Protests against the regime of Ayatollah Khamenei erupted today in Tehran following the government admission of shooting down Ukraine Airline Flight 752. In scenes that look familiar to the 2010 ‘green movement’, thousands of Iranian protestors, many young women, have gathered to express their opposition to the dictatorial government.
Stunningly, it has been reported that the U.K. Ambassador in Tehran was arrested for filming the protests.

(Via Daily Mail) Iranians have gathered in the streets of Tehran to demand the resignation of Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei after the regime admitted it had mistakenly shot down a civilian passenger plane.
Angry crowds gathered on Saturday night in at least four locations in Tehran, chanting ‘death to liars’ and calling for the country’s supreme leader to step down over the tragic military blunder, video from the scene shows.

(more…)

While the admission of fault is rather unusual for Iran, they really didn’t have much choice.  Despite their earnest effort to cover-up the cause and deny their involvement, the evidence was overwhelming that Iranian military shot-down Ukraine Airline flight 752 killing 176 passengers and crew.

IRAN – The general staff of Iran armed forces says a Ukrainian plane that crashed on Wednesday was brought down due to human error.  Iran targeted the passenger plane unintentionally, Iran’s Press TV reports. (link)

In a tweet by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, the diplomat attempts to blame the U.S. and apologize to the victims families.
(more…)

Earlier today Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin held a press conference in the White House to announce new sanctions against Iran. The secretaries also took questions from the press pool. [Video and Transcript Below]

.
[Transcript] – SECRETARY MNUCHIN: Good morning, everybody. Thank you for being here today. I’d just like to make a brief comment before we talk about Iran sanctions. I’m sure everybody saw that the DOW hit 29,000. The President’s economic plans are clearly working. We’re looking forward to the China signing, USMCA, and a very strong economy this year.
As previously announced by the President, we are announcing additional sanctions against the Iranian regime as a result of the attack on U.S. and allied troops.
(more…)

Earlier today Republican representative Matt Gaetz espoused his support for a meaningless and non-binding war powers resolution; ridiculously constructed to give the appearance of preventing President Trump from starting a war the President has no plans to initiate.
It was optical theater, manufactured to deliver political damage…. and Gaetz supported it.  To justify his position, Gaetz appears with Tulsi Carlson to explain:

.

Speaker Pelosi is once again attempting to create the image of something that doesn’t actually exist; and her DNC media scribes are more than willing to sell it. We are living in Orwellian times.
The House war power’s resolution is ridiculous. It is a non-binding resolution, equivalent to a strongly worded letter, that holds no legal or congressional authority. However, to fool her sheeple base Pelosi pretends the “resolution” has some substantive value and the water-carrying media engineers sell the same intellectually dishonest narrative.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy discusses the nonsense with Lou Dobbs.

(more…)

It was only a matter of time before western intelligence agencies confirmed Ukraine flight 752 was shot down just north of Tehran by Iranian anti-aircraft missiles. The evidence was growing, and it was/is overwhelming.
Most of the passengers on the flight were Canadian or Iranian heading to Canada.  Today a somber Prime Minister Trudeau informed Canadians the aircraft was shot down.

.
There were 176 passengers and crew aboard: 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainian passengers and crew, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans and three Britons on board. The nose of a Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) was identified in a debris field near the crash site.
(more…)

Earlier today Senator Mike “H1B” Lee called the national security briefing “lame” and “inadequate”, saying the military and intelligence leaders ran from hard questions at the briefing.  Well, Senator James Lankford calls those accusations by Senator Lee demonstrably false and untrue.
Senator Lankford noted the briefing included examples of 90 incidents of Iranian proxy attacks against the U.S. and coalition forces in the last month-and-a-half; ultimately leading to the killing of an American. It was after the final attack when POTUS Trump ordered the elimination of Qassim Soleimani.

(more…)

In the aftermath of Ukraine Airlines Flight 752 exploding and crashing just north of Tehran airport, the Iranian government is refusing to turn-over the black box flight data recorders recovered from the crash site.   Combined with the timing and location, their refusal is leading to increased speculation the flight may have accidentally been targeted by Iranian air-defense systems.  The tragedy is being compounded by Iranian politics.
The Boeing 737-800 is a very dependable aircraft with three decades of service.  This specific Ukraine aircraft was built in 2016 & just had a service inspection on January 6th. Immediately after the crash, Iranian officials stated the cause was “technical difficulties”, and after video surfaced showing the plane was on fire heading to the ground, Iran later stated the cause was one of the engines on fire.  However, there was no distress call or report of issue, from very experienced Ukraine pilots to Tehran air-traffic control.

.
There were 176 passengers and crew aboard: 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainian passengers and crew, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans and three Britons on board. Additionally, what appears to be the nose of an M1 Surface to Air Missile (SAM) has been identified in a debris field near the crash site.
(more…)

Speaker of the House “Tehran Nancy” has announced her intention for a vote on Thursday in an effort to limit President Trump’s authority to defend against attacks by Iran, and increase the democrat effort to protect Iran’s ability to target Americans in the region.

“Mullah Bin Schumer and Tehran Nancy”

“Members of Congress have serious, urgent concerns about the Administration’s decision to engage in hostilities against Iran and about its lack of strategy moving forward. Our concerns were not addressed by the President’s insufficient War Powers Act notification and by the Administration’s briefing today,” Pelosi said in a statement.
 

Earlier today President Trump addressed the outcome and ramifications from last nights’ missile attack by Iran against two bases in Iraq. [Video and Transcript Below]

.

[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: As long as I am President of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.

Good morning. I’m pleased to inform you: The American people should be extremely grateful and happy no Americans were harmed in last night’s attack by the Iranian regime. We suffered no casualties, all of our soldiers are safe, and only minimal damage was sustained at our military bases.

(more…)