Rededicating America’s greatness by destroying the Islamic Republic

It pains me to see terms of what may be an end to the current and essential war against the Islamic Republic of Iran that may end up leaving the ayatollahs stronger and the United States weaker. I have long spoken about the need for the United States to eliminate the threats from the Islamic Republic, not through negotiation and treaties, but through decisive action and victory.  Iran may be far away, but the regime has planted agents throughout the US and the West, threatening us existentially, and the very core of our Judeo-Christian values.  

As much as I support continued widespread military action against the regime and its sources of power, this is a divine war in which the secret weapon is prayer. Following the prophecy of Jeremiah 49:34-39, God is clear that ultimately, He will destroy the might of Elam (modern Iran), and then establish His throne there. I launched the 47-day Global Prayer for Iran, to bring together Christians from the seven nations bordering Iran, and all over the world, to pray to lift the veil of darkness over Iran for the past 47 years. 

The Global Prayer for Iran coincides with the US day of prayer and rededication on May 17. I have organized a specific prayer for Iran that weekend, not to distract from but to complement that. 

Why and how are these related, and why should you care? 

I write from first-hand experience having been arrested and sentenced to death in Iran for the “crime” of converting to Christianity. I lived most of my life under the brutality and misogyny of the Islamic regime. I know with no uncertainty that the ayatollahs and IRGC leaders cannot be trusted, ever. They will do anything, make any deal, just to stay in power, and to exert their evil influence within Iran and across the world. 

It’s urgent to pray, and put action behind our prayers, to see the quick elimination of the evil of the Islamic Republic for nearly half a century. Iranians have been let down before. We cannot let that happen again. I was in Evin Prison in June 2009 during the Green Movement protests. News from outside the prison came from the hundreds of additional prisoners who suddenly swelled the prison population in Evin alone.  Thousands or more filled other prisons across Iran. They shared stories and bore the physical evidence of being beaten and tortured themselves. They witnessed the execution of Iranian civilians in the streets. We learned that many of the bodies were thrown in mass graves and literally paved over to hide evidence of the regime’s crimes. 

In my book, “A Love Journey with God,” I shared about our experience in prison then. “Government soldiers and thugs shot many people in the streets and tortured and killed hundreds more in prisoners. Evin Prison was suddenly filled to overflowing with people who had been arrested for protesting…I talked with other prisoners who saw a pool of dead students. Many people who were arrested completely disappeared.”

Iranians took to the streets chanting, pleading to President Obama, asking if he was “with us or with them (the regime).” Iranians got their answer as Obama infamously sought to negotiate with and appease the regime. Rather than preventing it from getting a nuclear weapon it can never have, Obama’s Iran deal paved the way for that. 

This January, President Trump gave encouragement to Iranians who had taken to the streets to overthrow the regime and restore Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi to lead Iran. “Help is on the way,” he wrote. But even as much as the 40 days of war in February and March was a success, it was too little, too late.  Tens of thousands of Iranians had already been slaughtered, with tens of thousands filling up the prisons like when I was in prison, and hundreds of thousands injured. 

I am concerned that terms of a deal being leaked and which President Trump is considering may even be worse than the Obama deal. Easing sanctions, releasing billions of dollars, leaving the regime in place, and not completely destroying its nuclear capabilities much less immediately getting all the nuclear material out of Iran are foolish. It will embolden the regime, showing that it resisted the US and Israel, and is still standing. It will lead to greater brutality and suffering of Iranians, and a rebuilding of the military and infrastructure and funding the Iranian terrorist proxies (axis of resistance) that threaten the world. 

At this rededication of the greatness of the United States, it’s essential for the United States to assert itself and protect its interests as well as its values.  There’s one particular example that comes to mind. In the early days of the Republic, the new United States Navy fought the Barbary Wars against North African Barbary Moslems operating from present-day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. These 18th century pirates were that generation’s Islamic terrorists, attacking merchant ships and demanded “tribute money” for safe passage in the far-away Mediterranean. 

After independence, the United States initially paid ransom and protection money to the terrorist pirates who attacked, seized, and held American ships and crew for ransom, leaving American trade vulnerable. Many American leaders, including Thomas Jefferson, opposed continual payments and believed the country should protect its commerce by force instead. Protecting American interests, the US sent naval forces to stop the attacks, fighting rather than appeasing and paying off the Islamic pirates.  

An essential part of rededicating America is rededicating ourselves to our values, to our greatness, and to assert any means necessary to protect ourselves and our liberty. As we join in prayer for America, let us also join in prayer to lift the veil of darkness over Iran, to eliminate the threat from the Islamic regime, for Iran and 90 million Iranians, but also for the United States and all Americans. 

Their tactics may not be as rudimentary as hijacking ships, but the modus operandi and goals are the same: to control and hijack as much territory as they can, to brutalize the people under their control, and to infiltrate and undermine our values and everything that is great about America.