RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16505/iran-missile-violations

“The important point about these missiles is that they are fully equipped with homing. It means they are of the fire-and-forget type. We fire the missile and the data is on the missile itself, it has various navigation systems built in.” — Iran’s Navy chief, Adm. Hossein Khanzadi, Associated Press, June 8, 2020.

“We are open about the fact that Hezbollah’s budget, its income, its expenses, everything it eats and drinks, its weapons and rockets, come from the Islamic Republic of Iran.” — Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah, The New Yorker, December 13, 2016.

“Today, more than ever, there is fertile ground – with the grace of God – for the annihilation, the wiping out, and the collapse of the Zionist regime. In Lebanon alone, over 100,000 missiles are ready to be launched….” — Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Brigadier General Hossein Salami, to Iran’s state-run IRIB TV, July 1, 2016.

Iran’s foreign-based weapons factories give it an advantageous military capability for waging wars or striking other nations through third countries such as Syria, Lebanon, Yemen or Iraq.

Instead of appeasing the ruling mullahs of Iran, it is incumbent on the international community to act to stop this predatory regime — now.

Not even a word of condemnation has been issued by either the United Nations or the European Union on the Iranian regime’s latest violations and acceleration of its threatening ballistic missile program. Instead, the UN and the EU are still committed to lifting the arms embargo on Tehran and keeping global sanctions removed from the ruling mullahs.

The regime, meanwhile has been focusing on the proliferation of long-range precision-guided ballistic missiles. It recently unveiled several new missiles — the Haj Qasem surface-to-surface ballistic missile and the Abu Mahdi long-range naval cruise missile — as well as several reportedly high-quality jet engines.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2020/09/18/iranian-justice-3-teens-will-have-fingers-cut-off-for-stealing-n943072

Three teenagers convicted of stealing had their sentences upheld by the Iranian Supreme Court. The court ordered that the sentence be carried out; four fingers from their right hands will be severed, in accordance with Islamic law.

The three young men claim that their confessions were tortured out of them. One of the young men is in very bad health after slitting his wrists earlier this year.

Fox News:

“Article 278 of the Islamic Punishment Law, the four fingers of their right hands will be cut off for four counts of robbery,” IRM noted. “The fingers must be cut off from the bottom, leaving only the palm and the thumb. According to Article 667 of the same law, they were also ordered to return the stolen goods.”

As a strict Islamic Republic, amputation is legal in Iran based on the Sharia law, which enables “amputation of the full length of four fingers of the right hand of the thief in such a manner that the thumb and palm of the hand remain” — although it remains relatively rare, with the death penalty the more common sentence handed down by the courts.

Nonetheless, it is not apparent how many Iranians are levied with judicial amputation each year, as the cases are kept clandestine to avoid heat from human rights advocates and the broader international community.

Iran apologists argued for years that the practice had been “phased out” and that Iran was actually a decent, enlightened country. Barack Obama thought so. He signed a deal that kept Iran from getting the bomb for a long time. At least, that’s what the Iranians told him.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-flies-warplanes-near-taiwan-as-senior-u-s-diplomat-visits-11600449576

TAIPEI—Beijing flew military aircraft close to Taiwan on a day that a senior American diplomat met with Taiwan’s president as part of a series of recent U.S. moves to improve ties with the self-ruled island.

Undersecretary of State Keith Krach, the highest-ranking State Department official to visit the island since Washington cut formal ties with Taipei four decades ago, expressed U.S. support for deeper cooperation at a dinner Friday evening hosted by President Tsai Ing-wen, her office said.

The Trump administration has pushed to further relationships with Taiwan as tensions grow with Beijing over technology, trade and global influence. The status of the island, which Beijing considers part of Chinese territory, is one of the most sensitive issues between the U.S. and China. Beijing sees high-level U.S. interactions with Taiwanese officials as provocations.

The State Department said earlier this week Mr. Krach’s trip was to attend a memorial service honoring former President Lee Teng-hui, who died in July. Mr. Lee’s legacy of helping Taiwan transition to a multiparty democracy gave the U.S. and Taiwan an opportunity to highlight shared political values around democracy, a point emphasized in statements from both sides.

Hours before the meeting, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it scrambled jet fighters after at least 18 Chinese aircraft crossed the so-called median line in the Taiwan Strait that roughly marks the halfway point between the island and mainland China.