HOMELAND SECURITY Comments turned off

Iran’s Agents in America And the dirty story of who enabled them. Daniel Greenfield

Posted By on June 24th, 2025

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm-plus/irans-agents-in-america/

Four years after he was charged by the Justice Department with acting as an “agent of the Iranian government”, Kaveh Afrasiabi appeared on China’s state propaganda CGTN, quoting Iran’s Supreme Leader and warning of “irreparable damage” if Trump were to act against Iran.

“Iran has a lot of naval assets that can come into play,” the Iranian political science professor warned viewers of China’s propaganda machine. Previously Afrasiabi, whom the DOJ complaint stated had “pitched himself to Congress, journalists, and the American public as a neutral and objective expert on Iran”, had appeared on CGTN, to claim that Israel was engaged in an “unprovoked war” and again attacked President Trump for standing up to Tehran.

The strange thing however was not that Afrasiabi, who had been described as having acted as “a secret employee of the Government of Iran and the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations who was being paid to spread their propaganda”, was spreading pro-Iranian propaganda to Iran’s Chinese Communist allies, but that he was still here.

The 2021 indictment stated that, “our arrest of Kaveh Afrasiabi makes it clear that the United States is not going to allow undeclared agents of Iran to operate in our country unchecked.” That went by the wayside two years later when President Joe Biden signed a pardon for Afrasiabi allegedly as part of the administration’s serial hostage deals with enemy nations.

Allowing undeclared agents of Iran to operate in America was now officially Biden’s policy.

Unlike conventional prisoner exchanges, Afrasiabi and two others were not actually expected to leave America. The pardon however was conditioned on Afrasiabi not breaking any further laws and not deriving any financial benefit from any publication about his “situation”.

Had Afrasiabi actually changed?

POLITICS Comments turned off

The Democratic Party Needs A Wellness Check

Posted By on June 24th, 2025

https://issuesinsights.com/2025/06/24/the-democratic-party-needs-a-wellness-check/

Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, an ideal representative for the lunatic constituency, said last week that Donald Trump supporters are mentally ill. Has she looked at the party she is willingly a member of? Or even herself? No, because if she did, she’d realize that it’s her side that is not well.

There are a number of patients who need to be seen, certainly millions, but first, we’ll check in with James Carville. While he’s no longer the Democratic Party’s hottest shot, and doesn’t have the influence he once had as Bill Clinton’s main hack, he’s still emblematic of the left’s descent into madness. Consider his most recent tirade, in which he comes off as deranged.

Carville has also claimed in just this year that Trump hates his voters and wants them to suffer; has said that companies that are “sucking up” to Trump remind him of Nazi collaborators; and predicted in February that the Trump administration would collapse in 30 days.

What we are talking about is more than the ravings of a fading party star (who, to his credit, has called out his party for its maniacal commitment to identity politics), though. Science, that field of study which virtue-signaling Democrats (we repeat ourselves) live – and love – to tell everyone they believe in, clearly indicates the left has mental defects. The data from a 60,000-participant survey shows that conservatives are far better off emotionally than their counterparts on the left.

Nine in 10 conservatives self-report their mental health to be excellent (51%) or very good (39%). Those who consider themselves liberals are struggling, with only 20% saying their mental health is excellent and 26% believing it is very good.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

More than 100 women attending music festivals across France stabbed with syringes and injected with unknown substances By Olivia Murray

Posted By on June 23rd, 2025

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/06/more_than_100_women_attending_music_festivals_across_france_stabbed_with_syringes_and_injected_with_unknown_substances.html

We don’t have to live like this:

At least 145 women across France were targeted in syringe attacks at the Festival of Music 2025 (Fête de la Musique), which offers free concerts in cities across the country.

French authorities have not yet indicated what, if any substances, were involved in these specific attacks.

Before I even knew what kind of individuals perpetrated these needle attacks, I already knew—we probably all do—and it wasn’t the few white Frenchmen left but…Muslim migrants. While most of the creeps are still on the lam, a Bangladeshi suspect has been arrested as well as another man who shouted at his victim in Arabic, claiming to be a doctor.

They kept telling us that the waves of third world migrants they were bringing into the West would be tomorrow’s “doctors” and “engineers” so…well-played.

Some of the cities where needle attacks occurred at the highest rates were Chambéry, Metz, Paris, Montpellier, and Grenoble—and, since many of the women did not experience cognitive issues after being injected, the date-rape drug (GHB), which is typically used, was ruled out. What was in those needles? Semen? HIV?

But the risk of being stabbed with a syringe and injected with an unknown material wasn’t the only violence brought by the migrants during the concerts: there were stabbings, “battles with police,” sexual assault, gang activity, and around 50 cars were lit on fire:

And, here’s a man kicking a young woman on the ground in the head:

While he and his buddies (who fail to intervene) may have French citizenship, they’re certainly not French.

Like I said, we don’t have to live like this—but leftist “progressives” are condemning us to this future—they truly are the biggest blight to ever afflict humanity.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

The ‘Forever War’ we should really be worried about Iran’s ceaseless and racist war on the Jewish State is the true cause of the mayhem in the Middle East. Brendan O’Neill

Posted By on June 23rd, 2025

https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/06/23/the-forever-war-we-should-really-be-worried-about/

Two big things happened on Sunday. First, America’s airforce pummelled nuclear sites in Iran. Using B-2 stealth bombers, they spirited bombs weighing 30,000lbs into Iranian airspace and unloaded them over Iran’s three most important uranium-enrichment facilities. The second event was less explosive. It didn’t bother the front pages of the papers nearly as much as America’s strike did. But to my mind it was just as important, certainly for anyone who yearns for a true understanding of what is happening in the Middle East. It was the IDF’s announcement that it had recovered the body of Ofra Kedar from Gaza.

Ofra Kedar was one of the oldest victims of the Hamas-led pogrom of 7 October 2023. She was 70 years old. She was taking her usual morning walk in Kibbutz Be’eri when she happened upon men from the 6,000-strong army of Islamo-fascists that invaded Israel that day. In the moment they drew their guns, ready to slay in cold blood this elderly Jew, Ofra’s daughter-in-law phoned her. She later recounted Ofra’s last words. ‘Why are you shooting at me? What did I do?’, she pleaded with her killers. The call ended. Ofra’s body was dragged to Gaza to be used as a bargaining chip by Hamas in its sick game of torment with the Jewish State.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Iran Launches Missiles At U.S. Bases in Qatar Matt Margolis

Posted By on June 23rd, 2025

https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/06/23/breaking-iran-launches-missiles-at-us-bases-in-qatar-n4941087?utm_source=breakingemail&utm_medium=email

In a move dripping with both desperation and stupidity, the mullahs in Tehran have apparently decided to test the resolve of President Donald J. Trump.

Reports indicate that Iran has launched a volley of seven ballistic missiles targeting American military bases in Iraq and Qatar. This is the predictable, impotent lashing out of a cornered regime, coming just days after the United States methodically dismantled Iran’s illicit nuclear infrastructure. The ayatollahs were given a clear choice between peace and annihilation, and it seems they have foolishly chosen the latter. For years, they grew accustomed to the weak-kneed appeasement of the Obama administration, which showered them with pallets of cash in the dead of night, and then, of course, that appeasement continued under the Biden administration.

They clearly forgot that those days are over. This isn’t Obama or Biden’s America anymore.

Witnesses on the ground reported seeing multiple explosions in the air, a clear sign that the robust missile defense systems President Trump had the foresight to deploy to the region are working exactly as intended.

This wasn’t a lucky guess; it was strategic planning. Trump and his team were anticipating this very move, ensuring our troops were protected. The president is scheduled to meet with his national security team this afternoon, and one can only imagine the menu of devastating options being prepared for his review.

Trump also warned the regime about retaliation Saturday night.

FOREIGN POLICY Comments turned off

Trump Hit Iran, So Will China Attack Taiwan? by Gordon G. Chang

Posted By on June 23rd, 2025

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21699/iran-china-taiwan

[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.

OPINION, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

What Happens If Iran’s Regime Collapses? Eli Lake

Posted By on June 23rd, 2025

https://www.thefp.com/p/what-happens-if-irans-regime-collapses

Trump says it’s time to Make Iran Great Again. But what’s more likely if the mullahs fall: democracy or anarchy?

A lot has changed in the past 48 hours of this war.

Before American B-2 bombers struck Iranian nuclear facilities in Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz, the message from the White House was that regime change was off the table. Indeed, the chatter out of Washington and Jerusalem was that the White House was spooked by some of Israel’s messaging.

Defense minister Israel Katz instructed the military to destabilize Iran’s regime and threatened that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “can no longer be permitted to exist” after an Iranian missile hit the Soroka Medical Center in the southern part of the country. Indeed, the operation’s name, “Rising Lion,” is a not-so-subtle nod to the Iranian flag under the Peacock dynasty, which ruled Iran until the Shah was ousted in the Islamic revolution in 1979. The son of the late Shah, Reza Pahlavi, is now calling for a national rebellion. “The Islamic Republic has come to its end and is collapsing. What has begun is irreversible,” he said in a video message from the United States, where he has lived since 1979.

Now, 10 days into the war Israel began against Iran’s nuclear program—the prospect of a regime collapse is very real. President Donald Trump on Sunday evening floated the idea in a post on Truth Social: “It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,’ but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!”

This kind of talk has gone out of favor in Washington in recent years. The fall of dictatorships in Libya and Iraq led to confessional sectarian war. The fall of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt led briefly to a Muslim Brotherhood government in Cairo before a military coup. But in Iran, a country that has experienced democratic uprisings five times since 2017, it now seems like a real possibility.

MEDIA Comments turned off

‘You Don’t Know What You’re Talking About’: Rubio Wipes the Floor With Brennan Over Iranian Nukes Sarah Anderson

Posted By on June 23rd, 2025

https://pjmedia.com/sarah-anderson/2025/06/22/must-watch-rubio-wipes-the-floor-with-brennan-again-this-time-over-iranian-nukes-n4941059

There are some things I’d never do in life. I’d never challenge Usain Bolt to a race. I’d never have a conversation with Clarence Thomas and pretend to know more about the law than he does. I’d never volunteer to tackle Derrick Henry, and I’d never try to tell Peyton Manning how to throw a football. And I’d certainly never try to outsmart Secretary of State Marco Rubio on something like foreign intelligence.  

But Margaret Brennan doesn’t seem to know how to stay in her lane. I guess she enjoys embarrassing herself on national television? That’s the only thing I can come up with. 

Rubio made the media rounds on Sunday morning, and among his appearances was a spot on “Face the Nation.” As you can imagine, Donald Trump’s decision to beautifully bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities was the topic of discussion. Brennan seemed to fancy herself some sort of foreign intelligence expert, and as you can also imagine, Rubio made her look like an absolute moron.  

The interview started with Brennan asking about Iran’s capabilities to retaliate against the United States.  

Rubio responded by saying that Iran should choose peace, but that the United States is prepared for anything the regime could throw our way. He also doubled down on the fact that this was not an attack on the country but simply a move to eliminate their nuclear capabilities. He concluded: 

So this mission was a very precise mission. It had three objectives, three nuclear sites. It was not attack on Iran. It was not an attack on the Iranian people. This wasn’t a regime change move. This was designed to degrade and/or destroy three nuclear sites related to their nuclear weaponization ambitions, and that was delivered on yesterday. What happens next will now depend on what Iran chooses to do next. If they choose the path of diplomacy, we’re ready. We can do a deal that’s good for them, the Iranian people and good for the world. If they choose another route, then there will be consequences for that.

P.C.-CULTURE Comments turned off

The Lie of Cultural Appropriation It’s not about respect for other cultures or justice for the oppressed. It’s about power and revolution. by Mark Tapson

Posted By on June 23rd, 2025

https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-lie-of-cultural-appropriation/

In the early ‘90s, I was a percussionist in an Afro-Brazilian drumming-and-dance troupe in the vibrant Brazilian community of San Francisco. A handful of performers from Bahia, the most Africanized part of Brazil, had brought to the Bay Area at that time an exciting form of music called samba-reggae, which was briefly popularized among American audiences via the Paul Simon album The Rhythm of the Saints and Michael Jackson’s “They Don’t Care About Us” video, both of which featured the samba-reggae group Olodum.

I loved the drumming and threw myself into this scene obsessively. The Bahian performers appreciated my enthusiasm for the music and embraced me so unreservedly that when the drummers ultimately moved on to Miami, their dancer and choreographer who stayed behind worked with me to create an award-winning samba-reggae troupe, whose drummers I led. We even performed with Olodum when they participated in the annual San Francisco Carnaval parade.

In today’s climate of divisive identity politics imposed by the Left, I – a white guy from Arkansas – would never be allowed to rise to that level of involvement and prominence performing the music of Afro-Brazilians. Instead, I would be met with open resistance and drummed out (if you’ll pardon the pun) over accusations of “cultural appropriation” – the ridiculous and racist concept that whites have no right to adopt or even flirt with the aesthetics and practices of non-Western cultures. The false assumption is that whites – especially white males – belong to a civilization that historically has been uniquely exploitative, oppressive, and racially supremacist, and so the purported victims should reclaim their stolen dignity by forbidding today’s whites access to appreciating other cultural expressions – whether it be music, cuisine or even hairstyles:

FOREIGN POLICY Comments turned off

What Trump’s Critics Still Don’t Understand About Iran Trump’s Iran policy confounds critics because it’s not about war or appeasement—it’s about weakening Iran without revealing the playbook. By Roger Kimball

Posted By on June 23rd, 2025

https://amgreatness.com/2025/06/22/what-trumps-critics-still-dont-understand-about-iran/

Note:  I wrote this column a few hours before the United States bombed and (according to President Trump) “completely and totally obliterated” the hardened Iranian nuclear sites of Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.  Were those bombings, as some think, destabilizing actions?  Or were they, as others believe,  righteous and effective steps towards peace?

Righteous they certainly were. Whether they were also effective in luring Iran back into the community of nations is a matter that only time will tell.  In order for that to happen, as I argue below, Iran’s commitment to murderous, intolerant Islamism must be “completely and totally obliterated” along with its ability to export terror.  That is a matter that the Iranian people must decide.  For myself, I am in favor of making Iran Persia, i.e., a modern, secular state, again.

Donald Trump has betrayed his base by joining hands with the neo-cons in their belligerent support of war with Iran!

Donald Trump has betrayed Israel by trying to engage Iran in negotiations instead of bombing them now!

Which is it?

Neither.

For one thing, with every day that passes, Israel takes more chess pieces off the board of Iran’s military power, both in matériel and personnel. As of a couple of days ago, it was estimated that Israel had destroyed about 1000 of Iran’s 3500 to 4000 missiles. Add the 400-plus that Iran has lobbed at Israel’s cities, and you can see where this game of attrition is heading.

If one major goal is to extirpate Iran’s nuclear capability, then every day Israeli F-15s take flight is another milestone on the path to that goal. A weaker Iran is also a more pliant Iran.

It has been amusing to watch the chattering class suddenly become experts on the GBU-57 “bunker buster” bomb. Only the United States has them, and only the United States has bombers capable of delivering the 30,000-pound “Massive Ordnance Penetrators.” If you flip through the news, you will see scores, if not hundreds, of stories that repeat the same talking points.

At first, it was said that only the GBU-57 could destroy hardened sites such as the Fordow atomic bomb-making—officially, the “fuel enrichment”—site, buried hundreds of feet into a mountain.