Iranian regime still appears emboldened. A few days ago, The Telegraph published this headline: “Iran tells Trump to ‘accept the reality of defeat’”
The report detailed:
Responding to the US president’s assertion that the Strait of Hormuz would soon be declared US territory, Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, said the vital oil-shipping route would remain under Iranian control.
“The strait will be closed and opened only under Iran’s command, and as long as you do not accept the reality of defeat and cease indulging in fantasies, Iran will continue to enforce the blockade,” Mr Gharibabadi wrote on X.
“Once and for all, accept the reality: Up to this point, you have suffered strategic and heavy defeats; the Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, and will remain Iranian.”
Iranian state media carried similar remarks made by Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, the country’s judiciary chief, who called Mr Trump a “full[y] fledged loser in the hard arena of politics and military combat”, reiterating that the Strait of Hormuz remained “an inseparable part” of Iran.
“What multibillion-dollar aircraft carriers could not achieve will not be achieved with a few tweets and speeches,” he said.
Meanwhile, at a political rally in New York on Saturday, Mr Trump said: “After we finish defeating Iran … pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz strait a territory of the United States.”
He also suggested that Americans should be willing to endure higher petrol prices while the conflict with Iran continued. Paying “a tiny little bit more for your gasoline” was worth it, he argued, to ensure that “a very evil country” could not have a nuclear weapon.
As we look at news developments in the Middle East, it seems that neither side is budging, and nobody knows for sure what is coming next.
The regime in Iran is entirely indifferent to its country’s economy and people. They would rather see a total implosion of their nation than wave the white flag of defeat.
This mentality stems from the regime’s eschatological position of Shiite Islam. They believe that their “Mahdi” will come at a time when the world is in utter chaos—and they revel in the idea that they can help usher in that chaos. How do you negotiate with people who hold to such a warped ideology? The simple answer is, you don’t. President Trump is learning that firsthand.
As for the United States, they could have squashed the regime if their military, along with Israel, had kept up the airstrikes and pressure on Iran. Instead, the US removed the force in an attempt to negotiate a deal with lunatics—a decision which greatly emboldened the regime.
While Iran’s military and economy are certainly in shambles, the regime has continued to dig in its heels.
The question is: will President Trump order military strikes again? Nobody knows for sure; however, the President had this to say on Monday:
Interviewer: Mr. President, in addition to this big announcement, you’ve also been posting about Iran today, opposing their latest demands. You said this last round of talks was Iran’s last chance before decapitation. So what now? What comes next?
President Trump: You’ll find out. You’ll find out.
Interviewer: Are you still—is a massive military escalation still on the table?
President Trump: Well, we have that certainly, that ability, if we want to do that. Yeah, you’ll find out.
Interviewer: You said you’re low-keying it with them, semi-negotiating. What exactly does that mean?
President Trump: Well, they asked for reparations, you might say, or they asked for money for the damage that we’ve done. I said, “That’s a good idea. Well, we’re going to ask for money for the damage they’ve done over a 50-year period.”
Whether you go USS Cole, or whether you go all of the people that were so badly hurt, so badly wounded or killed—many thousands of people. And maybe damages for the 52,000 protesters over the last four months that were killed in Iran. We think their families should get damages for killing their person, or their child, or mother, father that were protesting. At least it was 52,000 a month and a half ago, so now what is it? So if there’s damages to be paid, I think Iran should pay those damages.
So again, we will have to wait and see.
The Bible tells us that Iran (Persia) will survive, living another day to come against Israel, as we read in Ezekiel 38 and 39. As Christians who understand the authority of God’s Word, none of this should catch us by surprise.
In the meantime, let’s continue to lift these matters up to the Lord in prayer, asking God to give President Trump wisdom. He is the only one, apart from Israeli leadership, willing to stand up against this Iranian demonic death cult, to put his neck on the line to prevent them from obtaining a nuclear bomb. The whole West should have been behind Trump, but in their cowardice, they are not. He is at it alone, along with Israel.
They need our prayers.
In addition to prayer for the President and US troops, let’s also pray for Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s military, and for the Jewish people in Israel. Iran at any time could decide it wants to make good on its threat to renew the launching of ballistic missiles and drones toward the Jewish State. Let’s pray against that, that God would thwart the regime’s plans.
Let’s also be praying for the people of Iran who have been held hostage by this death cult for the last 50 years.
Most importantly, friends, let us pray that people would turn to Jesus—Israel’s Messiah—in times of tribulation and trouble, the only hope and only savior for this world. The Islamic “Mahdi” is no “savior” of the world. There’s only one, and His name is Yeshua.
In John 16:33, Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
We see turmoil not only in the Middle East, but around the world—and tough times are coming. But Jesus’ words bring real hope. Why not turn to the Savior today?
