Appendix 9: Where is PERSIA?

Ezekiel 38:5 lists Persia as the principal (first mentioned) ally of Magog in the end-time war against Israel. Persia is easy to identify as modern Iran. The Persian Empire centered in the land we know today as Iran. In fact, Iran was called Persia until 1935, then Iran, then in the 1979 Revolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran. Once she was pro-western and pro-Israel but after Khomeini’s Islamic Revolution, she became anti-western, anti-Israel and more within the Russian sphere of influence.

Iran is a predominantly Muslim nation, with a radical fundamentalist leadership. Israel considers Iran as its most dangerous enemy. She desires to lead the Muslim world, taking centre stage to bring Muslim and Arab nations together against Israel and the USA. She wants all Muslim nations to devise a common strategy against Israel in the Middle East. Iran is the most extreme of the extremists. Hezbullah is essentially an arm of Iran. Hamas is becoming increasingly dependent on her. On many occasions her leaders have expressed the desire to wipe Israel from the map, which is why there is so much concern that she is determined to have a nuclear capability. She supports many terrorist groups and could easily pass nuclear weapons to them to use against Israel and the West. That is why sanctions have been applied but Russia has protected Iran from the worst of them, because she has many lucrative contracts with her, including helping Iran build its nuclear reactor and selling weapons to her. The Ezekiel Invasion might either be excused as a liberation force for the Palestinians, or be triggered by a pre-emptive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, to stop her getting the bomb. Russia continues to align herself with Israel's enemies, and the top of this list is Iran, who would not hesitate to join in this invasion. In order to mount this large-scale invasion, Russia needs Iran as an ally. It would be much more difficult to move a large land army across the Caucasus Mountains bordering Turkey, than the Elburz Mountains bordering Iran. Her general terrain is also easier to cross than Turkey's. Transportation will be needed through both countries.