(Washington, D.C., October 31, 2008) -- Let me begin by saying I am hesitant to send this to you because it is an unconfirmed report, and I hope it is wrong. But I wanted you to at least be aware and we'll track the story together in the coming days.
An Israeli news service is reporting this morning that an earthquake in Iran last weekend may have been triggered by an Iranian nuclear weapons test, citing an Iranian nuclear scientist working on the project as its source.
"This past Saturday night, southern Iran experienced what was reported as a significant earthquake - a seismic event measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale," reports Arutz Sheva/Israel National News, attributing the story first to the Israel Insider website. "Its epicenter was just north of the strategic Straits of Hormuz, which separates Iran from Abu Dhabi and Oman and which is the gateway to the Persian Gulf. The report quotes an Iranian nuclear scientist who claims to be working in uranium enrichment for the project, and who said that the 'quake' was acutally an undergound nuclear bomb test. Israel Insider adds that the test/quake was actually the second in a series. Nine days ago, a 4.8 Richter scale event occurred, with its epicenter only five kilometers away from the weekend tremor. The Israel Insider source reports that two nuclear rockets are currently ready - and are intended for use against Israel in the coming months. If the report is correct, it would belie previous speculation that Iran would not begin nuclear testing until it had more nuclear-bomb production capability."
Let me stress again that this is an unconfirmed report. While the Associated Press did report a 5.0 earthquake in Iran this past weekend, as of 7:30am eastern on Friday the allegation that the quake was connected to Iranian nuclear testing has not been picked up by other major Israeli news services such as the Jerusalem Post, Ynet, or Haaretz. At the very least, let's keep praying for the peace of Jerusalem, and preparing to care for those in the epicenter who would be severely affected if war is coming soon.
Meanwhile, Israelis will soon head to the polls to choose a new prime minister and a new parliament (Knesset). Kadima leader Tzipi Livni was unable to put together a governing coalition to replace the outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. So Israel will hold national elections on February 10th. Livni, who is currently the country's Foreign Minister, will square off against former Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu. Please be praying that the Lord's will would be done in Israel as well as here in the U.S. with our own critically important elections coming next Tuesday. Americans and Israelis desperately need leaders like the "men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do." (I Chronicles 12:32)
Again, this nuke test suggestion is unconfirmed. I'll post an update if it is confirmed later; I just wanted to make you aware of it as soon as I saw it.
There's my two cents.
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