Shanghai Cooperation Organization meetings are underway in 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?

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HEADLINES TO TRACK:

• Khamenei on the Ropes?
• Opposition eyes new Iran rally as crackdown worsens
• Iran’s Revolutionary Guards issue warning to media
• Mossad head: Iran will have bomb by 2014
• Barak: Mousavi is a fundamentalist too
• Defiant Ahmadinejad blasts US at Russia summit
• Iran and Russia nip at US global dominance: At conference in Siberia, leaders of Russia, China, India, and Iran float idea of new ‘supranational’ currency
• New media empowers Iran opposition: On Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and via text messages: An inside look on how the Iranian political struggle is really being fought