Evidence emerging of Rouhani’s radicalism, once approved of hiding Iran nuclear work.

Hassan Rouhani’s radicalism is coming to light.

Despite the widespread enthusiasm in world capitals and the media that there is new hope in Iran because a “reformer” has been “elected,” evidence is continuing to emerge that Hassan Rouhani is exactly what I have portrayed him: a dangerous Radical Shia Muslim who is deeply committed to the Ayatollah Khamenei, and Iran’s nuclear program, and to building atomic bombs in secret.

Consider the latest reporting:

• Iran’s Hassan Rowhani rules out halt to uranium enrichment programme (London Telegraph)
• A “Pragmatic” Mullah? (Wall Street Journal) –”[Rouhani] chaired Iran’s National Security Council between 1989 and 2005, meaning he was at the top table when Iran masterminded the 1994 bombing of the Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires, killing 85 people, and of the Khobar Towers in 1996, killing 19 U.S. airmen. He would also have been intimately familiar with the secret construction of Iran’s illicit nuclear facilities in Arak, Natanz and Isfahan, which weren’t publicly exposed until 2002.” Rouhani also “called on the regime’s basij militia to suppress the student protests of July 1999 ‘mercilessly and monumentally.’ More than a dozen students were killed in those protests, more than 1,000 were arrested, hundreds were tortured, and 70 simply ‘disappeared.’”
• Rohani once approved of hiding Iran atomic work (Reuters)

“Years before he became Iran’s president-elect, Hassan Rohani spoke approvingly about concealing his nation’s nuclear program and said that when Pakistan got atomic bombs and Brazil began enriching uranium, ‘the world started to work with them,’” reports Reuters. “The comments offer an intriguing window into the past thinking of Rohani, widely seen as a moderate or pragmatic conservative, whose surprise victory in weekend elections to succeed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was perceived by the United States and other Western powers as positive — at least at first glance.”

“Rohani has said he intends to pursue constructive interaction with the world and ‘more active’ negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, after his predecessor’s belligerence was met with painful international sanctions and military threats from Israel and the United States,” notes Reuters. “Ultimate decisions on Iran’s nuclear program will remain in the hands of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Western diplomats familiar with Rohani’s work as chief nuclear negotiator from 2003 to 2005 told Reuters the 64-year-old cleric was no pushover and had always been firmly committed to Iran’s nuclear program. He was secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council from 1989 to 2005. It was in the autumn of 2004 that Rohani gave a sweeping speech to Iran’s Supreme Cultural Revolution Council called ‘Beyond the Challenges Facing Iran and the IAEA Concerning the Nuclear Dossier.’ In that speech, that is available on the blog Armscontrolwonk.com, Rohani said Iran did not want nuclear weapons.”

“As for building the atomic bomb, we never wanted to move in that direction and we have not yet completely developed our fuel cycle capability,” wrote Rouhani. “This also happens to be our main problem.”

“But he argued in favor of a kind of nuclear fait accompli to force the West to accept Iran’s enrichment capabilities,” noted Reuters. “He also referred to Pakistan’s successful acquisition of nuclear weapons in a positive light.”

“If one day we are able to complete the (nuclear) fuel cycle and the world sees that it has no choice, that we do possess the technology, then the situation will be different,” Rouhani said.

“The world did not want Pakistan to have an atomic bomb or Brazil to have the fuel cycle,” he said. “But Pakistan built its bomb and Brazil has its fuel cycle, and the world started to work with them. Our problem is that we have not achieved either one, but we are standing at the threshold.”

“Rouhani also discussed the decision by Iran to conceal its nuclear activities in the late 1980s and 1990s, when it relied on an illicit nuclear procurement network connected to the father of Pakistan’s atomic weapons program, Abdul Qadeer Khan, to purchase enrichment centrifuge technology. ‘This (concealment) was the intention,’ Rohani said. ‘This never was supposed to be in the open. But in any case, the spies exposed it. We did not want to declare all this.’”

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>> Read Damascus Countdown, the New York Times best-selling novel.

>> To learn more about the work of The Joshua Fund — and/or to provide a tax-deductible contribution to this work — please visit www.joshuafund.net.

>> To learn more about the Bible prophecies of the “War of Gog & Magog,” please click here.

Iranian President Rouhani’s son committed suicide, “ashamed” of father’s Radicalism.

Rouhani in first press conference as president (Photo: AFP)

“Behind the smiles and the mirth brought about by Hassan Rouhani’s triumph in the first round of the Iranian presidential election there lurks a personal tragedy: his elder son took his own life in 1992 in protest of his father’s close connection with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah,” reports Ynet News.

“I hate your government, your lies, your corruption, your religion, your double acts and your hypocrisy,” wrote the future president’s son in his suicide note, published in London by exiled Iranian political commentator Ali Reza Nouri, Ynet reports.

“I am ashamed to live in such environment where I’m forced to lie to my friends each day, telling them that my father isn’t part of all of this. Telling them my father loves this nation, whereas I believe this to be not true. It makes me sick seeing you, my father, kiss the hand of Khamenei,” read the letter published in the London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat

“Official Iranian press attributed the young man’s suicide to unrequited love,” reports Ynet.

I’m stunned and deeply saddened by news that novelist Vince Flynn is dead.

Vince Flynn.

I just read the news story of Vince Flynn’s death and can’t describe how sad I feel. Vince died after a long battle with prostate cancer. He was only 47 and leaves behind a wife and three children in Minnesota.

A master thriller writer, he wrote something like 15 novels based on his franchise character, CIA operative Mitch Rapp. He also was a story consultant and producer for awhile on the “24″ TV show with Kiefer Sutherland.

Vince graciously endorsed my first novel, The Last Jihad, back in 2002. We had the chance to meet a few years later at a book launch party for one of his novels at the home of James Carville and Mary Matalin in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

Please join me in praying for his family and friends, that the Lord would show them His comfort and a “peace that passeth all understanding.”

You will be missed, Vince.

Israeli President Shimon Peres turns 90. Nation celebrates. Happy birthday, sir.

Israelis greet President Shimon Peres a at a celebration event in honor of his 90th birthday, in Jerusalem on Tuesday, June 18 (photo credit: Kobi Gideon/Flash90)

(Jerusalem, Israel) — “It was a love fest at Shimon Peres’ 90th birthday party Tuesday night, as world leaders, beloved performers and regular folk spoke, sang, and sent their messages of love and affection for the president, former prime minister, and Nobel Peace Prize winner,” reported the Times of Israel.

“Peres sat flanked by former US president Bill Clinton and Jewish stage diva Barbra Streisand on his right, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, on his left. Behind them was an auditorium full of who’s who in Israel and abroad, from actors Robert De Niro and Sharon Stone, Prince Albert of Monaco and Chicago mayor and former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel to IDF chief Benny Gantz, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, former prime minister Ehud Barak, Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon and former Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz.”

“Former UK prime minister Tony Blair opened the festive evening at Jerusalem’s International Convention Center, commenting that he admires Peres as a leader and loves him as a friend. ‘We have a queen, you have Shimon,’ said Blair, referring to Peres’ ‘abiding love for the State of Israel,’ as well as him being a ‘man of passion and compassion.’”

“He’s also the best purveyor of a sound bite in politics, and I say that in front of Bill Clinton,” quipped Blair.

Hassan Rouhani officially wins Iranian presidency, meets with Khamenei. What it means. How to pray. Insights from an Iranian Christian leader.

President-elect Hassan Rouhani (right) meets with his boss and mentor, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

UPDATED: It is now official: Hassan Rouhani has officially won Iran’s presidential elections. But make no mistake — he is not the moderate the media and Western politicians are portraying him as. He is a Radical Shia cleric who is loyal to the Ayatollah Khamenei. But he has been chosen because he will try to provide a new face of the regime, one that will appear to be more pragmatic and willing to cooperate with the West, in contrast to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

I’ve asked some Iranian Christian leaders their views of Rouhani, and how we can best pray for the people of Iran.

Here’s what one leader — Dr. Hormoz Shariat, ”the Billy Graham of Iran” – sent back to me:

1)      Dr. Rouhani is absolutely in the pro-regime camp. He is loyal to the Ayatollah Khamenei and is committed to obeying his wishes and orders. Through the election of Rouhani, the Islamic government of Iran is trying to extend its life another four years, and maybe eight years.

2)     What makes Rouhani different is that he is just one step closer to the reformists than other candidates. The week before the election, Rouhani mentioned that he will work to normalize Iran’s international relations. He explicitly said that he will do that without compromising Iran’s nuclear plans. He also mentioned that he will work on lifting sanctions without giving in to the control of the West. He was the only candidate that made such statements. So suddenly people had/have a small ray of hope.

3)      We must remember that Khamenei is the supreme power and will make all the important decisions. This includes relationship with the west and nuclear program. So Rouhani promised something that he has absolutely no authority to do. His decision making will be limited to some internal affairs and economy and even that with limited authority.

4)      Khamenei and the clergy have set up a power structure so that there are layers of protection for them. They use the government as their puppet (a front) to implement their national and international wishes. But if something goes wrong, they have the government to blame for it. When that happens, he (Khamenei) steps in as the good guy to give orders to fix the problem. For example, they totally blame Ahmadinejad for the economy, the sanctions, and the fall of the currency (as if they had no part in it and it was all Ahmadinejad’s fault).

5)      Khamenei and the clergy in power also have the Revolutionary Guards as another layer of protection. All the violence, arrests, killings, and oppression is done by the Revolutionary Guards. Again, for the most part, they are implementing the wishes of Khamenei and the clergy. However, if something happens (e.g. the killings and rapes that happened in Kahrizak prison), then Khamenei steps in as an innocent hero and corrects the situation (he condemned what happened in Kahrizak and ordered it to be closed).

6)      Most people in Iran are aware of the strategy in 4 and 5. So they are not fooled. They directly blame Khamenei and clergy for all that is happening in Iran. They are looking for a candidate to stand up to the clergy. Their highest hope was Rafsanjani (No. 2 man in power in Iran). But he was not allowed to run. If he had run, people would have voted for him despite the proven fact that he was a corrupt man. Their only reason to vote for him would have been to have a little hope that he will stand up to the clergy.

7)      I expect that Rouhani’s will immediately try to bring some hope to the people of Iran. But practically, he will not be able to do much. However, there is a possible scenario that may exist behind the scenes: it is possible the Khamenei will use Rouhani to buy more time for his nuclear programs. This is how it works: Rouhani will start negotiating with the West. He will seem to be a “good guy” and will look like that he is making some progress. After months of negotiation, when both sides seem to be coming to an agreement, Khamenei will step in and veto the decision. There is also a slight chance that Khamenei indeed wants to establish relationship with the West and will use Rouhani to do that (but this is very unlikely).

This what I pray:

1)      That Rouhani, in order to show that things are different now, to give a good impression, and to buy the support and confidence of people, will set free the Christians and other prisoners of conscience who are in jail.

2)      That persecution of Christians will stop.

3)      That the government in order to reconnect with people will give more freedom of gathering, less internet and phone control, less jamming, and fewer websites to block.

4)      My main prayer as always is against the spirit of Islam which is the spirit of fear and terror. I pray that through all these, millions of Iranian Muslims who are captives in the hand of our enemy, Satan, through the religion of Islam, will be set free.

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>> Read Damascus Countdown, the New York Times best-selling novel.

>> To learn more about the work of The Joshua Fund — and/or to provide a tax-deductible contribution to this work — please visit www.joshuafund.net.

>> To learn more about the Bible prophecies of the “War of Gog & Magog,” please click here.

Hassan Rouhani is no “moderate.” He was endorsed by the only Iranian leader ever to publicly call for Israel to be destroyed by nuclear weapons.

Hassan Rowhani — endorsed by the only Iranian politician who has ever publicly called for Israel to be destroyed with nuclear weapons.

You’ve really got to hand it to Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The man is one of the most evil tyrants on the face of the earth. He is pursuing nuclear weapons to wipe Israel and the U.S. off the map. He wants to usher in the caliphate of the Twelfth Imam and bring about the apocalyptic End of Days. Yet he is desperately trying to prevent Israel — or any other country — from launching preemptive military strikes and neutralizing Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Thus, Khamenei is trying to use the rigged current presidential elections to recast Iran as suddenly moving in a more “moderate” direction, and thus persuading the West to ease up on economic sanctions and pressure Israel to back off.

And the Western media is totally buying it.

Consider the headlines this morning, all of which are declaring Hassan Rouhani (also spelled “Rowhani”) as the frontrunner and a “moderate” who could be the best answer to bringing peace to the world:

In Iran, moderates see Hassan Rouhani as best alternative to conservatives (Washington Post)

Moderate in Iranian Election Takes Strong Lead in Early Returns (New York Times)

• Iran Election: Moderate Cleric In Lead: Early results show Hassan Rouhani, seen as the most moderate of the presidential candidates, is leading. (Sky News)

The man who could bring peace: Hassan Rowhani’s bid for Iran presidency raises hopes of nuclear deal (Executive Magazine)

Moderate ahead in race for Iran presidency (Agence France Presse)

Give me a break. Rouhani is no moderate. He is a disciple of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the late fanatical tyrant of Tehran. He was a senior national security advisor to Khomeini during the brutal war with Iraq that left a million people dead. He served as a top national security advisor to the regime in the 1990s, as well. He was Iran’s nuclear negotiator from 2003 to 2005 and is both a loyal defender of Iran’s nuclear program and a shrewd and experienced diplomat.

But here’s the one fact you need to know that will help you understand Rouhani — he was endorsed by the only prominent Iranian politician who has ever publicly called for Israel to be destroyed with nuclear weapons.

• RAFSANJANI ENDORSES MODERATE ROWHANI FOR IRAN PRESIDENCY (Agence France Presse/Al Arabiya, June 11, 2013)
• RAFSANJANI SAYS MUSLIMS SHOULD USE NUCLEAR WEAPON AGAINST ISRAEL (Iran Press Service, December 14, 2001)

“Iran’s former moderate president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Tuesday endorsed ally Hassan Rowhani in the June 14 election, saying the candidate is ‘more suitable’ than others for presidency,” reported Agence France Presse. “‘I will vote for Dr. Rowhani, who entered the race after consulting me,’ Rafsanjani said. ’I consider him to be more suitable (than other candidates) to steer the executive branch,’ he said referring to the slate of five other hopefuls, most of whom are conservatives.”

In the 2005 elections, the Western media called Rafsanjani  a “moderate” and a “pragmatist” who would help Iran recast its relationship with the West and bring about peace. Now Rafsanjani — who was banned by the Khamenei regime from running in this “election” — has endorsed Rowhani, the so-called ”moderate.” Yet as I wrote during the 2005 elections, Rafsanjani is one of the leading extremists in Iran. “Rafsanjani, who previously served as Iran’s president from 1989 to 1997, was neither a ‘moderate’ nor a ‘reformer.’ He certainly was no ‘pragmatist’ with whom the West could do business. To the contrary, he is one of the father’s of Iran’s nuclear program and an outspoken advocate of Iran and her radical Islamic allies building offensive nuclear weapons.”

Exhibit A — “If a day comes when the world of Islam is duly equipped with the arms Israel has in possession, the strategy of colonialism would face a stalemate because application of an atomic bomb would not leave any thing in Israel but the same thing would just produce damages in the Muslim world,” Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani told the crowd at the traditional Friday prayers in Tehran, the Iran Press Service reported in December of 2001. “Analysts said not only Mr. Hashemi-Rafsanjani’s speech was the strongest against Israel, but also this is the first time that a prominent leader of the Islamic Republic openly suggests the use of nuclear weapon against the Jewish State.”

Rafsanjani’s endorsement of Rouhani was not merely political. It was personal. The two men are very close. They see the world in very similar terms. Rowhani served as Rafsanjani’s national security advisor when Rafsanjani was Iran’s President from 1989 to 1997. They are cut from very similar bolts of cloth. If Rouhani were a true moderate reformer, he would have rejected the endorsement of such a Radical extremist like Rafsanjani.

Now, let’s be clear: Just because Rouhani is suddenly emerging as the “frontrunner” doesn’t mean he will win. There could be a run-off election, and someone else could suddenly “surge” to the front. One possibility is the current Mayor of Tehran, Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf.

Let’s wait and see exactly what happens.

But for now we can say two things are true:

• First, whichever candidate “wins” will win because he was hand-chosen by the Ayatollah Khamenei to be the face of the regime. He will not have been chosen by the people.
• Second, if Rouhani “wins,” we will know that the Western media and many world governments will say that a “moderate” and “reformer” and “pragmatist” has won, but that will be a lie. Rouhani is a first-rate extremist. He wants to build The Bomb and destroy Israel and usher in the End of Days, just like Khamenei. But unlike Ahmadinejad, Rouhani is a wily coyote. He’s a smooth, sophisticated and experienced operator. He’s already got the media fooled about who he is. That’s just the beginning.

Please keep praying for the people of Iran to be set free from the slavery of such cruel and evil men.

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>> Read Damascus Countdown, the New York Times best-selling novel.

>> To learn more about the work of The Joshua Fund — and/or to provide a tax-deductible contribution to this work — please visit www.joshuafund.net.

>> To learn more about the Bible prophecies of the “War of Gog & Magog,” please click here.

What to watch for as “election day” unfolds in Iran — and meet the “candidates.”

Three of the candidates for Iran’s elections described as frontrunners: From left, Saeed Jalili, Hassan Rouhani and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. (Photo courtesy: IB Times/Al Arabiya)

It’s “election day” in Iran — some 50 million people are eligible to turn out at the polls and cast their ballot for Iran’s next President. But don’t get your hopes up . The game is rigged. The only “vote” that counts is that of the Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s  so-called “Supreme Leader.”

The question is: Who does Khamenei want to serve as the “face” of the regime?

• Remember: 686 candidates registered to run for president — but the regime allowed only 8 candidates to actually run.
• In the last few days, two of those eight candidates actually dropped out of the race.
• Thus, Iranians only have six candidates to choose from, all of whom are carefully vetted, loyal to Khamenei, and committed to Iran’s nuclear program.
• There’s no real choice here — but it is interesting to see how far the regime feels it must go to try to make the process seem legitimate.
• Watch for a possible “run off” — if no candidate gets 50%+ of the vote, the top two candidates will face off head-to-head next week. The mullahs sometimes create this scenario to make the election process seem like it’s really democratic, and to give “voters” another chance to choose the “right” person (ie, Khamenei’s real choice).
• Watch to see whether Khamenei chooses someone with far more international diplomatic experience than Ahmadinejad came into office with.
• Watch to see whether Khamenei chooses someone who shares his eschatology and is outspoken about his belief in the coming of the Twelfth Imam, or someone who does not talk about such things and will leave End Times issues to the Supreme Leader alone. [Article worth reading: Iran’s apocalyptic policy makers.]
• Watch to see whether the “green movement” turns out on the streets to protest these rigged elections, and whether the protests — if there are any this time — are enjoined by millions as in 2009, or whether the opposition has been intimidated into keeping quiet.
• Watch for signs of the Ayatollah’s defiance against the U.S. and Israel.
• Watch for signs of what Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will do next. He is stepping down after eight years in office. He is legally barred from serving more than two four-year terms. He was Khamenei’s choice in the past because the two share a deep and passionate belief that the Islamic “messiah” known as the Mahdi or the Twelfth Imam is coming at any moment. Together, they made it their mission to prepare the way for the Twelfth Imam’s arrival and for their jihadist ”War of Annihilation” to wipe Israel and the Jewish people “off the map.” Unfortunately for Khamenei, Ahmadinejad was not simply a zealous true believer in the End of Days. He was also a nut who repeatedly embarrassed the Supreme Leader inside Iran and the global stage.
• Watch for public statements and reactions to the sham elections by Israeli leaders, and especially Netanyahu – once the “elections” are over, Netanyahu may be increasingly ready to launch a preemptive strike. At Auschwitz yesterday, he freshly laid the moral imperative of stopping Iran before they can foment another Holocaust. War may be coming soon.
• Let us pray for peace, but be prepared for war.

Here are the final 6 “candidates” that have been allowed to “compete”:

1. Saeed Jalili, Iran’s long-time lead nuclear negotiator, close advisor to Khamenei, hardline opponent of the West, and staunch advocate of Iran’s nuclear program
2. Ali-Akbar Velayati, Iran’s former Foreign Minister for sixteen years, a senior advisor to Khamenei on all foreign policy matters, and recently endorsed by a prominent group of mullahs in the religious city of Qom
3. Hassan Rowhani, (also spelled “Rouhani”) director of the Strategic Research Center of the Expediency Council who is focusing primarily on improving Iran’s economy
4. Mohammad Gharazi, former telecommunications minister
5. Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, the current Mayor of Tehran, whom a recent (and rare) poll suggests is extremely popular (though some analyst speculate this could harm his chances of being tapped because Khamenei does not like strong, popular leaders around him)
6. Moshen Rezaei, former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps

Two candidates quit the race this week:

• Mohammad Reza Araf, former Iranian vice president, who was trying to claim the mantle of the reformers.
• Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, an Iranian parliament member.

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>> To learn more about the Bible prophecies of the “War of Gog & Magog,” please click here.

>> Read Damascus Countdown, the New York Times best-selling novel.

>> To learn more about the work of The Joshua Fund — and/or to provide a tax-deductible contribution to this work — please visit www.joshuafund.net.

War clouds rising: Netanyahu, visiting Auschwitz today, vows Israel will prevent a nuclear Holocaust by Iran.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu tours the Auschwitz death camp. (Photo credit: AP)

>> Latest news & analysis on the Iranian so-called “elections,” set for Friday.

Three quick thoughts as I write this blog:

1. First, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is visiting Auschwitz again. In 2009, he visited the notorious death camp and declared that the prophecies of Ezekiel chapter 37 had come true, that the death and destruction of the Holocaust had led to the prophetic rebirth of the State of Israel, just as the Bible promised it would.
2. Second, the Prime Minister warned during his 2009 visit to the Nazi concentration camp that Israel had to be vigilant to make sure another Holocaust never happened. Now, Netanyahu is vowing to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons and wiping Israel “off the map.” This , in combination to other statements made by Israeli officials this week, suggests the Israeli government may be approaching the point where it will launch a preemptive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, in a scenario that could echo the one I laid out in my most recent novel, Damascus Countdown. 
3. Third, the Prime Minister’s 2009 visit inspired me to visit Auschwitz. I finally was able to visit with several pastor friends in November 2011. This, in turn, prompted me to write a novel about World War II, the Holocaust and Auschwitz in particular. I literally turned in the manuscript to my publisher, Tyndale House, today. It will release next spring, Lord willing.

Consider the latest news coverage of the Prime Minister’s visit to Poland this week, and to Auschwitz today:

“The world knew about the Holocaust and did nothing, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said from the Auschwitz death camp Thursday, vowing that Israel would take matters into its own hands to prevent a second Holocaust,” reported the Times of Israel.

“The Allied leaders knew about the Holocaust as it was happening,” said Netanyahu, while during Block 27 in the world’s most notorious death camp. “They understood perfectly what was taking place in the death camps. They were asked to act, they could have acted, and they did not. For us Jews, the lesson is clear. We must not stand idle before the threats of annihilation. We must not bury our heads in the sand, or let others do our work. From here, the place that provides testimony for the will to eradicate us, I, the prime minister of Israel, the Jewish state, tell all the nations of the world: The State of Israel will do whatever is necessary to prevent a second Holocaust.”

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began his two-day visit to Poland, which Germany’s Nazis occupied during World War II and where they committed the  worst crimes ever against the Jewish people, with a stern warning about a potential Holocaust from Iran,” reported the Associated Press. “Netanyahu said Wednesday the upcoming ‘so-called’ Iranian presidential election will ‘change nothing’ in the Islamic republic’s quest for nuclear weapons and that the regime will continue to pursue a bomb aimed at destroying  Israel. Iran insists its uranium enrichment program has only peaceful goals.”

“Iran’s election overseers have approved a list of would-be hopefuls, most of  them loyalists favored by both the theocracy and the military, and any future president will likely side with the supreme leadership’s nuclear aspirations,” the AP noted. “‘This is a regime that is building nuclear weapons with the expressed purpose to annihilate Israel’s 6 million Jews,’ Netanyahu said, alluding to the number of Jews killed by the Nazis during World War II. ‘We will not allow this to  happen. We will never allow another Holocaust.’”

“Israel considers Iran its greatest threat because of its support of Islamic militant groups, its arsenal of long-range missiles and primarily its advanced  nuclear program,” notes AP. “Netanyahu’s comments in Warsaw carried added significance since they came a day before he travels to the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz in southern Poland, where he is to inaugurate a new pavilion meant to educate visitors about  the Holocaust and the Nazi Germany’s quest to exterminate the Jewish people. Netanyahu, whose father was born in Warsaw, has an emotional connection to  the Holocaust, although he has faced criticism for citing it frequently in the  context of current events, notably regarding the potential nuclear threat from  Iran. For years, Netanyahu has used his annual address on Israel’s Holocaust  remembrance day to caution about the danger of a nuclear Iran and vowing that ’never again’ will the Jews be powerless to defend themselves. Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Netanyahu remained undeterred by the  critics, insisting the intentions of the Iranians are just as murderous of those  that existed in World War II.”

“The comparison is intentional,” said Netanyahu. “Does Iran want to destroy the state of  Israel, first and foremost its Jews? The answer is yes. Here is where the comparison diverges, since there was no state of Israel back then that could defend itself. The  difference is not in the hatred of Jews and the will to destroy them. This is something that is pretty consistent in history and even modern history. The Holocaust didn’t change this situation.”

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>> Read Damascus Countdown, the New York Times best-selling novel.

>> To learn more about the work of The Joshua Fund — and/or to provide a tax-deductible contribution to this work — please visit www.joshuafund.net.

>> To learn more about the Bible prophecies of the “War of Gog & Magog,” please click here.

Death toll in Syria now tops 93,000. Is judgment coming for such crimes against humanity?

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Is judgment coming for his crimes against humanity?

The killing in Syria just continues unabated. The sins of the Assad regime — and the Radical Islamists, and the Iranians and Hamas and Russia — just keep mounting.

Is there a point of no return? Can Syria ever be put back together? 

Is it possible that the geopolitical state that have long known as the Arab republic of Syria will cease to exist in the not-too-distant future? Is it even possible that we are heading towards the judgment of Damascus, as foretold in the Bible in Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49, in which the city will be utterly destroyed?

Here are the latest tragic statistics:

“The death toll in Syria reached at least 93,000 at the end of April, but the true number from the violence now in its third year may be much higher, the United Nations human rights office said on Thursday,” reports Reuters. “An average of more than 5,000 people have been killed every month since July, while the Damascus region and Aleppo have recorded the highest tolls since November, it said in its latest study of documented deaths.”

“This extremely high rate of killings, month after month, reflects the drastically deteriorating pattern of the conflict over the past year,” Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement.

“The previous UN figure, issued in mid-May, was that 80,000 had been killed in the conflict, which began with peaceful protests against Syrian President Bashar Assad in March 2011 and turned into an armed rebellion a few months later,” Reuters notes. “The latest analysis was based on data from eight sources, including the Syrian government and the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Killings were only included if the name of the victim and date and location of death were known.”

Let us remember that each number is a person, and each person has a story, and each person has a family. Let us be praying for the people of Syria, and for the Church in Syria, that God may have mercy on these people and bring an end to the bloodletting.

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>> Read Damascus Countdown, the New York Times best-selling novel.

>> To learn more about the work of The Joshua Fund — and/or to provide a tax-deductible contribution to this work — please visit www.joshuafund.net.

Report from Ottawa: Notes from my meetings with Canadian Members of Parliament on the crises with Israel, Iran, Syria & the Damascus Countdown.

Meeting with the Honorable Diane Ablonczy, Canada’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, in Ottawa.

Meeting with the Honorable Noel Kinsella, Speaker of the Canadian Senate.

(Ottawa, Canada) — For the past several days, I’ve been in Ottawa, Canada, with several colleagues and I wanted to give you a quick report. We met with nearly two dozen Members of Parliament (including members of the government, and members of the opposition party, the NDP) to discuss the crises facing Israel, Iran & Syria.  These included:

• Honorable Diane Ablonczy, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (Americas), who is also a Member of the Cabinet Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence.
• MP Dean Allison, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Committee.
• Senator Noel Kinsella, Speaker of the Canadian Senate.

While I’m not at liberty to discuss what these Canadian officials said to me, I can share with you what my colleagues and I shared with them.

1. First and foremost, I thanked the MPs from the ruling party (the Conservative Party) for having in Prime Minister Stephen Harper the most pro-Israel leader on the planet, and for being part of the most pro-Israel government on the planet. Canada is pursuing a principled and profoundly moral position with vigor, integrity and consistency. (see below)
2. I noted it would be positive if Harper made a state visit to Israel this year to show his solidarity with the Jewish State. On the same trip, he could meet with Palestinian leaders, and visit King Abdullah II in Jordan who needs to be encouraged as a man of peace and strengthened against Radicals trying to bring him down and impose a Islamist regime in Amman.
3. At the same time, I also thanked the Canadian leaders for showing their deep and profound support for the enslaved people of Iran. The Harper Government last fall cut ties with the Iranian regime, closed Canada’s embassy in Tehran, expelled Iranian diplomats from Canada, and are reaching out directly to the Iranian people to show solidarity with them in their suffering, and calling upon them to overthrow the Ayatollah Khamenei and his cruel dictatorship.
4. We offered an analysis of the Iranian so-called “elections” coming up on Friday, who some of the key players are, and considered the Ayatollah Khamenei’s objectives.
5. We discussed the current nuclear threat posed by Iran, including the Israeli Intelligence Minister’s quote that Iran is “very close” to the red line and is preparing to build 30 nuclear warheads per year. We discussed the possibility that Israel may soon have to launch a massive preemptive military strike. I gave them copies of my latest novel, Damascus Countdown, and we talked about the implications of such a preemptive strike, and why much of the world could turn against Israel. In that context, I asked the MPs to accelerate discussions they are having amongst themselves on how Canada would stand with the State of Israel if such a conflict were to break out, particularly in using their bully pulpit to tell world leaders and the media the truth about the conflict and why people of goodwill should stand with Israel to stop the Iranian mullahs from getting the Bomb that could bring about a second Holocaust, terrorize Iran’s other neighbors, and further enslave and terrorize the people of Iran.
6. We discussed the civil war in Syria and the possibility that the geopolitical state of Syria we know today may not exact when the dust settles from this bloodbath. We discussed how Iran and Hezbollah are injecting themselves into the Syria conflict, not so much to prop up Assad as to hold the territory as a forward position from which to eventually attack Israel. I shared with several of the leaders the prophecies of Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49 about the coming destruction of Damascus.
7. We discussed how Russian President Vladimir Putin is reasserting Russian military power into the Middle East region, including naval power, and why this is so dangerous.
8. We discussed who Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is, how he views these various conflicts, and how he makes decisions.
9. We also discussed how Christians in Canada, the U.S., and around the world are seeking to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus. It was an honor to have Tom Yancy, a Joshua Fund board member, on the trip with me to help explain how The Joshua Fund operates to educate people about what’s happening in the epicenter, and to care for the poor and needy in the region with food, clothing, medical supplies and other humanitarian relief and spiritual encouragement.
10. The Abrahamic Covenant is clear — God will bless those who bless Israel, and curse those who curse Israel (see Genesis 12:1-3), so let us also seek to be a source of blessing. At the same time, the Lord also wants us to love Israel’s neighbors, and her enemies. While we bless Israel, let us be sure to find ways to bless the Palestinian people, the Syrians, the Iranians, and all the people of the epicenter.

In addition, I had the opportunity to preach at the Metropolitan Bible Church in Ottawa on Sunday night on the prophecies of Ezekiel 38-39, examining them in the light of current events.

It was an honor to be invited to meet with these Canadian government leaders, and to be able to pray with and for them. They are principled and courageous men and women who, along with their Prime Minister, are boldly and warmly standing with Israel and the Jewish people at a time when few leaders in the world are doing so.

Let us thank the Lord for them, and keep them all in our prayers at this critical time.

Highlights of the Policies of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Government:

• Prime Minister Harper was the first world leader to order his UN delegation to walk out of a speech at the UN General Assembly by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad several years ago.
• PM Harper was the first world leader to announce Canada would not be sending a delegation to the UN’s ”Durban II” conference which was supposed to be about opposing racism but turned into a vicious anti-Israel forum whose keynote speaker was Ahmadinejad, a man who has denied the Holocaust and has repeatedly called for the “annihilation” of the Jewish State.
• The Harper Government has courageous fought anti-Semitism.
• When the Gaza flotilla crisis unfolded, the Harper Government stood strongly with Israel’s right to defend herself from terrorist and left-wing activist attacks, whereas the White House equivocated.
• In contrast to the Obama Administration, Prime Minister Harper and his Government has consistently built a warm and increasingly close professional relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu over the last eight years.
• The Harper Government has strongly urged the world to stop Iran’s nuclear weapons program before it is too late.
• The Harper Government has been so pro-Israel that Canada recently lost its bid to be on the UN Security Council because anti-Israel countries coalesced against Canada and prevented her from attaining such a globally influential position.
• The Harper Government has explicitly called for “regime change” in Iran, something the Obama administration has not done.
• The Harper Government is reaching out directly to the Iranian people and calling on them to overthrow their “clerical military dictatorship.”
• In September 2012, the Harper Government cut diplomatic ties with Iran, closed the Canadian embassy in Tehran, and expelled Iranian diplomats from Canada.

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>> Read Damascus Countdown, the New York Times best-selling novel.

>> To learn more about the work of The Joshua Fund — and/or to provide a tax-deductible contribution to this work — please visit www.joshuafund.net.

>> To learn more about the Bible prophecies of the “War of Gog & Magog,” please click here.