As Christians, we take our role as Watchmen on the Walls for Zion seriously. We must be aware of the threats against Israel and be in prayer about the ongoing situation with Iran.
In this article:
- Why is a war with Iran a possibility?
- Will the US strike Iran?
- Is the UK holding America back?
- Other Iranian problems for the UK
- Christian Watchmen must be in prayer
Why is a war with Iran a possibility?
For many years, the largest threat facing Israel has not come from the Palestinians but from Iran.
The Iranian regime in Tehran, headed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, seems hell-bent on the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people. Khamenei has an apocalyptic worldview that requires Islamists to go to war against the Jews in order to bring about the Muslim version of the End Times.
This worldview has shaped Iran’s foreign policy for decades, and the Ayatollahs have spearheaded its genocidal ambitions against Israel by becoming the largest sponsor of terrorism in the world.
Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) are all fully funded and directed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Hamas, while not under its direct control, has been trained, funded, and supported by the Iranian regime.
Over the last two years, the Iranians have seen much of their heavy investment in terror come crashing down. Israel has fought a seven-front war against terrorist groups since October 7th, and has come out on top in every scenario.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) operation against Hezbollah in particular, which is Iran’s largest terror group, sent shockwaves around the world.
The pager plot in September 2024, which took over a decade of planning, resulted in thousands of Hezbollah operatives being immobilised simultaneously. Hezbollah’s communications network was almost completely disabled, and following the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, the terror group largely lost its grip on Lebanon.
Following on from this, Iran has realised that it lacked the ability to beat Israel in a conventional war. The regime pivoted back to developing nuclear weapons, which resulted in US and Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites last year to try to put an end to Iran’s nuclear plans.
Unfortunately, the strikes on Iranian nuclear sites are not thought to have completely stopped the programme, but instead set them back and delayed their plans.
However, the strikes also revealed to Iran what an attack from the US and Israel looked like. This has meant the regime is rebuilding its nuclear sites again, but with this information, it is trying to ensure future strikes will not be capable of doing the same damage.
We must not underestimate Iran. The Iranians are very clever people, and the regime has been strategic in its plans. They have also proven themselves to be ruthless.
When Iranian protesters rose up on the streets of Iran at the beginning of the year, the regime’s response was to carry out one of the most brutal massacres in recent history. We still do not know the full details of these massacres, but it is estimated that tens-of-thousands of Iranian civilians were murdered in just two days by the Iranian regime.
Internet access was cut off for weeks, and even now it is only at around 50% of the traffic it was beforehand. This is having an impact on the Iranian economy, but also on information sharing.
We see what Iran has done to its own people, whom it claims to protect. There is no doubt that if the regime had the capabilities, it would inflict far worse horrors on its enemies. Particularly Israel and the USA.
This is why Israel and the US must have wisdom in dealing with the regime.
Will the US and Israel strike Iran?
At the beginning of the year, it appeared that the USA was not in a position to strike the Iranian regime. Despite Trump saying to the protesters that “help is on the way”, the reality was that the US military had to manoeuvre its assets to the Middle East to carry out effective strikes and put maximum pressure on Iran. Now, the USA seems to have everything ready and in place for strikes.
The Trump administration is ensuring that if it needs to strike Iran, it can. But President Trump has made it clear that they would prefer an agreement to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions rather than take military action.
Iran cannot be trusted
We have to say that whilst we do not want to see war, we are extremely wary of nuclear deals with Iran.
In 2015, when President Obama struck a deal with Iran, we were very clear that we did not trust the Iranians. And lo and behold, the Iranians proved us right.
Nothing has changed in Iran’s plans, but the circumstances only deepen our concern over Iran. The Iranian regime now has limited options for its genocidal ambitions against Israel, and the nuclear option seems the most reliable for them.
Just as with the last time, a new deal for Iran is only to buy time. No Western politician should be under the delusion that Iran has changed its ambitions. It hasn’t.
A new deal will see sanctions relief for Iran, resulting in an influx of money to help the regime stabilise the unrest in the country and rebuild its economy.
The regime will have time to build new nuclear facilities, under the guise of “civilian infrastructure”, and they’ll ensure that, this time, they are even deeper underground and more secure from future attack than the last time. The Iranians know that American presidents come and go. The Ayatollah’s are playing the long game.
Is the UK holding America and Israel back?
Disappointingly, the UK is largely on the sidelines when it comes to standing up to the Iranian regime. However, it may also be holding the US back.
Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government is not making life easy for our allies’ plans to strike Iran.
The UK is said to be blocking Trump from using RAF bases for strikes on Iran.
The US has in the past used RAF Fairford, in Gloucestershire, and the UK overseas territory of Diego Garcia, part of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean.
Neither of these bases was used last year when the US struck Iran’s nuclear sites. However, it seems the strikes on Iran this time around, particularly if the aim is regime change, would require a much longer and sustained military campaign that would require far more resources.
Other Iranian problems for the UK
In the last few weeks, the European Union (EU) outlawed Iran’s IRGC. Regretably, the UK is yet to follow suit.
CUFI UK is currently calling on the UK government to outlaw the IRGC. If you’d like to add your voice to this campaign, please click here.
We also learned this week that Iran has sentenced two innocent British citizens to ten years in prison on false accusations of “espionage”.
The British couple, Lindsay and Craig Foreman, were avid travellers, passing through the country on an around-the-world motorcycle journey. They were arrested and detained in January 2025 and have been held since then in Iran’s notorious Evin prison.
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has said the government will “pursue this case relentlessly”. However, as we know from the past, Iran uses these people as pawns to exert political pressure on governments. The UK taxpayer will likely be footing a large bill to the regime to secure their release. They will also likely be using this couple as leverage to stop a ban on the IRGC.
Christian Watchmen must be in prayer
Christian Watchmen are praying for Israel and looking at this from numerous perspectives.
The Iranian regime’s hatred towards God’s people cannot be underestimated. And just as in the time of Esther and Mordecai, there is a spiritual element to what we are witnessing with Iran today, as it mimics that of the Persian Empire of the Bible in which Haman plotted to wipe out the Jewish people. We see echoes of this same genocidal hatred in Iran’s regime.
There are also many questions we don’t have answers to. Is regime change possible? If so, is it a good thing? Does it guarantee friendship between Israel and Iran? Will it bring about lasting peace, or will it only be temporary? Who will fill the void left by the Iranian regime, as after all, not all Iranians are pro-Israel, even those who oppose the Ayatollahs? Or, will nothing change, will a deal be made, and will Israel continue to have the threat of a nuclear Iran in its future?
There are many possible outcomes to this situation.
Ultimately, we pray that God’s will be done. That His hand will be upon America, Israel, and Britain, and that Israel and the Jewish people will be protected from this rogue threat.
We are also praying that one day the Iranian people will finally be free from their oppressive government.
