One of the many problems with theocratic rule is that the top dog has the authority to make decisions for the whole state based on personal beliefs as long as those beliefs do not constitute heresy. In Islam, that allows for a wide latitude of dangerous rulings. The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Hosseini Khamenei, […]
Iran: “Truth Will Out”
“Truth will out.” So said Shylock’s servant, Lancelot Gobbo, in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. This is salutary to keep in mind when dealing with the lies and obfuscations of totalitarian regimes like China and Iran. The truth will come out, particularly concerning their incompetence in dealing with the spread of the coronavirus. The mullahs […]
Iran’s Supreme Leader vows jihad for Qassem Soleimani’s killing
Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has threatened the United States with ‘jihad’ after an American drone strike killed Qassem Soleimani, the chief of Iran’s elite Quds Force. “All Enemies should know that the jihad of resistance will continue with a doubled motivation, and a definite victory awaits the fighters in the holy war,” Khamenei said […]
In Iran, Economic Despair Leads to Political Rage
Iran has been wracked in recent weeks by demonstrations in dozens of cities across the country. These demonstrations against the government were first prompted by the government’s announcement that the subsidies for gasoline prices would be ended. Under the price changes, the price for a liter of rationed gasoline rose to 15,000 rials, or about […]
Iran’s Supreme Leader: “The Islamic Republic is in danger. Do whatever it takes to end it.”
That is, end the danger to the Islamic Republic, not the Islamic Republic itself, but that latter outcome is what all lovers of freedom should be supporting. “Special Report: Iran’s leader ordered crackdown on unrest – ‘Do whatever it takes to end it,’” Reuters, December 23, 2019: (Reuters) – After days of protests across Iran […]
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps: “Death to America! We are the conquerors of Jerusalem! Death to Israel!”
The establishment media would have us believe that these men would have given up these genocidal aspirations, and were on the way to doing so in Obama’s nuclear agreement. To understand why Iran is so concerned with a tiny country that doesn’t threaten it, see The Palestinian Delusion: The Catastrophic History of the Middle East […]
Iran’s Khamenei: “Building and stockpiling nuclear bombs is wrong and using it is haram”
There will be great rejoicing in the Western establishment media over this, and lots of tweaking of Trump from the Leftist establishment figures such as John Kerry and Ben Rhodes who pushed the Iran nuclear deal. This might be more reassuring, however, were it not for the Shi’ite Muslim idea of taqiyya; Sunnis have doctrines […]
Ayatollah Khamenei: “If Women Were to Wear the Hijab,” They’ll be Spared “Depraved Behavior”
The recent directive of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in Pakistan that schoolgirls cover up in order to prevent “unethical incidents” calls to mind the fact that Iran’s supreme leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei, has said much the same thing. He has contended that Islam holds the answer to the problems of sexual mistreatment of women in […]
Iran agrees to increase Hamas funding to $30,000,000 per month, wants intel on Israel
Where did the Islamic Republic of Iran get all this money? From Barack Obama. “Iran said increasing Hamas funding to $30m per month, wants intel on Israel,” Times of Israel, August 5, 2019: Iran has agreed to massively increase its monthly payments to Palestinian terror group Hamas in exchange for intelligence on Israeli missile capabilities, […]
Robert Spencer in Human Events: Trump Didn’t Start the Fire: Iran Has Craved War for Decades.
It is good to be back in Human Events, where I wrote a weekly column for ten years. That venerable publication had fallen into desuetude, but now the estimable Raheem Kassam has revived it, and it has quickly become one of the most important voices of sanity on the web. Here is my latest: Ben […]