A bad mistake of historic proportions, says Israel

So the P5+1 powers, including the US, have signed a nuclear deal with Iran. President Obama says it will prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and make the world a safer place. He has promised to use his presidential veto to block any legislation preventing the deal from going forward.

Critics say Iran has scored a huge victory, while the West has caved in on nearly every critical demand. Israel's leaders, of all shades of the political spectrum, have condemned the deal, which they say could endanger the entire world.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in every area where it was proposed to prevent Iran getting nuclear arms capability there were huge compromises. "Iran will receive a sure path to nuclear weapons. Many of the restrictions which were intended to prevent it will be lifted, In addition, Iran will receive a cash bonanza of hundreds of billions of dollars which will enable it to pursue its aggression and terror.

"It is a bad mistake of historic proportions. . . When you are willing to make an agreement at any cost, this is the result."

Avigdor Liberman, chairman of the Yisrael Beytenu party, called it "a deal of utter acquiescence to terror and to unrestrained violence." Israelis believe, despite President Obama's denials, that Obama would be prepared to sacrifice Israel for the sake of his agreement with Iran.

So where does all this leave Israel?

There are occasional terror incidents inside Israel, as well as an occasional rocket from Hamas. ISIS have infiltrated Israel, Gaza and Sinai. Hamas is rearming and digging new terror tunnels. Hezbollah could have 100,000 rockets and missiles in Lebanon, including a number of long-range systems and systems with increased accuracy, allowing Hezbollah to strike anywhere in Israel and with increased precision.

Israel's Homefront Command has launched large-scale exercises involving military, police, firefighters and national and local agencies to prepare for an attack in the war which Israelis believe must come.

Iran, however, is the greatest threat. Iran has promised to destroy Israel: "Annihilation is Israel's only cure," says Iran's leader.

 Israel has promised it will defend itself by whatever means it finds necessary. We know that because of God's promises to Israel, Israel will never be destroyed. But extensive damage and considerable loss of life are still a possibility.

Destruction of Israel 'non-negotiable'

After Iran and the P5+1 world leaders agreed a framework deal on Iran's nuclear programme, setting the stage for a final agreement in June, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu warned US President Obama in a telephone call that a deal based on the framework would threaten the survival of Israel.

"Just two days ago," he said, "Iran said that the destruction of Israel is 'non-negotiable,' and in these fateful days Iran is accelerating the arming of its terror proxies to attack Israel. This deal would legitimise Iran's nuclear programme, bolster Iran's economy, and increase Iran's aggression nd terror throughout the Middle East and beyond."

Acts of antisemitism outside Israel have reached a record high.

While New York City Council was discussing the destruction of 1.1 million people in Auschwitz, protestors disrupted the meeting with an anti-Israel demonstration. They had perhaps reckoned without councillor David G. Greenfield, a grandson of Holocaust survivors, who put them to shame by revealing the real reason for their anger.

You can see and hear his denunciation in this short video here.
          

A 'to-the-death' struggle?

Israel goes to the polls to vote for Israel's parliament, the Knesset, on March 17. One of the big questions is whether Benjamin Netanyahu will be elected for a further term as Prime Minister. Many believe he is God's man for the job; others believe he will be unsuccessful. But all his opponents are not Israelis.

US President Obama has been widely criticised for all the apologies he makes for Islam, the criticisms he makes of Christianity, the fact that he has no time for the Israeli administration, and the fact that he has no time whatsoever for Benjamin Netanyahu.

They are known to disagree over one major issue. Iran is going to have nuclear bombs, and it has sworn to destroy Israel. Obama is negotiating with Iran, and is going to leave Iran free to develop nuclear weapons. Obama refuses to meet Netanyahu. 

House SpeakerJohn Boehner has invited Netanyahu to speak to the joint houses of Congress in the US on March 3 about Iran's nuclear programme and the threat to international security posed by radical Islam - it is said because Boehner considers these things a threat to US national security. "I am going to the Unites States not because I seek a confrontation with the President, but because I must fulfil my obligation to speak up on a matter that affects the very survival of my country," says Netanyahu.

The Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reports that a foreign-funded organisation was bankrolling a campaign to defeat Netanyahu's camp in the Israeli elections. An indication of its generous financing is that it has flown a team of five American campaign experts (including Jeremy Bird, the Obama campaign's national field director), who will run the campaign from offices taking up the ground floor of a Tel Aviv office building. Because the campaign doesn't support a specific party - just not Netanyahu's team - foreign funds pouring in are not subject to Israel's campaign finance laws.

Writes repected commentator Caroline Glick: "Obama won't meet Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington when he addresses the joint houses of Congress in March because of Netanyahu's visit's proximity to the Israeli elections. And Obama, of course, believes in protocol and propriety, which is why he won't get involved. No, he's not getting involved at all. He's just sending his 2012 field campaign manager to Israel to start a campaign to defeat Netanyahu. That's all. No interference whatsoever."

Obama has now stopped updating Israel on progress of talks with Iran on Iran's nuclear programme because the Israeli government is using the information "in a manipulative and political way."

Ms Glick explains: "It is hard to understand either Israel's election or Obama's hysterical response to Netanyahu's scheduled speech without recognising that Obama clearly feels threatened by the message he will deliver. Surrounded by sycophantic aides and advisers, and until recently insulated from criticism by a supportive media, while free to ignore Congress due to his veto power, Obama has never had to seriously explain policies regarding Iran, and Islamic terrorists in general. He has never endured a direct challenge to those policies.

"Today Obama believes he is in a to-the-death struggle with Netanyahu. If Netanyahu's speech is a success, Obama's policy will be indefensible. If Obama is able to delegitimise Netanyahu ahead of his arrival and bring about his electoral defeat, then with a compliant Israeli government, he will face no obstacles to his plan to appease Iran and blame Islamic terrorism on the West for the remainder of his tenure in office."

I shall be praying for the result of the Israeli elections. Either way, I shall be grateful for the promises of God, the God of Israel, who neither slumbers nor sleeps. "He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock" (Jer 31:10 KJV). 
        

The surprise attack that didn't come

Terrorists arrested and interrogated during Israel's war with Hamas revealed that Hamas, the terrorist organisation that has taken control in Gaza, had planned a surprise for Israel on Rosh Hashanah -  the Jewish New Year - which fell this year on September 25.

The plan was that on this day, when many of Israel's soldiers would be home on leave, 200 terrorists in bogus Israeli Army uniforms would emerge simultaneously from a number of underground tunnels and invade six kibbutzim and a number of towns in southern Israel to kidnap, kill and destroy. The initial force of 200 would be followed by a wave of several thousand additional terrorists. They had been working towards the attack for years.

Needless to say, the attack didn't take place  In the Yom Kippur war, Israel ceded to US pressure not to make a pre-emptive strike, and suffered considerable casualties when Egypt and Syria attacked on Yom Kippur, the most serious day in the Jewish calendar, when everything closes down for a day of worship. This time, Israel ignored US pressure not to attack and invaded Gaza.

The war with Hamas, however, is not over. When Hamas accepted a ceasefire after 50 days of fighting, they made it clear that they would redouble their efforts to rearm for the next stage of the conflict.

Israel is currently preparing for "a very violent war" with the terrorist group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah has an estimated 100,000 rockets - 10 times as many as were in Hamas's arsenal. In addition, it has 5,000 long-range missiles with precision guidance systems covering all of Israel, capable of carrying warheads of one ton or more.

Israel's Iron Dome system would not be able to cope with the challenge, and Israel's forces would have to "manoeuvre fast" and act "more decisively, more dramatically," according to one Israeli commander.

As with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah is believed to have been tunnelling under Israel's northern border. Dozens of residents in the border area have reported the sounds of tunnelling underneath their homes.

The most dangerous threat to Israel's security comes from Iran, which is believed to be preparing to have a nuclear arsenal. Israel Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said in a speech at the United Nations last week: 

"Don't be fooled by Iran's manipulative charm offensive. It's designed for one purpose, and for one purpose only: to lift the sanctions and remove the obstacles to Iran's path to the bomb. The Islamic Republic is now trying to bamboozle its way to an agreement that will remove the sanctions it still faces, and leave it with the capacity of thousands of centrifuges to enrich uranium. This would effectively cement Iran's place as a threshold military nuclear power.

"In the future, at a time of its choosing, Iran, the world's most dangerous state in the world's most dangerous region, would obtain the world's most dangerous weapons. Allowing that to happen would pose the gravest threat to us all. It's one thing to confront militant Islamists on pick-up trucks, armed with Kalashnikov rifles, It's another thing to confront militant Islamists armed with weapons of mass destruction."

Meanwhile, God is preparing for the day when His Son will reign in Jerusalem. Christians have a responsibility to pray for that nation.

 For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace,
   And for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, 
Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,
  And her salvation as a lamp that burns.

I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem, 
  Who shall never hold their peace day or night. 
You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent,

And give him no rest till he establishes 
  And till he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth   
                                                                  Isa 62:1, 6, 7.
     

From shadow of death to freedom

In the most desolate circumstances, God works.

Maryam Rostampour and Marziyeh Amirizadeh were born into Muslim families in Iran. Both had a desire to know God. Both were converted to Christ in their teens, one after a vision of Jesus; the other by reading a copy of Luke's Gospel. 

They met while studying in Turkey. Studies over, they decided to return to Iran. Their people needed to hear of the love of Jesus.

Together they handed out - illegally - 20,000 New Testaments and started two house churches. They saw miracles as God protected them. Then one day they were arrested.

After days of interrogation, they were moved to the notorious Evin Prison in Teheran. They were charged with apostasy, blasphemy and anti-government activity. They were promised they would be executed by hanging - but they were told if they converted to Islam they would be released immediately. They refused.

The authorities' promise was not carried out. Eventually, they were released. How that came about is a remarkable story.

You can hear their testimonies on video here. They have written a book. Captive in Iran, about their experiences. You can read the first chapter here.

Take advantage of the opportunity. Your faith will be strengthened as you hear the stories of these brave young women.
   

'I saw Jesus. I saw His face. . .'

About 40 years ago, there were approximately 200 Christians from a Muslim background living in Iran. Today, there are an estimated 370,000. 

Former hardline Islamic mullahs and former drug dealers worship Jesus together. There is a hunger for the truth, particularly among young people. They are forbidden to evangelise, and the Bible is a forbidden book, but Iranian believers are willing to share their faith. Many people have satellite television, and many watch Christian programmes broadcast from abroad.

The greater the number of believers, the greater the persecution. The government sees house churches as a threat to the state. Arrests are common. Christian leaders are kept in prison, where they suffer brutal treatment and medical help is withheld.

There are many stories of Muslims coming to faith in Christ as a result of dreams. Open Doors tells one such story.

Taher was a committed Muslim who had made the pilgrimage to Mecca. When his daughter accepted Christ, he was angry. When his wife became a believer in Christ, he was angrier still. When his son accepted Christ, he quoted the Koran, forbade them to go to church, beat them, threatened to tell the secret police, and threatened to kill them with his bare hands. They left him, and fled the country.

In his loneliness, he begged Allah to show himself to him, without response. In moments of doubt, he didn't know what to believe. "I will believe in the God who reveals Himself to me," he said.

He had a dream. A man he had never seen before hugged him and said "I will clean you from all your sins. I will give you rest. Believe in Me." Another man asked him in his dream if he knew who the man was. "He is Jesus Christ. He cleans your sins."

Twice he fell asleep again and twice more he dreamed the same dream. After the third time, he was convinced that Jesus is God.

He went to the church he had forbidden his family to attend and told a church leader "I want to pray, go to church and give my life to Christ, but I don't know how. I saw Jesus in a dream. I saw His face." He is now reunited with his family.

Prayer is requested for believers in prison.
 

Iran accused of hijacking MH 370 flight

It's 14 days now since Flight MH 370 disappeared without trace on a standard night flight between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing, and still no definite news. The Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 went missing from radar screens in the early hours of March 8 in one of the most baffling aviation mysteries in recent times.

The Times of Israel says that Israeli airline security experts - Israel is the nation with the greatest experience and expertise in airline security - believe the plane was hijacked.

Isaac Yeffet, who was head of global security for El Al, Israel's national airline, and now works as an aviation security consultant, says the evidence points to Iran. He points to the two Iranians who made it on to the plane with stolen passports.

"My guess is based on the stolen passports, and I believe Iran was involved. They hijacked the plane and they landed it in a place that nobody could see or find it." 

Shifting attention to the pilots and far-flung conspiracy theories, he says, was a mistake. Based on the Israeli intelligence strategy of profiling, the pilots were unlikely suspects. "We are talking about a captain who is 53 years old, who has worked for Malaysian Airlines for 30 years, and suddenly he becomes a terrorist? He wanted to commit suicide? If he committed suicide, where is the debris?"

 Eran Ramot, a former Israeli fighter pilot and head of aviation research at Israel's Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies, says it would be very complicated for someone other than the pilot to have flown the plane. The flight made a U-turn from its planned route and dipped in between radar points for hours with all of its tracking systems turned off.

Like Yeffet, he believes the plane was intentionally flown to a secret location. He  is holding out hope that the 239 passengers and crew on board are still alive.

A recipe for disaster?

Iranian negotiators agreed to curb some of Iran's nuclear activities in a six-month interim deal in Geneva at the weekend - in return for £4.3 billion in sanctions relief. The deal, with several world powers, followed secret talks between the US and Iran.

Iranian military forces launched a series of massive military drills across nine provinces codenamed Towards Jerusalem as negotiations were going on.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said "Iran is committed to giving up the prospect of nuclear weapons. It's perfecly clear." US Secretary of State John Kerry insisted the deal had made the world a safer place. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he thought Iran was "very sincere."

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the deal was a "historic mistake."

"Today the world has become  a much more dangerous place," he said. "For the first time, the world's leading powers have agreed to uranium enrichment in Iran while ignoring the UN Security Council decisions that they themselves led. Sanctions that required many years to put in place contain the best chance for a peaceful solution. These sanctions have been given up in exchange for cosmetic Iranian concessions that can be cancelled in weeks.

"We cannot and will not allow a regime that calls for the destruction of Israel to obtain the means to achieve this goal."

Israeli officials seemed incredulous that US President Obama could enter into such an arrangement. Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said the current deal could actually bring Iran closer to the bomb . Middle Eastern Arab nations are also suspicious.

A step towards peace? Or a recipe for disaster?

Time will tell.

Thousands call for Morsi to go

The Middle East is in turmoil.

Two years ago crowds packed Tahir Square in Cairo calling for President Hosni Mubarak to go. Yesterday - the first anniversary of President Mohammed Morsi's appointment - tens of thousands packed the square calling for him to leave. 

Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in Cairo were stormed and ransacked. In outlying towns, armed gangs were said to be attacking governors and burning emblems of government. The ruling Muslim Brotherhood was using armed men to strike back. Police and the army did not intervene.

Opponents say Morsi has failed to tackle economic and security problems. He has broken off diplomatic relations with Syria, and appointed 16 territorial governors, including seven members of the Muslim Brotherhood and a known terrorist.

More than 100,000 have died in the fighting in Syria, including 6,000 children. As Russia has continued to supply heavy weaponry, the fighting had turned in favour of President Bashar Assad's regime.

Russia is sending 12 additional ships to patrol the Syrian coast. The weaponry they are supplying includes S-300 anti-aircraft missile batteries, which Israel says could be used to target Israel Defence Forces helicopters and warplanes flying inside Israeli airspace.

US President Obama has begun to send light weaponry to rebel fighters in Syria, including anti-aircraft and anti-tank rockets, despite concerns that they might be used by Muslim terrorist groups linked to al Qaeda. Russian-US relations are said to be at their lowest since the Cold War.

Divisions between Sunni Muslims and Shi'ite Muslims are threatening the security of the entire region. Shi'ite Iran, said to be fully committed to supporting Assad's regime, is sending 4,000 Revolutionary Guards to support Assad's forces. Thousands of Hezbollah militiamen from Lebanon are fighting in Syria.

President Morsi sponsored a conference of Sunni clerics in Egypt who described Shi'ites as heretics, infidels, oppressors and polytheists and called for a holy war against Damascus. In Gaza, Hamas called for Hezbollah fighters to leave Syria and concentrate on the war of annihilation against Israel.

Christians in Syria are caught in the crossfire between government and opposition forces and suffer violence from both parties, writes World Watch List's Dennis Pastoor. They face "a distinct peril so dire" that their ability to survive in Syria is doubted by church leaders and secular observers alike.

Christians are the targets of an ethno-religious cleansing by Islamic militants and courts, says Nina Shea, director of the Hudson Institute's Centre for Religious Freedom. There is still no news of two archbishops, Yohanna Ibrahim and Boutros Yazigi, kidnapped in April.

Ribal Assad, a cousin and outspoken critic of Bashar Assad, said the rebels making up the Free Syrian Army were primarily Islamic extremists who were "worse than the Nazis." Many were members of al Qaeda.

Israeli warplanes are believed to have attacked military consignments of weapons in Syria intended for Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made it plain he will start a war with no one, but he will not fail to defend Israel's interests where necessary.

Prison, beatings and unspeakable joy. . .

A further letter has been received from Saeed Abedini, born in Iran and now a naturalised American citizen, serving an eight-year sentence in Iran. I wrote about him here and here. Saeed, who is 32, is in the notorious Evin Prison.

His letter is written in the margins of scraps of newspaper. It says, in part:

Maybe you ask, what is the secret of being so happy in such a hard situation?

Forgiveness and a change in attitude. When we forgive, we become free and we become messengers of peace and reconciliation and goodness.

I forgave the prison doctor who did not listen to me and did not give me the medication that I needed. I forgave the interrogator who beat me. Every day when I would see the interrogator and for the last time when I saw him I forgave him. I smiled at him and with respect shook his hand and I said my goodbye. The minute I forgave them and loved them, that second I was filled with an unspeakable joy. I saw in the eyes of the interrogator that he had come to respect me and as he was leaving, he could not look behind him. Love is as strong as death. . .

The joy of the Lord is my strength.

You can read the full letter here.

In the same prison is Farshid Farhi, a 33-year-old pastor serving a six-year sentence for "actions against national security," "being in contact with enemy foreign countries" and "disseminating religious propaganda."

A letter to his father says:

Dear Dad,

Probably I cannot be with you for a few years. However your word and exhortations are in the ear of my soul. I hope that at the end I will be able to see you. But if the Father calls me to the eternal abode, please protect and support my family more than before, especially my children who are the dearest of my heart.. . . 

In our land the fig tree does not blossom, the produce of olive has failed. The flock is cut off from the fold. Yet we rejoice in the Lord and take joy in the God of our salvation. Because neither the walls nor the barbed wires, nor the prison, nor suffering, nor loneliness, not enemies, nor pain, nor even death separates us from the Lord and each other.

With love and greetings in Christ.

You are asked to pray for them. If you do pray for them, do not pray for them only, but for all who are suffering from the clampdown on Christianity in Iran. God bless you.

Saeed Abedini: 'in chains for the Gospel'

Saeed Abedini, who was training to become a suicide bomber, was converted to Christ in his native Iran and became a leader in the house church movement.

In 2005 he moved to the United States and became a US citizen. Last year, on a trip to Iran to visit family and help build an orphanage, he was arrested.

I wrote about him here on the day he was to appear in court in Iran charged with "actions against the national security of Iran." In the event, he was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment. He is now in Teheran's notorious Evin Prison, and is said to heve been tortured.

Recently, his wife received a letter from him. It said, in part:

The conditions here get so very difficult that my eyes get blurry, my body does not have the strength to walk, and my steps become very weak and shaky. . . 

The psychological warfare, almost a year of not seeing my family, physical violence, actions committed to humiliate me, insults, being mocked, being confronted with extremists in the prison who create another prison within the prison walls, and the death threats. . . 

I see all these difficulties as golden opportunities and great doors to serve. .

They are only waiting for one thing. . . for me to deny Christ. But they will never get this from me. . .

Yesterday when I was singing worship songs, the head of my cell room attacked me in order to stop me praising but in response I hugged him and showed him love. . . He was shocked. . .

I Love Him. He is Gracious, Merciful and Righteous to me. I now know that I have not been forgotten and that we are together in this path. God gives me Grace. . .

Pastor Saeed, servant of Jesus Christ in chains for endurance of the Gospel. I love you all.

You can read the whole letter on video here.

Letters from an Iranian prison

Saeed Abedini, recruited in high school in Iran by a radical Muslim group, was being trained as a suicide bomber. The more he tried to be a devout Muslim and the more he went into training, the more depressed he became.

When he was 20 years old, he was converted to Christ. He loved evangelism, and became a leader in the house church movement. In 2005, he moved to the US, where he and his wife are now US citizens.

On a vist to Iran in 2009, he was arrested and threatened with death for having converted to Christianity. He was released, his wife says. after signing a written agreement that he would not be charged and would be allowed to visit Iran provided he gave up house church activities.

Saeed, now 32 and the father of two young children, was on a visit to Iran last year to visit family and help build an orphanage, which had no religious affiliation. He was taken off a bus by Revolutionary Guards, subjected to "intense interrogation" and placed under house arrest.

In September he was transferred to Teheran's notorious Evin Prison, placed in solitary confinement and reportedly badly beaten by guards. Transferred to a communal cell, he was severely beaten by fellow prisoners who claimed to belong to al Qaeda.

In a letter, Saeed wrote:

Prison is a test of faith. I was always worried that the storms of this life would break the ship of faith, but when you stand in the steadfast ship of faith, the storms are like a nice breeze. Nothing can break the ship of faith. These walls have created more fervor for me to love others through sharing the Gospel, but more than that, the walls have deepened my love for my Savior. I feel the prayers of all who are praying for me.

In a letter brought out of prison by relatives, he says:

When I think that all of these trials and persecutions are being recorded in heaven for me, my heart is filled with complete joy. . . 

I always wanted God to make me a godly man. I did not realise that in order to become a godly man we need to become like steel under pressure. It is a hard process of warm and cold to make steel. The process in my life today is one day I was told I will be freed on bail to see my family and kids on Christmas (They are all lies) and the next I am told I will hang for my faith in Jesus. One day there are intense pains after beatings in interrogations, the next day they are nice to you and offer you candy. . . this is where you learn you can love your enemies with all of your heart. . .

I am looking forward to the day to see all of you who are behind me with your prayers. . . 

Saeed is due to appear before a court today charged with "actions against the national security of Iran," a charge which can lead to a long period of imprisonment or possibly the death penalty.

Christian authorities in the US have appealed for prayer.

Remembering those who suffer

Christians in Iran put us to shame by the way they live in the face of persecution, imprisonment and physical and psychological torture.

Since 1979, eight church leaders have been killed by the Iranian regime solely on account of their Christian faith. One narrowly escaped judicial execution in 2012.

Arbitrary arrest and imprisonment of Christians is widespead. There are confirmed reports that more than 200 Christians in 48 cities have been arrested and interrogated since 2010. The full figure is almost certainly higher.

Since April the UK Christians in Parliament all-party parliamentary group has been listening to detailed evidence from eye witnesses of extensive suffering inflicted on Iranian Christians by their own government. The group has compiled a 35-page report, which asks the British Government to apply pressure on Iran to uphold the right to religious freedom of all Iranian people and to release Christians in prison for their faith.

At a crowded meeting to launch the report, the group handed a copy of  the document to Alistair Burt, minister of state for the Middle East - himself a Christian.

Rev Sam Yeghnazar, founder and director of Elam Ministries, read a letter from an Iranian prisoner. It said:

Often I have been insulted, humiliated and accused, but I have never doubted my identity in Christ. We rejoice in the Lord and take joy in the God of our salvation. Because neither the walls nor the barbed wires, nor the prison, nor suffering, nor loneliness, nor enemies, nor pain, nor even death separates us from the Lord and each other.

You can read the report here.

The Middle East: tensions mount

A pre-emptive strike by Israel on nuclear facilities in Iran in October appears increasingly likely.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said again that the primary foreign policy goal of his government is to see Israel wiped off the map of the Middle East. "A new Middle East will definitely be formed."

A new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency says that Iran has two new groups of centrifuges installed at its fortified underground facility at Fordow, signalling a doubling of the site's capacity, despite diplomacy and sanctions, since May. DEBKAfile says that by the end of September or early October Iran will have enough 20 per cent-enriched uranium for its first nuclear bomb.

Israel's Security Cabinet had a 10-hour meeting last week to discuss the threat from Iran. Israeli citizens, who have been standing in queues for gas masks for their families, are increasingly fearful that war will soon be upon them.

Ehud Yaari, a respected Israeli analyst, said American officials see an Israeli strike on Iran before US presidential elections in November as almost a foregone conclusion, and are concentrating on their response to the outcome.

The Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot said the US has informed Iran through intermediaries that the US will not back an Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear facilities as long as Iran refrains from attacking American interests in the Persian Gulf.

US President Obama would like Israel to believe that the US is serious about military action "when the need arises" - but when the need arises is the crux of the dispute between Israel and the US. "Sparks and lightning " were reported to have been flying at a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Ambassador Dan Shapiro. Prime Minister Netanyahu made it clear that the Israeli Government does not trust the Obama administration to stop Iran's nuclear programme in time.

"The world tells Israel, 'Wait, there's still time,'" the Israeli PM said on Tuesday. "And I say 'Wait for what? Wait until when?' Those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don't have a moral right to place a red light before Israel.

"Now if Iran knows that there is no red line, if Iran knows that there is no deadline, what will it do? Exactly what it's doing. It's continuing, without any interference, towards obtaining nuclear weapons capability and from there, nuclear bombs."

President Obama was proposing to meet Prime Minister Netanyahu on September 27, presumably to ask Israel to hold off, while Israel would ask for backing in dealing with Iran. Now President Obama has refused to meet him. 

Tensions over Iran are said to have caused the most severe rift in US - Israel relations for decades.

Israel is aware of Hezbollah with its thousands of rockets in Lebanon, Hamas with its thousands of rockets in Gaza, and the possibility of attack from Syria - all of them influenced by Iran. Israel does not want to start a war. But neither will Israel sit and wait indefinitely to be bombed into oblivion.

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem" (Psa 122:6).

Freedom for Yousef Nadarkhani

Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, who was sentenced to death in Iran in 2010 for apostasy from Islam and who refused to renounce his Christian faith despite facing the death penalty, has been released.

He is 34 years old. He was charged in 2009 with having left the Muslim faith and converted to Christianity. He had never been a practising Muslim, but his parents were Muslims, which the court said was sufficient. He was sentenced to death in 2010.

When his case appeared before the Supreme Court in 2011, he was told he could be released if he renounced his Christian faith. Each time he was asked, he refused to do so.

It was announced he would be brought back to court this month to face further charges. At his appearance on Saturday, the apostasy charge was dropped, and he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for evangelising Muslims. As he had already served three years, he was released and reunited with his wife and two young children.

Said Christian Solidarity Worldwide, one of the organisations who campaigned for his release: "While we rejoice at this wonderful news, we do not forget hundreds of others who are harassed or unjustly detained on account of their faith. CSW is committed to continue campaigning until all of Iran's religious minorities are able to enjoy religious freedom as guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is party."

The death penalty was not carried out doubtless because of the weight of international prayer and protest. Thank you to all who took part.

* CSW pointed out that whilst Pastor Nadarkhani was released, others in Iran are still suffering.

Pastor Behnam Irani, serving a five-year sentence for allegedly undertaking missionary work, is reported to have suffered torture and beatings, to have been found several times unconscious in his cell, and to have been denied medical treatment.

Pastor Farshid Fathi is serving a six-year sentence in Teheran's notorious Evin prison.

The spy who came home

Reza Khalili was born and raised in Iran, but educated in the United States. He returned to Iran with high ideals. "I wanted to help my country progress, hopeful that there would be full democracy. I believed that Ayatollah Khomeini would be true to his promise of freedom for all."

He was persuaded to join the Revolutionary Guard, but was unprepared for the things he saw.

"The mullahs forced Iranians to adhere to a strict Islamic dress code and subjected them to amputation as the punishment for stealing, lashing for drinking, stoning for adultery." Young people who sought new freedoms they thought they had been promised were arrested.

"Many were raped, tortured and executed, among them my best friend and his siblings. Teenage girls as young as 13 were raped prior to execution because in Islam a virgin can go to heaven, and the 'men of God' wanted to deny them that reward. Others were slowly lowered in tanks of acid so they would die painfully.

"Khomeini and the clerics announced themselves as the representatives of Allah on earth and declared anyone opposing them to be an enemy of God. The punishment was execution. Tens of thousands were executed.

"This broke my heart. I was searching for God, so I prayed to him and I said 'This can't be from you. This is not you.'"

In a book, A Time to Betray, Reza tells how he decided to fight the regime his own way. He persuaded his superiors to allow him to fly to the United States to visit a sick relative. He met with the FBI, who turned him over to the CIA. He returned to Iran as a CIA agent.

He fled Iran in the 1990s. A friend gave him a New Testament and a copy of the Jesus film, which touched his heart. God's love suddenly became irresistible.

"The totality of his love overwhelmed my soul," he says. "I couldn't resist it, it touched me so deeply. It was then that I knew beyond doubt that the Bible was the true Word of God. That Jesus was the One I had always been looking for. I knew I was home."

Reza - not his real name - now lives in the United States and is a target, he says, for assassination, first for betraying his country, and second for renouncing Islam.

He prays for Iran. "The Iranian people," he says, "are desperate for their freedom."

Iran is certainly in need of prayer.

In a  major address to the nation in July, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reminded followers that we are now living in the "end of times."

"The issue of Imam Mahdi," he is reported to have said, "is of utmost importance, and his reappearance has been clearly stated in our holy religion of Islam. . . We must prepare the environment for the coming so that the great leader will come."

The Mahdi is the Islamic messiah who will return, Iran's leadership believes, in the middle of chaotic and catastrophic world conditions to convert the world to Islam. They believe it is their duty to bring about the conditions that will usher in his coming.

The one piece of good news coming out of Iran is that many are converting to Christ and joining churches.

It's an ill wind, as somebody said, that blows nobody any good.

Time to say happy birthday

Today is Independence Day in Israel - Israel's 64th birthday.

There has always been a Jewish presence in the land. In the late 19th century, Jews began to return to the Promised Land in line with prophecies made thousands of years before. When independence was declared in 1948 Israel had a population of 806,000. Today, there are 7,881,000 Israelis - 75.3% of them Jewish and 20.6% Arab (the remaining 4.1% immigrants and children of immigrants who are not listed as Jewish by the Interior Ministry).

Israel has come through seven wars, two intifadas and more terrorist incidents than it's possible to count. Jew-hatred among Israel's neighbours is as fierce as ever and peace between Israel and the Palestinians as far away as ever it was. Threats abound. Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman warned the other day that Egypt is becoming a bigger threat even than Iran. It is suggested that the Muslim Brotherhood is currently engaged in an international charm offensive, but once the Brotherhood consolidates power in Egypt, Egypt's peace treaty with Israel will be scrapped and the way will be open for war with Israel once more.

Will there ever be peace in the Middle East? Yes, there will. One day the Prince of Peace will return. He will appear in power and great glory to destroy His enemies and set up His millennial kingdom. Nothing is more certain. His first appearance was prophesied, and the prophecies were fulfilled in exact detail. His Second Coming is equally sure.

He will return when His Jewish people are ready to welcome Him. He will reign from Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, Israel has completed another difficult year. Birthday celebrations are in order.

'Million' protesters preparing to descend on Israel

Israel-haters the world over will be preparing just now for the Global March to Jerusalem.

On March 30 - next Friday, no less - a million people from 20 countries, the march's organisers hope, will seek to breach Israel's borders and march to Jerusalem to protest Israel's "occupation," the "judaisation" of Jerusalem, and "Israeli apartheid and ethnic cleansing."

Simultaneously there will be rallies in 60 countries, often outside Israeli embassies and consulates, protesting the activities of the "racist Zionist state."

The march is organised by, among others, Iran and terrorist organisations like Hamas. Supporters include Archbishop Tutu, Dr Jeremiah Wright - President Obama's former pastor - and Lauren Booth, Cherie Blair's sister.

A south-east Asian contingent, including activists from Indonesia, India and Pakistan, was welcomed in Iran on its way to the march by Iranian President Ahmadinejad. He told them it was no longer legitimate for Israel to occupy any part of Palestine, that the Zionist regime was "like a malignant cancerous cell," and that "the Palestinians should be running the field and God willing that will happen soon."

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign, on a website supporting the march, says "We reject all racist laws that distinguish between people based on ethnicity or religion and call for their cancellation and criminalization." In Israel, Jew and Arab can enjoy equal citizenship, and election to the Knesset, the country's parliament, is open to Jew and Arab alike. Conversely, Palestinians have said that when they get their state, no Jew will be allowed to live there.

One of the stated aims of the march is "freedom for Palestine and its capital Jerusalem." New York radio show host Aaron Klein interviewed Frank Romano, one of the march's organisers. Klein offered Romano $50,000 on air if he could name one city in the Middle East outside of Israel that has more freedom than Jerusalem. He was unable to do so.

Israel, let it be said, is not perfect. But Israel is a legitimate sovereign state. Israel did not steal its land from Palestinians, but bought it, often from absentee Arab landlords, when it was desert and malarial swamp and by hard work turned it into an economic wonder. The Global March to Jerusalem, like the Gaza flotillas and the Durban anti-Zion conferences, is nothing more than an attempt to delegitimise Israel.

Israel will have much worse to come. According to the prophecy of Zechariah:

I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem;
The city shall be taken,
The houses rifled,
And the women ravished. Zech 14:2.

Because it is prophesied in the Bible, it will happen. What is needed is to see that it doesn't happen before its time.

Supporters of Jerusalem can console themselves with the knowledge that one day Israel will be gloriously restored. Says the prophet Zephaniah:

Sing, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away your judgments,
He has cast out your enemy.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
You shall see disaster no more.

In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
"Do not fear;
Zion, let not your hands be weak.
The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you in his love,
He will rejoice over you with singing."

". . .At that time I will bring you back,
Even at the time I gather you;
For I will give you fame and praise
Among all the peoples of the earth,
When I return your captives before your eyes,"
Says the Lord. Zeph 3:14 - 18, 20.

Dangerous times

Three weeks ago, people were remembering that it was exactly 70 years since the Wannsee Conference, where Nazi leaders decided on the Final Solution to what they called "the Jewish question."

Jews in Israel are now facing a second Holocaust as their sliver of land is surrounded by enemies and Iran, who have promised to wipe Israel off the map, are putting the finishing touches to their nuclear capability.

Israeli Chief of Staff Lt Gen Benny Gantz said there is no longer any point on the Israeli map that is not within range of enemy missiles. Israeli military intelligence chief Maj Gen Aviv Kochavi said a week ago that Iran has completed the development of a nuclear weapon and is only waiting for a sign from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to start assembling its first nuclear bomb.

There have been meetings galore outside Israel to discuss the threat from a nuclear-armed Iran. The Israeli Minister of Public Diplomacy, Yuli Edelstein, told one of them: "What Israel needs now is not more meetings, but a firm commitment from the world community to stop Iran developing nuclear weapons.

"The Holocaust did not start with the first train to Auschwitz, but long before, with hate speech and demonisation of a whole people group, which finally led to actions. The train to Auschwitz could have been stopped in 1938 in Evian or in Munich, but the world community failed to act."

The European Union has placed an oil embargo on Iran in an attempt to dissuade Iran in its nuclear ambitions. The US, Britain and France have ordered additional naval forces to the Gulf. There are doubts if such moves will be effective.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested the Jewish people must not leave their fate in the hands of the international community. "How does the world react to the calls for genocide against the Jews today?" he asked the Knesset. Seventy years after the Holocaust, "Iran is calling for us to be wiped off the map. Hezbollah is calling for our extinction, as are many in Hamas. . .

"The Jerusalem Mufti (Sheik Muhammad Hussein) called on Sunday for Jews to be killed wherever they are. . . echoing his predecessor Haj Amin Al Husseini, who actively helped Hitler and Eichmann. . . I do not hear the international community condemning this. I hear them condemning buildings in the West Bank. But I don't hear them condemning this incitement."

It is impossible to say what will, or will not happen next, but there are commentators who believe that Israel will attack Iran's nuclear installations, out of a concern for their own preservation, within the next several months.

The Bible makes it clear that God has plans for Israel's future:

For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace,
And for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest,
Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,
And her salvation as a lamp that burns. Isa 62:1.

God has intercessors who pray for Israel:

I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem,
Who shall never hold their peace day or night.
You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent,
And give him no rest till he establishes
And till he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Isa 62:6, 7.

He promises to preserve Israel:

He will not allow your foot to be moved,
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep. Psa 121:3, 4.

Nevertheless, these are dangerous times. Do remember the Middle East in these difficult days.

Dangerous days

It's been an open secret that Iran has been working to obtain nuclear weapons for long enough - but the International Atomic Energy Authority's report last month about its "serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear programme" had added to the pressure.

The problem is that Iran's leadership is driven not just by political ambition but by Shia Islamic "end times" theology. Iran's Supreme Religious Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are followers of the Mahdi, or Twelfth Imam. Khamenei claims to have had a personal meeting with the Mahdi and to be his personal representative on earth.

Muhammed ibn Hasan ibn Ali, the Twelfth Imam, disappeared while a young boy hundreds of years ago. Shia Muslims like Khamenei and Ahmadinejad believe he will reappear in the last days, and all the world will then become Muslims. A way to hasten his return will be to destroy Israel and the United States.

Iran was expected to have nuclear weapons before now. Complex viruses planted on their computers, the assassination of nuclear scientists and sabotage at nuclear installations in Iran have delayed, but not ended their efforts. A recent forecast is that Iran could have five nuclear bombs by April, 2012 - four months away.

Respected commentator Joel C. Rosenberg points out that Iran calls Israel "the Little Satan" and the United States "the Great Satan." As long ago as 2005 Ahmadinejad forecast that there would soon be a world without the United States and Zionism.

Israel takes the threat to its security seriously. In recent days the Israelis have been moving weaponry around Israel - presumably in preparation for either a pre-emptive strike against Iran or for defence against a strike by Iran or its proxies. Israeli newspapers have been full of headlines about the threat of war.

The United States is taking the threat to its security not so seriously.

Scientists say the electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear device exploded 100 miles above the United States could disable the US infrastructure, leaving the whole of the US without power, transport, computers, heating, water supply or sanitation. A nuclear missile fired from a ship up to 200 miles off its coastline could affect 70 per cent of the US population.

The Christian will rejoice because he believes he knows who holds the world in His hand. We live, nevertheless, in dangerous days.