A Nuclear Iran
By Chuck Missler - www.khouse.org
Focus on
Jerusalem Prophecy Ministry has extensively documented the imminent threat that
Iran (Persia) represents in Bible Prophecy. This article by Chuck Missler is an
excellent article on the gathering geo-political dilemma that is posed by the
prospect of a nuclear Iran. The nation of Iran, or Persia, will play a
significant role in end-time events, and will be a prominent player in the
prophesied invasion against Israel by a coalition of nations led by Russia. The
timing of the great Ezekiel 38/39 invasion has often been debated by scholars of
eschatology, but the fact that Iran has openly claimed that it will destroy the
state of Israel when it acquires a nuclear weapon is evidence that the world is
already witnessing the building scenario of that prophecy. FOJ believes that the
Russia-Persia alliance will invade Israel after the decline or amalgamation of
the US under the umbrella of the empire of the Antichrist. Therefore FOJ
contends that the hook-in-the-jaws placed into Magog could be the
terrorist-Islamic-nuclear link by Persia, and that the Russian invasion will be
a confrontation with the Antichrist, when He encircles Israel in the Middle East
in a late Tribulation era setting.
The
dispute over Iran's nuclear program has held a prominent place in the news in
recent months, and for good reason. It is a considerable threat to our national
security and will most likely have disastrous consequences in the Middle East.
Iran claims that under Article 4 of the Non-Proliferation Treaty they have the
right to develop nuclear capabilities. Iran insists that it is pursuing nuclear
technology for peaceful energy purposes, but that leads to the obvious question:
why would a nation with immense oil and gas reserves need nuclear energy?
Iran
claims it is building costly nuclear fuel cycle facilities to meet future
electricity needs, while preserving oil and gas for export, but Iran's uranium
reserves are minuscule, accounting for less than one percent of its vast oil
reserves. Iran controls 11 percent of the world's oil reserves and its natural
gas reserves are the second largest in the world. Iran does not have enough
indigenous uranium resources to fuel even one power-generating reactor over its
lifetime, but it does have enough uranium to make several nuclear bombs.
According to a report by the US State Department on Iran's nuclear program: "The
costly infrastructure needed to perform all of these activities goes well beyond
any conceivable peaceful nuclear program. No comparable oil-rich nation has ever
engaged, or would be engaged, in this set of activities, or would pursue them
for nearly two decades behind a continuing cloud of secrecy and lies to IAEA
inspectors and the international community, unless it was dead set on building
nuclear weapons."
This
realization leads us to another important question: if Iran is successful in
developing a peaceful nuclear energy program, how difficult would it be to use
that technology to make nuclear weapons? Nuclear power plants need 3-4% enriched
uranium for fuel, but natural uranium only contains 0.7%. Thus, uranium must be
processed in a uranium enrichment facility before it can be used as fuel for
nuclear power. What most people don't realize is the exact same technology and
equipment used to enrich uranium for fuel can be used to enrich uranium for
nuclear weapons, it simply requires more passes through the enrichment plant. A
nuclear bomb requires about 90% enriched uranium, which is high compared to the
percentage found in fuel. But, according to experts, it requires more energy to
convert natural uranium to fuel than it takes to convert fuel into weapons-grade
uranium.
The
director general of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said
that there are currently more than 40 countries with peaceful nuclear programs
that could modify their technology to create nuclear weapons.
Iran May Employ EMP
The May
edition of Jane's Missiles and Rockets reports that recent missile tests by Iran
may have been part of the development of an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) warhead.
Jane's cites recent testimony by Peter Pry and Lowell Wood from the Senate
Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland
Security. (Wood was also a member of the Congressional EMP Commission, which
released a report on the EMP threat last July). Iran has practiced detonating
its Shahab-3 missiles while in midair, which has led some intelligence officials
to suspect that Iran is practicing the execution of an EMP attack. The missiles
were fired from ships in the Caspian Sea. Pry testified that, "a nuclear missile
concealed in the hold of a freighter would give Iran or terrorists the
capability to perform an EMP attack against the United States homeland without
developing an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile). Iran's Shahab-3
medium-range missile is a mobile missile and small enough to be transported in
the hold of a freighter. We cannot rule out that Iran, the world's leading
sponsor of international terrorism, might provide terrorists with the means to
execute an EMP attack against the United States."
Iran
has openly admitted that it plans to convert 40 tons of raw uranium into fuel
for nuclear centrifuges. That amount of enriched uranium would be enough
material to create five nuclear weapons. The US intelligence community has
obtained copies of over 1,000 pages of drawings and documents intended to assist
Iran in the development of a nuclear warhead. Iran has already begun conducting
tests of a nuclear-triggering mechanism and has purchased at least six
nuclear-capable cruise missiles from the Ukraine. The Kh-55 cruise missile has a
range of 3,000 km and is capable of carrying a 200-kiloton nuclear warhead. Iran
has also purchased massive amounts of beryllium, a key component necessary in
the creation of a nuclear weapon.
Exhausting Diplomatic Channels
In
November 2004 Iran agreed to a temporary suspension of its uranium enrichment
program. Since that time, the EU and Iran have held six rounds of talks. The
negotiations have yet to produce tangible results and the EU is still scrambling
to find a long-term solution to the problem. In fact, the only thing it has
truly accomplished is to delay the matter from being handed over to the UN
Security Council, where the US has recommended the use of sanctions against
Iran. If the issue does go to the Security Council, it is unlikely that any
action would be taken. Russia and China, both of which have veto power as
permanent members of the Security Council, have said they are against imposing
UN sanctions on Iran. Unlike the US, which has enforced an embargo on Iran
for 25 years, China and Russia have strategic interests in the oil-and-gas-rich
nation. China has made plans to purchase over $70 billion worth of liquefied
natural gas from Iran over the next 30 years, and Russia has been the
beneficiary of multiple lucrative contracts to help Iran develop nuclear energy.
Iran is well aware of this fact and has expressed little concern over the threat
of sanctions.
The Great Satan
Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran's foreign relations have been
tumultuous, and relations between the US and Iran are virtually nonexistent. The
situation has become so troublesome that for the first time since 1979, the
United States is openly attempting to support democracy in Iran. The US
government plans to set aside $3 million for non-governmental educational and
humanitarian groups inside Iran that promote democracy.
The
US State Department calls the Islamic Republic of Iran the world's "most active
state sponsor of terrorism." Iran continues
to provide funding, weapons, training, and sanctuary to numerous terrorist
groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Iran is
governed by Shiite Muslim clerics committed to a stern interpretation of Islamic
law. Hatred of the United States has been a key component of Iranian foreign
policy since the Islamic revolution and Iran's leaders often refer to the United
States as the "Great Satan."
Iran's distaste for the US is surpassed only by their extreme hatred of Israel.
Each September Iran holds its annual show of military might, an event
commemorating the outbreak of war with Iraq in 1980. Last year, Iran paraded its
range of ballistic missiles through the streets of Tehran draped in banners with
anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans. A banner stating "Israel must be
wiped off the map" was draped on the side of a Shahab-2 missile, while a
banner saying "we will crush America under our feet" was on the side of a
trailer carrying the latest Shahab-3 missile. The Shahab-3 missile, whose name
means "meteor" or "shooting star" in Farsi, is capable of carrying a one-ton
warhead at least 1,300 km, well within range of Israel. Iran is also developing
missiles with even greater range, including one that it says will be used to
launch satellites, but that experts say could also be used as an
intercontinental ballistic missile.
A Preemptive Strike
The
possibility of a preemptive strike by Israel or the US is the one course of
action that seems to make Iran uneasy. Iran has previously disclosed the
existence of a uranium-enrichment plant, which is known to have large
underground buildings that could accommodate thousands of gas centrifuges. Some
experts suspect that Israel might attempt to destroy Iran' s nuclear facilities
with a preemptive military strike, as it did in 1981 with Iraq's Osiraq nuclear
facility.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said that Israel does not plan to use
military action to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities. Instead, Sharon has
urged the international community to take action before it is too late. However
Israel has made plans to purchase $319 million worth of weapons from the US,
including 500 one-ton "bunker buster" bombs. These 2,000-pound bombs can
penetrate walls more than two meters thick and could be used to destroy Iran's
underground nuclear facilities.
Iran
has said that it will continue its nuclear program despite opposition from the
international community. Iran has also threatened to pull out of the nuclear
nonproliferation treaty and appears willing to risk international isolation.
Should the standoff continue, Iran's defiance may leave the US with military
force as the only available course of action.
Biblical Relevance?
As
we reflect on the storm clouds gathering on the horizon, let's also remember
that in the famed "Magog Invasion" of Ezekiel 38 and 39, Iran ("Persia" or Elam)
is the principal ally in this ill-fated incursion into Israel. What is
disturbingly problematic is the apparent hint:
And I
will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles
[or coastlands] : and they shall know that I am the LORD. (Ezekiel 39:6)
There
are some that suspect that this (COASTLANDS) could be a reference to an exchange
with the United States.