In case you may be unaware of updates to my covering remarks on Joel Rosenberg’s Iran performing its own nuclear inspections, I will briefly relate what happened. Then we’ll get to the real heart of this issue, which I’ve kept an eye on for 30 years. Kindly bear with me…

“Sheer, utter folly!” was my reaction to the eventual news of the nuclear ‘fix’ or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the P5+1 (the 5 permanent members of UN Security Council; USA, Russia, Britain, France, China plus Germany) and the EU. The strength of my reaction arose from knowing the Iranian regime’s freely admitted and never rescinded ultimate goal – the downfall and removal of the state of Israel. (See for example, Cranmer’s Iran Nuclear Deal: Obama is Fulfilling Shia ‘End Times’ Prophecy.)

Public’s Positive Attitude

The re-blog attracted informed contributions from a blogger who drew attention to an issue over the source behind the original Associated Press (AP) report. This revealed the fuss was over Iranians already cleaning up a well-known but long-disused site and  journalists’ lack of expertise in appreciating technical complexities. (See AP’s controversial and badly flawed Iran inspection story explained.)

The informative comments on the thread are welcomed and I’d encourage you to take a couple of minutes to check them out, as well as to see the brief video summarising the deal.

Next, I introduced MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) reports on Critical Points to Consider in Understanding the Iranian Nuclear Deal as well as Senior Iran Officials Disclose Confidential Details…

My contributor pointed out MEMRI isn’t a neutral observer and suggested reading about ordinary Iranian’s perceptions of Westerners, as reported in his site The Other Iran. (For example, see Iran’s exceptional reaction to 9/11 attacks.)

Throughout all consideration and discussions we cannot overlook the fact that There’s a Higher Plan at Work…, as Elam Ministries remind us. Their mission is to strengthen and expand Christianity within and beyond Iran. Like Hormoz Shariat’s Iran Alive Ministry, a great deal of teaching and evangelism goes direct to Iranian homes by satellite.

Regime’s Negative Doctrine

1) Then came next day’s news from the semi-official Fars News Agency reporting senior Iranian aide Hossein Sheikholeslam (parliamentary speaker’s Advisor for International Affairs) as saying – “Our positions against the usurper Zionist regime have not changed at all; Israel should be annihilated and this is our ultimate slogan.”  (Emphasis RB.)

This came in response to Foreign Secretary Hammond’s remarks upon re-opening the British embassy in Tehran on Sunday following years of strained relations between the two countries. FNA stated,

“Hammond claimed in an interview with the British media that the current Iranian government had displayed a more nuanced approach than its predecessor to a long-running conflict with Israel. Also, on Hammond’s remarks in a meeting with Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani in Tehran on Monday that the past hostilities should be forgotten, Sheikholeslam said Tehran will never forget the past and Britain’s colonialist moves.”

2) Last month Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei published a new book called Palestine, a 416-page screed against the Jewish state. The back cover credits Khamenei as “The flag-bearer of Jihad to liberate Jerusalem”, writes Amir Taheri in Iran publishes book on how to outwit USA and destroy Israel. Rather than reach and keep a nuclear deal, “Iran’s religious leader has another issue on his mind: The destruction of Israel”.

In his forthright, well-argued Has Obama read the Khameini Palestine Book? Jonathan Tobin cites Teheri, claiming “latest evidence of the malevolence of the Islamist regime should be regarded as yet another inarguable reason for Congress to vote the deal down“.

Obama is on record as saying the anti-Semitism of the Iranian leadership doesn’t mean they were not also “interested in survival” or being “rational.” As far as the US president is concerned, the regime’s ideology isn’t something that would influence its decisions. I can only conclude POTUS lives in ‘cloud-cuckoo land’!

Both journalists are quoted in the introductory lead-in to the exclusive, first translation of Khameini’s book. Note especially Tobin’s:

‘The Khamenei Palestine book is important not in and of itself but because the regime’s obsession with Israel is a key to its foreign policy. Iran constitutes a grave threat to neighboring Arab countries that are at least as angry about the president’s embrace of Tehran as the Israelis since their nuclear status would undermine their security…it is the fixation on Israel and Zionism that really animates their expansionism and aid for terror groups. (Underline added.)

‘As Taheri notes in his article on the book, Khamenei distinguishes his idée fixe about destroying Israel from European anti-Semitism. Rather, he insists, that his policy derives from “well established Islamic principles”. Chief among them is the idea that any land that was once ruled by Muslims cannot be conceded to non-believers no matter who lives there now…(Israel’s) central location in the middle of the Muslim and Arab worlds and the fact that Jews, a despised minority people, now rule it makes its existence particularly objectionable to Islamists like Khamenei.’

3) We now go full circle back to 1980’s with last week’s The Algemeine’s report (source The Investigative Terrorism Project – since updated):

“A newly revealed video produced under the auspices of the Iranian regime in early August threatens and visualizes the destruction of Israel at the hands of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iranian Middle East proxies.”

This is not entirely new. Its purpose echoes the stunt that stunned me 30 years ago as a non-Christian and made me realise the accuracy of Bible prophecy!  Therefore, let me close by summarising personal events indicative of the significance of Iran’s official hostility toward the state of Israel.

Personal Perspective

This blog’s Welcome briefly recounts how I became aware of the huge role played by Iran in ‘The Last Days’. Now and again I refer to Iran in connection with the ‘Ezekiel 38 alliance’, otherwise known as ‘Gog and Magog’ and referred to in Revelation 20.

That role’s warning flags are:

1. Mid-1980’s joint-rehearsal of the storming of Jerusalem by Iranian-Iraqi elite units, despite fighting on opposite sides during the Iran-Iraq War! (Refer to Review 2 – Iran and Nuclear ‘Fix’).
2. Very early in his presidency Obama starts secretly appeasing Iran (email 18 May 2009).
3. July/Aug 2010 – Iran’s nuclear reactor goes live, Supreme Leader reports having been visited by the Hidden Imam about his violent return (email 19 August 2010).
4. Nov 2011 – referred to event 1 above in ‘Welcome’, introductory post launching this blog.
5. Nov 2013 – event 1 repeated by Iranian troops in drill ‘Towards Jerusalem’ two years to the date I blogged about the 1980s rehearsal in ‘Welcome’. (Invisible Hand Reappears).
6. Mar 2015 – The Lord asked, “How many months since that blog you wrote about Iran?”. Upon checking, I’m prompted to expect developments of nuclear deal four months later, ie this July (Review 2 – Iran and Nuclear ‘Fix’). The reference was to when I’d asked if my triple warning about Iran had disrupted my internet’s blogging connection in Nov ’13.
7. Aug 2015 – new video of IRGC & Iranian proxies ‘imagining’ taking Jerusalem, as related in above section.

Finally, there’s also my statement in March: What’s weird about blogging about Iran 🙂