edge of famine — or that famine has already taken hold. However, these warnings, loudly declared, have repeatedly failed to materialize. Behind this narrative lies a calculated strategy: the weaponization of humanitarian suffering, orchestrated by Hamas — the entity that controls Gaza and its distribution of aid — and amplified by willing accomplices in the United Nations system and global media. The goal is not to report the truth but to smear Israel, rally international condemnation, and shield Hamas from accountability.
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by Lawrence Kadish • August 29, 2025 at 4:00 am
It is little noticed but deeply disturbing that China currently can withhold rare earth minerals that are critical to America's national security. Beijing has engaged in a two-year export-restriction campaign that has our defense officials scurrying for alternative supplies of crucial elements needed for weapons. Pictured: A front loader shifts soil containing rare earth minerals to be loaded for export at a port in Lianyungang, east China's Jiangsu province, on September 5, 2010. (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)
During World War II, the Japanese invasion of the Southeast Asia cut off America's access to natural rubber, a vital resource. Our answer? Invent synthetic rubber and keep our armor rolling to victory. The Germans built massive Tiger tanks, but by the end of the war many of them were on the side of the road, out of fuel. Why? We destroyed Germany's oil refineries, and the transportation infrastructure required to get the fuel needed by those war machines. What does this history lesson mean to us today, in an era of artificial intelligence, satellite phones and nuclear brinksmanship? Plenty.
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by Bassam Tawil • August 28, 2025 at 5:00 am
As the US and other Western countries continue to rely on Qatar to broker a ceasefire-hostage deal to end the war in the Gaza Strip, senior Qatari journalists affiliated with the Qatar's state-run media continue to praise the Iran-backed Palestinian terror group Hamas, and are even calling for Hamas to kidnap more Israelis. Al-Jazeera has been broadcasting similar videos from Hamas since the beginning of the war. While the Qatari government claims to the Trump Administration that it is working to release the 50 Israeli hostages held by Hamas and other terror groups in the Gaza Strip, al-Harmi, closely associated with Qatar's leadership, is calling for kidnapping more Israelis – whom, by the way, he described as "rats." "If success is not achieved this time in capturing Zionist soldiers at the hands of the heroes of Hamas Brigades, then the second, third, and fourth attempts will succeed, God willing, by adding new rats to the tally held by the heroes of the [Hamas] Brigades." — Jaber al-Harmi, editor-in-chief of the Qatari government mouthpiece newspaper Al Sharq, X, August 26, 2025. "I swear, the Zionist entity will inevitably disappear.... Its end is near, very near." — Jaber al-Harmi, quoting a video by Al-Jazeera, X August 26, 2025. "Al-Harmi's views on Israel and the Jews are aligned with the extremist ideology of Hamas and reflect his unreserved support for this movement and for its terror against Israelis – support which is also expressed by the Qatari state."— Middle East Media Research Institute, April 15, 2025. If Qatar really wanted to end the war in the Gaza Strip, its representatives and propagandists would not be calling on Hamas to kidnap more Israelis. If Qatar really wanted to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, it could do so by threatening to arrest or deport the Hamas leaders living in Doha or by seizing their financial assets. It is time for world leaders to listen to what the Qataris are saying in Arabic, not to what they hear from them in closed-door meetings in English.
As the US and other Western countries continue to rely on Qatar to broker a ceasefire-hostage deal to end the war in the Gaza Strip, senior Qatari journalists affiliated with the Qatar's state-run media continue to praise the Iran-backed Palestinian terror group Hamas, and are even calling for Hamas to kidnap more Israelis. Pictured: The headquarters of the government-owned Al Jazeera television network in Doha, Qatar. (Photo by Karim Jaafar/AFP via Getty Images)
As the US and other Western countries continue to rely on Qatar to broker a ceasefire-hostage deal to end the war in the Gaza Strip, senior Qatari journalists affiliated with the Qatar's state-run media continue to praise the Iran-backed Palestinian terror group Hamas, and are even calling for Hamas to kidnap more Israelis. Qatar, which has long been supporting Hamas and currently hosts its leaders in Doha, already uses its Al-Jazeera television empire as a mouthpiece for Hamas and other Islamist terror groups. Since the beginning of the Gaza war, triggered by the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Al-Jazeera -- in Arabic -- has been providing a platform to Hamas leaders to praise the massacre of Israelis. On October 7, 2023, several Hamas leaders based in Qatar appeared in a video watching the coverage of the massacre. The Hamas leaders performed the "Prostration of Gratitude."
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by Con Coughlin • August 27, 2025 at 5:00 am
China will be among a collection of hostile states, which also includes Iran and North Korea, that will be taking a close interest in the outcome of the diplomatic initiative Trump began... Trump himself has given a clear indication that... the White House is prepared to grant Moscow control over some of Ukraine's most strategic and resource-rich regions. Such a deal would not only represent a complete betrayal of the Ukrainian people, who have fought heroically to defend their country from Russian aggression. It would completely undermine the credibility of the Western alliance to defend its interests in the face of unprovoked acts of aggression in Europe. By far the most likely consequence of Trump agreeing to any sell-out over Ukraine would be to encourage China's Communist rulers to launch their long-anticipated plan to invade the democratic territory of Taiwan, a move that runs the risk of provoking a major conflict in the Indo-Pacific. If Trump really wants to end the war in Ukraine and achieve lasting peace, then he should consider reviving his threat to impose punitive sanctions against countries that continue trading with Russia, as well as providing Ukraine immediately with offensive weapons, rather than just defensive ones. Every day of delay is simply being used by Putin to kill more Ukrainian civilians and gain more territory. Such a move would not only end Putin's ability to fund his "special military operation" in Ukraine. It would send a clear signal to other autocratic regimes like China, as well as terrorist groups, that the Trump administration will confront acts of aggression, and never reward them.
The most vital fact that US President Donald J. Trump needs to take on board is that Russian President Vladimir Putin has no earthly chance of winning his war in Ukraine -- unless, that is, Trump gifts the Russian despot a victory. Pictured: Trump and Putin leave at the conclusion of a press conference at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on August 15, 2025, in Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The most vital fact that US President Donald J. Trump needs to take on board is that Russian President Vladimir Putin has no earthly chance of winning his war in Ukraine -- unless, that is, Trump gifts the Russian despot a victory. China will be among a collection of hostile states, which also includes Iran and North Korea, that will be taking a close interest in the outcome of the diplomatic initiative Trump began with Putin following their face-to-face meeting in Alaska earlier this month, to end the Ukraine conflict. Terrorist groups, ranging from Hamas in Gaza, to Hezbollah in Lebanon, to the remnants of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, will similarly be keeping a watchful eye on the type of deal that is forthcoming.
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by Nils A. Haug • August 26, 2025 at 5:00 am
"Jewish people brought morality to the world thousands of years ago, and some people are still mad about it." — Safra Catz, CEO of Oracle, ynetnews.com, January 27, 2024. Even trying to conduct the most moral war in history, and sending humanitarian aid to the Gazans trying to kill them, all of Israel's enemies consider themselves free of such constraints. (Someone asked if the British had ever sent aid to Germany in WWII.) "Israel Has Created a New Standard for Urban Warfare. Why Will No One Admit It?" — John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, Newsweek, March 25, 2024. "The Jews represent everything the enemies of American civilization seek to destroy: the moral code of the Hebrew Bible, which the anti-Jews seek to replace with woke secularism or radical Islam." — Eric Cohen, editor-at-large of The New Atlantis, Mosaic, May 2024. "Palestinians are not about creating a state; they're about destroying a state" — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, August 10, 2025. Israel and the Jews are fighting to save Western Civilization -- for us. If we would let them.
"The hate of the Jews is the most ancient and continuous hate in human history, and you can dress it up any way you want.... It is basically exactly what it has always been -- the Jewish people brought morality to the world thousands of years ago and some people are still mad about it." — Safra Catz, CEO of the US technology giant Oracle. Pictured: Catz speaks with Horacio Rozanski, CEO of Booz Allen Hamilton, before a meeting between CEOs and US Senators, to discuss the Hamas-Israel war, on June 18, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
"The hate of the Jews," Safra Catz, CEO of the US technology giant Oracle, pointed out in 2024, "is the most ancient and continuous hate in human history, and you can dress it up any way you want.... It is basically exactly what it has always been -- the Jewish people brought morality to the world thousands of years ago and some people are still mad about it." Not only did the Jews introduce moral and ethical precepts; they also brought to the world at large that there were prohibitions on behavior in which many of us might wish to indulge. The deep hatred of Jews stems from fanatical followers of other faiths, and perhaps those of no faith at all, but especially those zealots whose religious worldview compels them to conquer and destroy those of competing faiths, or for undesirable tendencies that they see in themselves but prefer to attribute to others.
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by Bassam Tawil • August 25, 2025 at 5:00 am
As far as Qatar's Muslim scholars are concerned... the war in the Gaza Strip did not start on the day Hamas launched its invasion of Israel. Rather, the war began the moment Israel fired back, and the only victims are the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, not those who were murdered, raped, beheaded and burned alive on October 7. Several Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain have added Qatar's IUMS to their terrorism blacklists, saying it used "Islamic rhetoric as a cover to facilitate terrorist activities." Needless to say, the scholars have not called on Hamas to release the Israeli hostages and accept a ceasefire that would end the war and the suffering of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Instead, the conference has unleashed scathing criticism of Israel for daring to defend itself against Hamas's terrorism. For the Muslim scholars, boycotting and isolating Israel is more important than halting the death and destruction in the Gaza Strip. Their interpretation of Sharia laws and international humanitarian principles suggests that it is fine to sacrifice as many Palestinians as necessary for the sake of murdering Jews and destroying Israel. The IUMS's position does not come as a surprise. Instead of urging Muslims to denounce terrorism and renounce violence, the organization, earlier this year, issued a fatwa (Islamic ruling) in which it called on all Muslims to wage Jihad (holy war) against Israel. The scholars want to see Muslims commit more massacres against Jews. Once again, Qatar and Turkey have proven that their top priority is to promote the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates as part of the Islamists' Jihad to destroy Israel.... It is time for the Trump administration to call out Qatar and Turkey for their ongoing support for Hamas. It is also time for the US to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Once again, Qatar and Turkey have proven that their top priority is to promote the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates as part of the Islamists' Jihad to destroy Israel.... It is time for the Trump administration to call out Qatar and Turkey for their ongoing support for Hamas. It is also time for the US to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
For the scholars who are attending the International Union of Muslim Scholars conference in Istanbul, boycotting and isolating Israel is more important than halting the death and destruction in the Gaza Strip. Their interpretation of Sharia laws and international humanitarian principles suggests that it is fine to sacrifice as many Palestinians as necessary for the sake of murdering Jews and destroying Israel. Pictured: The Eyüp Sultan Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, where the IUMS conference is being held. (Image source: iStock/Getty Images)
More than 150 prominent Muslim scholars from 50 countries are currently attending a conference in Istanbul, Turkey, to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led massacre of Israelis and foreign nationals. At least 20 Muslim citizens of Israel were among 1,200 people murdered by Hamas terrorists and ordinary Palestinians that day. Thousands more were injured, and 251 Israelis and foreign nationals were kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip, where 50 -- dead and alive -- are still held captive. As far as Qatar's Muslim scholars are concerned, however, the war in the Gaza Strip did not start on the day Hamas launched its invasion of Israel. Rather, the war began the moment Israel fired back, and the only victims are the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, not those who were murdered, raped, beheaded and burned alive on October 7.
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by Raymond Ibrahim • August 24, 2025 at 5:00 am
Muslim extremists now forbid Christians from farming, and punish defiance with shootings, kidnappings, and threats against families. Thousands remain displaced, living in overcrowded shelters with no food or medical care..... Despite military presence, extremist Muslim militias continue to terrorize rural Christian communities with near total impunity. — persecution.org, July 1, 2025 — Nigeria. Entire families were found burned alive in their homes. "They came from all sides, shooting and setting houses on fire. Anyone who ran was shot.".... "The fact that this community... reported the imminent attack to the STF military officers at that military checkpoint makes it more worrisome, suspicious and raises many questions." — Farmer Ezekiel Dung, persecution.org, July 22, 2025 — Nigeria. "[K]illings, kidnappings and robberies persist without real measures being implemented to curb them," highlighting the Syrian government's failure to protect Christian and other non-Muslim communities. — syriacpress.com, July 10, 2025 — Syria. The situation in Syria's Christian Valley remains dire. Locals who once defended their communities now face persecution despite promises that Christians would be spared. One resident... explained that his home was "destroyed" and "looted," and that authorities had "placed an arrest on his piece of land so he could not sell it." Similar measures were taken against his colleague.... [T]hose who resisted the jihadist forces are now being targeted. — dzen.ru, July 6, 2025 — Syria. According to a July 6 report, the situation in Syria's Christian Valley remains dire. Locals who once defended their communities now face persecution despite promises that Christians would be spared. One resident, Zhoryk, former head of a self-defense unit in the valley, explained that his home was "destroyed" and "looted," and that authorities had "placed an arrest on his piece of land so he could not sell it." Similar measures were taken against his colleague... [T]hose who resisted the jihadist forces are now being targeted..... The report illustrates the systematic targeting of Christians who defended their communities: despite prior promises of protection, those who opposed Muslim militants are being punished under the new regime, their homes and property seized, and their leadership removed. — dzen.ru, July 6, 2025 — Syria. According to a July 15 report, jihadists and other terrorists loyal to the nation's new "president," Ahmed al-Sharaa, attacked the Church of San Michel, a Greek Orthodox church. Militants looted it before setting the church on fire. Local sources described the assault as part of the new regime's ongoing campaign against non-Sunni populations. — greekcitytimes.com, July 15, 2025 — Syria. Turkey announced that the Armenian Cathedral of Ani — a UNESCO-listed site and "once the crown jewel of medieval Armenian architecture" — will reopen not as a church but as a mosque.... — zartonkmeda.com, July 4, 2025 — Turkey. World Heritage Watch called on UNESCO to place the Saint Catherine Area in Egypt on the List of World Heritage Sites in Danger due to Egypt's continued failure to uphold its World Heritage obligations. — orthodoxtimes.com, July 7, 2025 — Egypt. [T]he church in Arudy was desecrated with excrement (an old jihadist tactic). Feces were smeared on the inside and outside of the church, and on its altar. Parish priest Father Armand Paillé called it "deliberate and symbolic," saying vandals sought to "reduce the church and the faithful to what they left behind." — intoleranceagainstchristians.edu, July 13, 2025 — France. [T]hrongs of Muslims surrounding the Helsinki Cathedral, while waving Islamic State flags and engaging in provocative behavior. — x.com, July 9, 2025 — Finland. [H]undreds if not thousands of Muslims encircle[ed] Melbourne's cathedral while waving Islamic flags and engaging in militant behavior. The X account of Christian Emergency Alliance adds that "These are acts of intimidation and insulting attempts at domination. Christians must not tolerate these disrespectful acts of intolerance." — x.com, July 8, 2025 — Australia.
A video posted at X.com on July 9 shows throngs of Muslims at Helsinki Cathedral, in Finland, waving Islamic State flags and engaging in provocative behavior. Pictured: Helsinki Cathedral. (Photo by iStock/Getty Images)
The following are among the abuses and murders inflicted on Christians by Muslims throughout the month of July 2025. The Muslim Slaughter of Christians Nigeria: Below are some of the more notable incidents of the ongoing genocide being carried out against Christians in Nigeria:
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by Amir Taheri • August 24, 2025 at 4:00 am
On October 10, as the committee that chooses the Nobel Peace Prize laureate meets, US President Donald Trump is expected to be in Transcaucasia to inaugurate work on a 166-kilometer-long railway line over one of the world's most rugged terrains. The headline of the government daily newspaper in Iran the other day was "America Become Our Neighbor!" [U]nder the Trump "pathway" deal, the border area on the Armenian side to the depth of five kilometers is leased to the US for 99 years. Under the memorandum of understanding by Trump with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev and his Armenian counterpart Nikol Pashinyan, the actual border posts will be manned by Armenian guards. But the US will be in control of the entire border by creating a Pathway Zone like the Panama Canal Zone in Central America. Tehran is also sore that it wasn't even consulted about such a major change along a crucial border. Nevertheless, the Tehran leadership has decided to welcome the deal brokered by Trump and accept the Pathway, albeit with a few frowns, in the hope that the new situation would help ease tensions with Washington. One sign that Tehran has decided to accept the new neighbor is the decision to stop the project to build a new military base in Talesh, close to the borders of both Armenia and Azerbaijan, for possible use in an operation to invade and annex Nakhichevan. Thus, the Trump pathway could also make sure that peace is kept between Iran and Azerbaijan. Iran's "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenei has remained totally silent on the issue, implicitly endorsing President Massoud Pezeshkian's pragmatic approach. As "neighbors," Iran and the Pathway Zone Authority will have to cooperate in a number of domains: security, fighting smugglers and drug- and human-traffickers, while contenting well-established joint environmental and water-sharing projects. The US zone would also need cooperation with Iran to secure part of its electricity, as well as all its oil and gas needs. In other words, Iranian and American personnel will have to learn to talk to each other and work together about practical day-to-day matters rather than hostages, exporting revolution, wiping Israel off the map and nuclear weapons. Well. One question: Will the Nobel barons recognize Trump as peacemaker?
On October 10, as the committee that chooses the Nobel Peace Prize laureate meets, US President Donald Trump is expected to be in Transcaucasia to inaugurate work on a 166-kilometer-long railway line over one of the world's most rugged terrains. Pictured: A view from Armenia's southern border showing the Arax River, near the planned railway corridor, with Iran visible across the water, on May 18, 2025. (Photo by Anthony Pizzoferrato/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
On October 10, as the committee that chooses the Nobel Peace Prize laureate meets, US President Donald Trump is expected to be in Transcaucasia to inaugurate work on a 166-kilometer-long railway line over one of the world's most rugged terrains. The planned line is already dubbed the Trump Pathway to Peace and Prosperity, because it ends more than 200 years of on-and-off wars between Turks (initially as Ottomans) and Armenians (as subjects of the Russian czar and later the USSR). The disintegration of the Soviet Empire in the 1990s led to the emergence of a landlocked Armenian state next to what was dubbed the Republic of Azerbaijan, but the conflict continued. With the Soviet suzerain gone, the two impoverished republics started a war that lasted over a decade and pushed over 300,000 people out of their ancestral villages.
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by Majid Rafizadeh • August 23, 2025 at 5:00 am
How can the West, particularly European states, which never hesitate to lecture others on democracy and human rights, stay silent when one of the most oppressed peoples in the world was risking everything for those very ideals? It is high time for an approach that does not cower behind diplomatic fears or economic loss. To the European Union: stop delivering lectures on human rights while turning your back on those who fight and die for them. The shift from empowering a regime to empowering its people would mark the first time in more than four decades that Western policy truly aligned with democratic values. It is also worth asking why is it considered acceptable for Iran's rulers to openly call for the assassination of a U.S. president and attempt to assassinate Western officials, yet somehow unacceptable for Western leaders to plainly say, "we support the Iranian people's right to freedom"? The choice facing the West, particularly European governments and the Trump administration, is simple. Continue down the path of quiet complicity, driven by fear and greed, or choose to be remembered as champions of freedom. History does not remember as heroes those who stayed silent in the face of tyranny.... This is the moment to choose which side you will be on.
Iranians have taken to the streets again and again, often at unimaginable personal risk, demanding the right to live in dignity and determine their own future. Each time, they have been met with the full force of a ruthless regime. During these moments of crisis, Western governments often chose silence. The Obama administration, in particular, stood aside during the 2009 Green Movement, when millions of Iranians filled the streets, demanding their stolen votes back. Pictured: Iranians march at a Green Movement protest on June 16, 2009, in Tehran. (Image source: Milad Avazbeigi/Wikimedia Commons)
For more than 40 years, the people of Iran have lived under a suffocating dictatorship that has stripped them of their freedoms, denied them basic human rights, and crushed any glimmer of hope for a better future. Yet despite the unrelenting repression, the Iranian people have never stopped dreaming of liberty. They have taken to the streets again and again, often at unimaginable personal risk, demanding the right to live in dignity and determine their own future. Each time, they have been met with the full force of a ruthless regime that treats dissent as treason and humanity as an afterthought. This struggle for freedom is not a fleeting political cause — it is the very heartbeat of a nation that refuses to surrender its spirit.
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by Drieu Godefridi • August 22, 2025 at 5:00 am
[T]he report concludes that the damage caused by global warming is far less devastating than that wrought by misguided climate policies, especially the European Union's totalitarian ambition of a "zero-carbon society." The report deems the direct impact of U.S. emission cuts on the global climate as "undetectable," with any measurable effects emerging only after long delays — casting serious doubt on the wisdom of ambitious unilateral measures. If this is true for the U.S. with its 14% share of global emissions, what should be said of Europe, which accounts for barely 6%? [N]atural factors — such as solar flares or volcanic events — may be more influential in certain climate patterns. The report disputes the dominant alarmist discourse by pointing out that media coverage exaggerates negative effects while ignoring positives such as CO₂ fertilization. If Europe takes science seriously, it really needs to restore energy freedom -- the right of each member state to use the energy sources that suit it, without authoritarian and arbitrary interference from "Brussels."
In an official report dated July 2025, "A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate," the U.S. Department of Energy acknowledged a warming trend since the onset of the industrial era. The government conceded that human activity may have contributed to greenhouse gas pollution, yet stresses that, given the scale of natural variations, such attribution remains difficult. The report concluded that the only rational response is adaptation — an approach that presupposes technological progress and the creation of wealth.
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by Lawrence Kadish • August 22, 2025 at 4:00 am
(Image source: iStock/Getty Images)
Over the last several months, this author been stressing the need for America to urgently develop clean, cheap, limitless nuclear fusion energy to generate the vast amounts of electricity we will need if we are successfully to compete with China in the new frontier of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Until now, the US has been are promoting reactors for controversial nuclear fission energy, as in Chernobyl. The urgent strategic reason for our nation to invest in securing this technology is to protect our superpower status as democracy's champion. Consider: The nation that dominates AI platforms will have the means of advancing its global policies to the rest of the world. AI, however, requires unfathomable amounts of electrical power.
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by Khaled Abu Toameh • August 21, 2025 at 5:00 am
The Iran-backed Palestinian terror group Hamas said earlier this week that it has delivered a "positive response" to mediators on the latest US proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal with Israel. The group's leaders, however, continue to talk about the need to continue the "armed struggle" against Israel. "Hamas and the Palestinian resistance factions will not lay down their weapons. We will continue to exert pressure on the Zionist enemy through the armed struggle. We met with the Palestinian factions in Cairo and agreed to escalate the confrontation and the struggle..... Resistance is the only way to confront the enemy." — Mahmoud Mardawi, senior Hamas official, palininfo.com, August 15, 2025. Mardawi does not live in the Gaza Strip. He and most of the Hamas leaders are based in Qatar and Turkey. When [Hamas's] leaders say the "armed struggle" will continue, they are actually threatening to launch more attacks similar to the October 7 atrocities. If Hamas is indeed ready to accept a ceasefire, the reason is not because it wants to stop the death and destruction in the Gaza Strip. Rather, Hamas wants to ensure that it will be able to continue ruling the Gaza Strip after the war.... so it can pursue its jihad (holy war) to murder Jews and destroy Israel. This has been Hamas's goal since its establishment more than three decades ago. In the weeks before the October 7 attack, Hamas leaders went to great lengths to create the false impression that they were not interested in engaging in another war with Israel. Hamas has not – and will never – give up its goal of eliminating Israel and replacing it with an Islamist state. Even if a ceasefire deal is reached, the US and the rest of the international community must insist that Hamas be totally disarmed and removed from power. Hamas, unfortunately, really needs to be obliterated, and its leaders put on trial for committing war crimes against Israel and their own people.
If Hamas is indeed ready to accept a ceasefire, the reason is not because it wants to stop the death and destruction in the Gaza Strip. Rather, Hamas wants to ensure that it will be able to continue ruling the Gaza Strip after the war. Hamas remains as defiant as ever. Hamas leaders are actually threatening to launch more attacks similar to the October 7 atrocities. Hamas official Ghazi Hamad has clearly said that the terror group will repeat the October 7 attack, time and again, until Israel is annihilated. Pictured: Hamad is interviewed on October 24, 2023 on LBC TV (Lebanon). (Image source: MEMRI)
The Iran-backed Palestinian terror group Hamas said earlier this week that it has delivered a "positive response" to mediators on the latest US proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal with Israel. The group's leaders, however, continue to talk about the need to continue the "armed struggle" against Israel. For Hamas, the "armed struggle" means launching more terror attacks against Israel and murdering as many Jews as possible. Hamas leaders, in addition, continue to stress that they refuse to lay down their weapons. In a recent interview with Hamas's unofficial mouthpiece, the Qatari state-owned television empire Al-Jazeera, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi said:
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by Harold Rhode • August 21, 2025 at 4:00 am
Iranian leaders have mastered the art of patience, procrastination, and opportunism, waiting for the right moment to strike. As long as it [Iran's regime] remains in power, the West, Israel, and moderate Arab allies remain in danger. For Westerners, negotiations are about compromise and achieving win-win outcomes..... For Iranians, negotiations occur only after one side has already won. The winner dictates the terms; the loser must submit. From their perspective, there is no such thing as a win-Iranians treat signed agreements as temporary tools, not binding commitments. They may sign documents "to accommodate" others, but rarely intend to honor them. Agreements are stepping stones toward ultimate victory.... While Arabs may directly blame adversaries for wrongdoing, Iranians prefer subtlety, maneuvering opponents into surrender while making them believe they are still in control. The Iranian message: America submits, Iran dictates. The only sustainable solution is to support the Iranian people in freeing themselves from their regime.
Iranian media caricatured John Kerry and President Barack Obama during the nuclear talks a decade ago. Kerry's broken leg was exaggerated with larger crutches, symbolizing weakness. Obama's skin was darkened to highlight "defects" as the U.S. gave in. The Iranian message: America submits, Iran dictates. Pictured: Kerry, then Secretary of State, shakes hands with then Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Vienna, Austria, on July 14, 2014. (Image source: US State Department)
The threat posed by the Iranian regime is far from over. Iranian leaders have mastered the art of patience, procrastination, and opportunism, waiting for the right moment to strike. Although weakened, the regime is not mortally wounded. As long as it remains in power, the West, Israel and moderate Arab allies remain in danger. Iran's leadership consistently probes and tests its adversaries, convinced that time and persistence will eventually deliver victory. The way Iranian and Western leaders understand negotiations reflects this difference in worldview. For Westerners, negotiations are about compromise and achieving win-win outcomes. Each side gains something, and both leave the table stronger. For Iranians, negotiations occur only after one side has already won. The winner dictates the terms; the loser must submit.
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by Gordon G. Chang • August 20, 2025 at 5:00 am
Rubio, talking about the war in Ukraine, completely missed the fundamental issue: Should the United States be trying to reach a deal in the first place? The answer is no: The U.S. should not be trying to broker any settlement with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a mass-murdering, genocide-committing aggressor. No one wants to see more people die, but trying to end this war by agreement will ultimately make the world less safe. Did the U.S. try to reach a "deal" with the Third Reich? How about Imperial Japan? A "deal" with aggressors always opens the door to more aggression. "We don't negotiate with evil; we defeat it." — Vice President Dick Cheney, reportedly spoken in 2003.
The U.S. should not be trying to broker any settlement with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a mass-murdering, genocide-committing aggressor. Pictured: US President Donald Trump greets Putin on the tarmac at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
"The only way to reach a deal on anything, whether it's in business or in politics or in geopolitics, the only way to reach a deal is for each side to get something and each side to give something," Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC's Kristen Welker on Meet the Press on August 17. Rubio, talking about the war in Ukraine, completely missed the fundamental issue: Should the United States be trying to reach a deal in the first place? The answer is no: The U.S. should not be trying to broker any settlement with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a mass-murdering, genocide-committing aggressor. Rubio should heed his own words. "This guy lies, habitually lies," the then senator said in March 2022 about the Russian leader.
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