Marco Rubio Says the Quiet Part Out Loud About Iran's Ruling Fanatics

One of the more refreshing things about Secretary of State Marco Rubio is that he doesn't waste everyone's time pretending obvious things aren't obvious. In a political world where diplomats often communicate in layers of carefully polished mush, Rubio looked at the ruling regime in Tehran and described it with refreshing accuracy.

"Religious-theocratic lunatics."

That's a reasonably concise description of a government run by radical clerics who have spent decades funding terrorism, threatening America's allies, chanting "Death to America," and treating basic human rights like optional suggestions.

While speaking during his Middle East trip on Thursday, Rubio was asked whether he still stood by those remarks.

"You used to call them religious theocratic lunatics," a reporter said. "Do you still believe that language applies to the leadership today?"

Rubio didn't blink.

"Well, look, it's not that I believe it. It's the fact of the matter," the Secretary of State replied. "I mean, the Iranian system is led by clerics, radical clerics. That's what it's always been led by, and that's what it continues to be led by. That said, we also have to manage the geopolitics of the situation. And if they've changed their mindset or if they've changed their approach to their relations with the United States and their neighbors, then we're going to give this thing a chance to work."

How novel--the truth be told.

That's about as sensible as foreign policy gets. Recognize reality first. Explore diplomacy second. Don't confuse wishful thinking with evidence.

The Secretary of State continued: "Maybe this changed. I'm not saying it has. I'm saying the president wants to explore whether that's the case. And if it has, we're going to find out. But we're not going to find out because of what they say. We're going to find out because of what they do. We're going to judge them by their actions."

Imagine that. Judging the Iranian regime by its actions instead of its press releases. What a concept.

The Trump administration is trying to reassure America's Middle Eastern allies that Iran will be handled appropriately following last week's memorandum of understanding. That's understandable, because Tehran hasn't exactly been behaving like a government eager to join the civilized world as much as they appear to want to destroy it in order to welcome in the Twelfth Imam.

Instead, Iran has continued acting as though it somehow has leverage. During negotiations in Switzerland over the weekend, the regime reportedly treated American negotiators with its usual mix of arrogance and theatrical contempt. Then on Thursday, it attacked a cargo vessel attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz using a route that wasn't blessed by the ayatollahs.

That's less the behavior of a government seeking peace than one testing how much mischief it can get away with before someone reminds it that actions have consequences.

President Trump has repeatedly insisted that Iran holds no cards. Fair enough, but there comes a point where the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism has to stop being told where the line is and start discovering that crossing it carries a price.

Everyone wants peace. Rational people always do, which obviously leaves out the Iranian Regime.

The problem is that peace only works when both sides value it. The Iranian regime has spent nearly half a century demonstrating that what it respects isn't goodwill or carefully worded diplomatic communiqués. It respects strength.

Rubio's blunt assessment may offend the professional pearl-clutchers in Washington, but pretending the ayatollahs are misunderstood statesmen has never produced results. Calling reality by its proper name is a much better place to start.

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Trump says Iran's military is "totally destroyed"

President Donald Trump says Iran’s military has been “totally destroyed” following the latest round of U.S. and Israeli strikes, which is not exactly the sort of Yelp review the ayatollahs were hoping for.

During an interview with NBC News’s Kristen Welker on Friday, Trump claimed Iran has only “maybe 21%, 22% of their missiles” remaining after weeks of coordinated attacks on military infrastructure.

“We know where their drones are, and we know where their drone factories are. Most of the drone factories have been knocked out… and most of the missile manufacturing areas have been knocked out,” Trump said.

Somewhere in Tehran, a government spokesman is probably insisting this is all part of a long-term strategic plan while standing in front of a smoking crater where a missile depot used to be.

When Welker pressed Trump on whether he knew exactly how many missiles and drones Iran still possesses, Trump responded that he knows “almost to the number” what remains in Tehran’s arsenal, though he declined to provide specifics.

“They have some missiles. They have some drones,” Trump stated.

In other words, Iran has enough to remain annoying, but not enough to keep pretending they’re the regional superpower of the apocalypse.

Trump emphasized that while 21% still represents “a lot of missiles,” it is dramatically lower than what Iran possessed before the strikes began on February 28. That has to sting for a regime that spent decades pouring money into missile programs while its citizens stood in line for basic necessities.

The Iranian leadership, according to Trump, is having a hard time accepting its new reality.

“I think they can't believe they're in the situation where they've been virtually decapitated,” Trump said. “They're proud. There are things they never thought they'd be doing that they're going to have to do. They've got no choice.”

That may be the understatement of the year. The regime spent generations cultivating the image of untouchable revolutionary strength, only to discover that modern warfare is less forgiving than a campus protest at an Ivy League university.

Trump also told reporters Wednesday that negotiations with Iran are “going well,” though he cautioned that a final agreement “might not happen.” He added that a deal “could happen over the weekend.”

The president noted that it would be “very easy” for the U.S. military to resume strikes, but said he would prefer “get something down in writing which will accomplish the same thing without killing everybody.”

Which is classic Trump diplomacy: negotiate from a position of overwhelming strength while reminding the other side that the alternative option is still sitting on the table polishing its boots.

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Trump Declares Houthi Showdown Over: “They’ve Capitulated”: But Wait!

President Trump just dropped a bombshell from the White House, flanked by Canada’s PM Mark Carney. The US is hitting pause on its Yemen airstrikes against the Houthis, ‘cause apparently, the Iran-backed crew’s waving the white flag. Trump says they’re done, and Oman’s chiming in with a shiny new “ceasefire” to keep the Red Sea’s shipping lanes drama-free.

“[The Houthis] just don't want to fight, and we will honor that and we will stop the bombings, and they have capitulated,” Trump boasted in the Oval Office. Straight-up, he’s claiming the Houthis are tapping out, telling his administration they “don't want to fight anymore.” 

“They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore and that's what the purpose of what we were doing... so that's just news we just found out about that.”

This may have something to do with the fact that they are being handed their butts on a silver platter.

Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi didn’t waste time backing this up, posting that the deal’s a two-way street—nobody’s targeting anybody. “In the future, neither side will target the other, including American vessels, in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping,” he said. Oman’s been playing mediator, smoothing things out to de-escalate this mess.

Now, let’s rewind. The Houthis started this Red Sea chaos, lobbing missiles and drones at ships to show “solidarity” with Palestinians in Gaza, who’ve been under Israel’s bombardment since Hamas’s attack in October 2023. They sank two ships, nabbed another, killed four crew members, and scared off major shipping companies. We’re talking 15% of the world’s trade usually flows through that route—forced to detour around Africa. Brutal.

The US wasn’t messing around. Since March, they’ve hammered 1,000 Houthi targets. Trump’s kept the pedal down, but now he’s saying the Houthis are done playing pirate. “The Houthis have announced that they are not, or they announced to us at least, that they don't want to fight anymore... but, more importantly, we will take their word,” he said. Bold move, Don.

Meanwhile, the Houthis haven’t said squat about this supposed surrender. And they’re still chucking missiles at Israel—one landed near Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport on Sunday. Israel clapped back hard, leveling Yemen’s main airport in Sanaa on Tuesday, leaving it “completely destroyed,” per an AFP-quoted official. They also hit power plants, a cement factory, and port facilities in Hudaydah. Oh, and last month? The Houthis claimed a US strike killed 68 African migrants in a detention center. Heavy stuff.

So, is this ceasefire the real deal, or just another Middle East mirage? Trump’s betting on the former, but with the Houthis staying silent, I wouldn’t hold my breath.

WAIT!!

The surrender is off. There is no ceasefire as the Houthis do a U-turn faster than than JB Pritzker can wolf down a Big Mac with supersized fries and diet cola.

Sanaa airport, belonging to the Houthis, has been closed down permanently as it has been totally destroyed.

The reason the Houthis are not abiding by a ceasefire is because the Ayatollah has extended aid to them and has urged them to stop the mixed messages and stay united. He's sending them aid and need to stay in the fight.

The Houthis are making the US and Israel waste their missiles on such silly targets as their airport, rocket launchers and factories. They remind me of Monty Python's Black Knight.

So let's wait another half hour and see what's happening.

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Israel says "we are ready to fight" Iran if necessary

Israeli defense minister Benny Gantz told Fox News that although Israel is still working out its plans to defend itself from Iranian aggression, it is ready to fight if it comes down to that necessity.

“This is a target map. Each one of them has been checked legally, operationally, intelligence-wise and we are ready to fight,” Gantz said.

He added that Israel is upgrading contingency plans to strike Iranian targets if Tehran shows signs of nuclear escalation, the latest sign of rising tensions between the two archenemies. Iran's goal is to totally annihilate Israel and all the Jews living there. 

The plans are still being worked on but Gantz assured the network that Israel will be ready and in the interview, showed the map of Lebanon that includes ground forces, missiles and launching sites set up by the militant Hezbollah terrorists, Iran's proxy fighters.

Meanwhile, semi-sentient President Biden is strongly considering rejoining the garbage 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and other world powers. The deal pretends to put limits on Iran in terms of their nuclear program but it's basically a farce. In fact, in the four years in which former President Donald Trump was in office, John Kerry had been secretly communicating with Iran about the crappy deal and will not face consequences for his actions now that Biden is asleep at the wheel.

For his part, Trump got the U.S. out of the crappy atomic accord in 2018 and put maximum pressure via sanctions on Tehran.

Since then, Iran has openly stepped up uranium enrichment but may have been doing it covertly anyway. 

The U.N. nuclear watchdog — the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, which monitors Iran’s nuclear program — said earlier this week that Iran nearly tripled its stockpile of enriched uranium since November in violation of its deal with world powers.

Iran and the Biden administration are deadlocked over how to revive the deal. The Ayatollah is demanding an immediate lifting of the crippling sanctions imposed by Trump, and the Biden people wants the terrorist-backing nation to return to full compliance, which was never a guarantee they ever complied to in the first place.

For his part, President Biden was extremely upset with Iran because they made him miss the Early Bird Special at Applebees and he was about to say something but forgot. 

Israel has wisely and vehemently opposed the crappy nuclear deal, in addition to producing evidence that Iran seeks nuclear weapons, as if nobody knew this already.

Tensions are rising fast between Israel and Iran. Just last week, an Israeli-owned cargo ship, the Helios Ray, was damaged by an explosion of unknown cause in the Gulf of Oman. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said it was Iran who attacked the ship and Iran denied the charge.

Iran denies it is pursuing nuclear weapons, and says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. And if you believe that, you would believe the Nigerian princess is sending you the money she promised in that email. All you have to do is give her your bank account number and wait.

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How a religious Iran celebrates fun and jubilation

Qazvin, Iran -- The religion of special needs is also the religion of tolerance if up is down and left is right. Over 30 Iranian students were each given 99 lashes after they were arrested for dancing at a graduation celebration, The New York Times reported Saturday, citing Iranian news media.

The punishing lashes were doled out over the course of 24 hours so as to allow the bleeding to stop and prevent killing the kids. This barbaric behavior is part of a wider crackdown that the ayatollah deems inappropriate, making his interpretation of Islam crueler than our system of justice for actual criminals.

They see dancing as an inappropriate sexual expression, but 50-year-old men having sex with a 9-year-old child is acceptable. Is it just me, or does anyone else think this is sick?

Esmail Sadeghi Niaraki made the charge that the kids were "dancing and jubilating," and the girls at the party were described as "half-naked" (and he knows because he's studied the photos for hours). What "half-naked" generally means to these puss balls is that they simply weren't wearing regime-sanctioned head coverings, long, hot coats, and scarves.

Similar raids were launched in two other Iranian cities and in all 97 people were arrested and several "polluted singles houses were cleaned" in Semnan (pronounced "Semen"). There were 23 others arrested in the sleepy little town of Kerman, Iran, where everybody thinks they know each other but it's hard to tell with the women as they're covered up so much.

Col. Mojtaba Ashrafi of the fierce Semnan police said his holier-than-thou morality cops raided 58 homes occupied by singles. Thankfully, no gay guys or lesbians were caught as their punishment would have been far crueler than a mere series of death-defying lashes.

President Obama is prepared to make a speech, I suspect, claiming that our police lash out at innocent people too, and that we're just like them, only worse because we did it in the Crusades too.

Iranians naively believed that our nuclear deal would lead to a resumption of better relations with the West, but were "jolted with a series of increasingly rude awakenings," reported The Times.

In fact, they witnessed an increase in anti-American activity and a further erosion of their rights. Several high status journalists and businessmen with ties to the United States were arrested. 

Iranian fashion model Elham Arab along with 7 other women were arrested for appearing on Instagram with their hair showing--this drives devout Muslim men crazy with lust to the point of public embarrassment. 

"Tents belong on the desert, not in one's clothing," one religious official said, wishing to remain anonymous because he feared the misspelling of his long names.

In the model arrest, over 170 Muslims, including the models, photographers, and hair-stylists were arrested in the crackdown, part of the broader move against "immodesty" and for theocratic rule by iron fist.

In October of last year, 2 poets were given jail sentences and 99 lashes for shaking hands with women, an act viewed as horribly sexual in the eyes of religious male Muslims. It often drives them toward self-defilement and subsequent hair growth on the palms of one's hands.

And the list of stupidity and sexual repression, that is rewarded only in Paradise, goes on.

Why is it that Muslims think they only get the "good stuff" after they die?

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Iran: "It's all Kim Kardashian's fault"

It's too bad Kim Kardashian isn't Jewish--if she was, Iran would have a double-whammy against the reality star. They are blaming Kardashian for their woes. Specifically, they are claiming that she is responsible for the corruption of their young people.

So the way they see it, the problem isn't that 50-year-old Iranian men marry 10-year-old girls, or that having public celebrations of "Death to America," and "Death to the Jews,"is the cause of corruption. The problem is that Kim Kardashian has somehow managed, along with other models, to corrupt young boys because they pose without wearing a hijab, a headscarf, or traditional Islamic "rape-protector." 

Iran has arrested eight fashion models for allegedly posting photos on Instagram without wearing "protection." The government is calling this travesty of modesty "un-Islamic," but beheading people, hanging them, or throwing them off tall buildings for being gay is just fine with them. So is having sex with livestock or a child is okay with the ayatollah. Unfortunately for the livestock, they have to be killed after the act, lest they fall in love, I suppose.

Actress and model Elham Arab confessed that she posted photos of herself online without wearing her hijab, causing a stir in the loins of all the men in Iran simultaneously. 

She was interrogated by Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi (his friends call him "Abe") a Tehran prosecutor, and he asked her who pays for her endorsements and how social media advertising works.

But a spokesperson for Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps' Organized Cyberspace Crimes Unit and frequent masturbators said that the face behind the complex conspiracy to get young men and women hooked into popular culture that is totally "un-Islamic" belongs to none other than Kim Kardashian. "If you want to be Islamic, go out and kill a couple of infidels, don't waste your youth on semi-nude women," one Crimes Unit scumcrumpet told a group of teens that were forced to attend a Tehran mosque. 

Mostafa Alizadeh accused Kardashian of working for Instagram as part of a huge plot to "target young people and women" (who count only as a half a person) by brainwashing them with photos and hawking a lifestyle that goes against the values (LOL) of the Islamic faith.

"You want to be good Muslim boys and girls," Mostafa began, "go out and find a Jew and kill him or her. But make sure that you're dressed appropriately."

Ms. Kardashian was not available for comment.


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What the deal is as we know it: 7 disturbing facts

Zarif: "I'm with Stupid"

Here's what we know about the Iran nuclear deal thus far:

1. The Ayatollah made it clear that Iran does not have to honor the nuclear deal. Now isn't that just peachy? Imagine how stupid we look to these scumcrumpets--they get everything they want and we get a Muslim-sympathetic so-called president who gets a legacy that might eventuate into a Chamberlain-ish legacy. The only difference between Obama and Neville Chamberlain, however, is the latter actually loved his country.

2. The United States and Canada are not allowed to be part of the nuclear facility inspection team. 

This makes perfect sense . . . if you happen to converse in Farsi. 

3. Soil samples will be provided to the inspectors by the terrorists being inspected. If any soil is found to have radiation contamination, chickens will blacken the skies and snakes will grow hips.

4. There are side deals we don't know about. This is yet another Nancy Pelosi-esque trust issue but without all the hand dancing.

5. There has been no letup in the "Death to America" chant-athons being led by men of Allah in Iran. Thousands of Iranian men can be seen throughout Tehran screaming this out while the women are home cleaning weapons.

Imagine the fervor; imagine the odor.

6. Iran has not agreed to allowing Israel to exist. This does not bode well for Israel. They claim it is their religious freedom that allows for this sentiment and we should keep our infidel pie holes shut, or they'll shut them for us . . . with a nuke.

7. Obama and his cronies have gone behind Congress' back (if, indeed, Congress were an actual person with a back) and had the Islamic Republic of Arabic Nations (aka, the UN or Iran--take your pick) vote for the relief of sanctions on the terrorist Islamic state. Now they will be able to pay for their high aspirations. 

Thank you Mr. Kerry and President-for-now-Obama.

What good is a legacy, Mr. Barack Hussein Obama, if there's nobody left to share it with?





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