Iranian Unrest, Russian Cooperation, Nuclear Bomb

From Joel C. Rosenberg:

Prophetic? As Iranian forces murder pro-democracy protesters, Ahmadinejad heads straight for Moscow.

FLASH: IAEA head admits Iran seeking nuclear bomb

Students of Bible prophecy should keep a close eye on events unfolding in Iran and the epicenter, and keep praying for the Lord to have mercy on that country. With upwards of a million young, pro-democracy Reformers on the streets of Iran demanding an end to the Radicals' regime, Iranian security forces have murdered as many as two dozen protesters. Iranian leaders are now threatening the Reformers with the death penalty. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — freshly annointed by the Supreme Leader to stay as the face and voice of the regime's apocalyptic agenda — couldn't care less. Ahmadinejad headed straight for Moscow yesterday. There, he met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to continue building a political and military alliance between Russia, China, Iran and Islamic countries in Central Asia. Currently, Iran has "observer" status in the SCO, but has requested full member status. The SCO alliance is evocative of the eastern-portion of the biblical alliance foretold in Ezekiel 38-39 that will come against Israel and seek to destroy the Jewish people in what the Bible calls the "last days" of history. When one considers how closely Russia and Iran are currently growing to the western portion of the prophetic alliance — Sudan, Libya and Algeria, for example — it's not hard to envision these prophecies coming true in our lifetime, or even in the next few years. That said, I believe it is currently too soon to draw any conclusions. There are many intriguing trends and developments, but it remains far from clear that we're seeing Bible prophecy come to pass. That said, we cannot rule out the possibility. Events in the region are both unprecedented and riveting. All the more reason for followers of Jesus Christ to "get ready and be prepared" for whatever lies ahead.

MIRACLE, OR MANIPULATION? Excerpt from an NYT story worth noting: "Iranians are generally united in viewing the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to another four-year term as a miracle. Some believe it in the literal sense that the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, seemed to intend when he said 'the miraculous hand of God' was at work. Others believe it in the sense that they see no earthly explanation why an incumbent who presided over worsening inflation, unemployment and isolation would draw more than seven million more votes than in his first victory." Observation: With the full backing of his Supreme Leader for his apocalyptic End Times beliefs, is Ahmadinejad more or less likely to give up Iran's nuclear weapons program to the Obama administration?

Just keeping you informed.

Also, here's an excerpt from that mention above of Iran wanting a nuke:

Mohammed ElBaradei told the BBC that countries with nuclear weapons were treated differently to those without.

He said North Korea, with a bomb, was invited to the conference table, while Saddam Hussein's Iraq, without one, was - as he put it - pulverised.

"It is my gut feeling that Iran would like to have the technology to enable it to have nuclear weapons,"

"They want to send a message to their neighbours, to the rest of the world, don't mess with us.

"But the ultimate aim of Iran, as I understand it, is they want to be recognised as a major power in the Middle East.

"This is to them the road to get that recognition, to get that power and prestige. It is also an insurance policy against what they have heard in the past about regime change."

As with most of the international community, El-Baradei is pretty soft in terms of cracking down or enforcement of any kind, so for him to publicly say he thinks Iran is going for nukes...well, let's just say this is something that the world should take seriously.  Remember, this is the man who has repeatedly pledged to 'wipe Israel off the map' and see America's destruction (he oh-so-affectionately calls the U.S. 'the Great Satan').  He believes his holy mission in life is to start the war that brings the end of the world.

Letting him get nukes is not exactly in our best interest, you know?

There's my two cents.