The Treaty with Iran and the Future of Israel
Jeff Carter
I want to begin this discussion with the very clear promise of God in regards to how nations treat Israel… “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you” (Gen 12:3).
Over the last few months we have been posting on our HaDavar website news articles that focus on the Nuclear arms deal that the P5 + 1 nations have been working on with Iran. Now that the deal has been ratified I wanted to offer a brief overview of the recent events in the middle-east as it pertains to the effect this treaty might have on Israel—and perhaps shed some light on how we have found ourselves in this situation. This will be part one of a two-part article.
The place to start is that Iran has been unequivocal in its stated desire to wipe Israel off the map. According to Iran’s Tansim news agency, in a recent article, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps described “the Zionist regime” as the common enemy of Islamic nations, and its destruction remains a top priority of the Muslim world. In an article on unitedwithisrael.org this headline recently ran: “An Iranian general threatened to destroy Israel with 80,000 missiles, as negotiations with the US and world powers regarding its nuclear program are taking place.”
With Israel being such a staunch ally of the United States in the middle east, the question begs to be answered, why is President Obama so intent on setting up Iran as a key player, not only in the region, but in the world? Again, Iran is a nation that consistently and loudly proclaims that Israel, as well as the United States, are its sworn enemies.
In a recent article on unitedwithisrael.org, a top Iranian official made it very clear how Iran views the U.S. “Iranian Ground Force Commander Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan said that no agreement between his country and the P5+1 could erase Iran’s hatred towards the US.” This statement was made just one day prior to the deadline for the talks to end. And then just one day after the agreement was reached, Iranian religious leader Ali Khomeinei echoed these same comments.
So, what exactly will this treaty accomplish? It might be instructive to look at what is not addressed in this agreement:
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According to The Times of Israel, July 14, 2015:
The Iranian regime was not required, as a condition for this deal, to disclose the previous military dimensions of its nuclear program—to come clean on its violations—in order both to ensure effective inspections of all relevant facilities and to shatter the Iranian-dispelled myth that it has never breached its non-proliferation obligations.
The Iranian regime has not been required to halt all uranium enrichment, including thousands of centrifuges spinning at its main Natanz enrichment facility.
The Iranian regime has not been required to shut down and dismantle its Arak heavy water reactor and plutonium production plant.
The Iranian regime has not been required to shut down and dismantle the underground uranium enrichment facility it built secretly at Fordo.
The Iranian regime has not been required to halt its ongoing missile development [missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads].
The Iranian regime has not been required to halt research and development of the faster centrifuges that will enable it to break out to the bomb far more rapidly than is currently the case.
The international community has not established procedures setting out how it will respond to different classes of Iranian violations, to ensure that the international community can act with sufficient speed and efficiency to thwart a breakout to the bomb.
The Iranian regime has not been required to halt its arming, financing and training of the Hezbollah terrorist army in south Lebanon.
The Iranian leadership has not agreed to stop inciting hatred among its people against Israel and the United States and to stop its relentless calls for the annihilation of Israel.
- Although the U.S. agreed to release Iranian prisoners as a part of this deal, the 4 Americans still being held hostage in Iran were not released. When asked in a news conference about this travesty, Obama berated the reporter who dared ask the question.
- Netanyahu recently quipped, “…the agreement gives Iran 24 days’ notice before an inspection-which is like giving a criminal organization that produces drugs a 24-hour warning before performing a search.”
- According to the Times of Israel, July 15, 2015, “US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry essentially determined the future of the Middle East, and established Iran’s hegemony [domination, control] in the region at the expense of Saudi Arabia and the Sunni world. Rouhani and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khomeinei, who approved the accord, understood that they didn’t need to get the bomb in order to become the key regional power. It would be enough to become a nuclear threshold state with billions of additional dollars at its disposal and to achieve greater influence in the Middle East.”
Even beyond its current formidable conventional military capability, adding nuclear weapons to its arsenal would make the very vocal claims of this regime, in light of its clear prejudices, clearly more than just rhetoric. It would give a terrorist state, which is bent on Israel’s destruction, nuclear capability. And, rather than frustrating Iran’s efforts, this treaty will ensure Iran’s capability of obtaining nuclear weapons in the near future. Despite this very real threat to Israel’s existence, the Obama administration has been steadfast, if not maniacal in its desire to make this treaty happen.
So what is Obama’s play here? Why is he so intent on betraying our nation’s closest ally and getting into bed with the world’s leading national sponsor of terrorism? In an article in “National Review” from Feb. 27, 2015, David Harsanyi began his missive by declaring, “The Obama administration values a future relationship with Iran more than it values the historic relationship it has with Israel.” And that, I believe is the foundational truth to understand when approaching this topic. This will be explored more fully in part 2 of this month’s HaDavar newsletter article.
Daniel 2:21 says that it is God that removes kings and establishes kings. The theme of Daniel can easily be seen as how our sovereign God is in control of the rise and fall of nations-as well as the course of human history. Regardless of how helpless we might feel when watching these events unfold; and how ludicrous some of the decisions might seem, we can be confident that our God is still in control. There is not one maverick molecule in the universe that escapes His watchful eye.
We will explore in the second part of this article how these events very well may be setting up a scenario we find detailed in a famous prophecy in Ezekiel 38-39. This prophecy describes a coalition between Russia and Iran and several other nations in the region, and how this coalition will attempt to invade Israel. And the good news is (spoiler alert)—God stops the invasion and puts His name on display so the world might see His glory.
-Jeff