How should American Christians think about Iran, which U.S. and Israeli forces are now attacking with the stated aim of overthrowing its Islamist regime?
Saturday night, President Donald Trump announced that Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei had been killed in a strike, and Iranian state media soon confirmed it. And since late December, Iran’s dictatorship has reportedly killed thousands of anti-government protesters, which has been typical of its repressive theocratic rule across 47 years.
Historically known as Persia, Iran is a rare nation to have endured since Bible times. Straddling the crossroads of the world, it sits on the Persian Gulf, with Russia to the north, Pakistan and Afghanistan to the east, Iraq and Turkey to the west, and the wealthy oil sheikhdoms to the south.
(Continue reading the full article in Christianity Today magazine here.)
Comment by David on March 2, 2026 at 1:50 pm
It is difficult to think of a US action in the region that has not come back to haunt us. We should not assume that the demonstrations in major Iranian cities represent the country as a whole. Iran tends to have liberal cities and conservative rural areas similar to the US. Chaos may be the only outcome here.
Comment by John on March 2, 2026 at 4:56 pm
David,
I still remember all the news coverage of people celebrating in Baghdad and beating Saddam’s statue with their shoes. That was less than a month into a war that would last 8 years and create the conditions allowing for the formation of ISIL, which we would spend another decade fighting. Now I know better than to trust such things.
Comment by Dan W on March 3, 2026 at 6:48 am
The U.S. has had a lot of success in the Middle East. A few examples being the Camp David Accords, the Abraham Accords, the 1990-1991 Gulf War and the 1986 bombing of Libya (40 years ago next month.)