Ayman S. Ibrahim, the Islamic professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, warned us here in 2015 about duplicitous Iran.

“Following news of the nuclear deal with the United States, Iranians celebrated in the streets over what they viewed as a national victory . . . While American leaders are convinced that this deal is their country’s way to keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, I as a Middle Eastern observer view this nuclear deal with Iran as a misstep, since it does not account for a very important dimension of the Iranian perspective. The deal naively ignores serious ideological Muslim Shiite beliefs . . . First, in Shiite Islam, the official religion in Iran, there is an Islamic principle known as taqiyya that refers to the concealment of beliefs, or pretending what is opposite of one’s inner thoughts or convictions. Taqiyya is a form of religious and lawful tactical deception, or a form of a legitimate ideological lie . . . Second, while Sunni Muslims tend to look back to the golden days of Muhammad, his companions and the Rightly Guided Caliphs, Shiite Muslims look forward to the future, to the days when the hidden Imam Mahdi (the Shiite messiah) will appear as the savior of Islam and will be victorious “over the whole east and west of the world” . . . Shiites believe that Imam Mahdi will rule for a debated number of years, wage war against the infidels, and then the end will come. Most Shiites today believe that Imam Mahdi is already alive, born in the middle of the third century of Islam in the city of Samarra, and has been alive since then but is currently hidden through the so-called “second heavenly concealment.” His reappearance is linked with a strong resurgence of Shiite Islam and a victorious Muslim community. If taqiyya relates to present days, the advent of the Imam Mahdi is a religious conviction that is eschatological and apocalyptic.“

Ibrahim, born in Egypt is no wild-eyed lunatic. He holds two earned PhDs in Islam and is one of the world’s foremost experts on Islam. In April 2026 he warned the west here not to trust Iran’s “cloud of lies.”

“Iran’s regime has spent decades proving it lies, cheats, kills, and hides behind its own people as human shields to protect the regime. Anyone who treats this deal as a handshake with a trustworthy partner is willfully blind . . . Washington must enter Islamabad with eyes wide open, ironclad verification mechanisms, and the credible threat of resumed strikes if Shiite Iranians cheat. They will surely try.”

The problem is that Washington policitians by nature tend to “massage” the truth. Once sucked into that deceptive worldview, they are prone to being manipulated by lies.

They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. (2 Thess 2:10-12)

Ancient Persia (modern Iran) is destined to play a role at the end of history. As GotQuestions notes here,

There are several biblical prophecies of the end times that mention Iran, called Persia or Elam in the Bible. Given the fact that Iran is often in the news as a nation seeking armaments (possibly nuclear) and repeatedly issuing threats against Israel, students of Bible prophecy are taking note . . . Persia (modern-day Iran) is mentioned as part of a coalition that will attack Israel in the end times, as described in Ezekiel 38–39. Some interpretations suggest Persia plays a significant role in these events, though the exact details are subject to theological debate.

Persia is predominate in Biblical history – see here. While we may not know with precision the details, the Biblical warning is clear about Iran. Yet, as the the pastor points out,

We can take comfort that God oversees history. When we face uncertain times, these bible verses about persia encourage us to trust God’s sovereignty, to act faithfully, and to pray for leaders. We also see a call to be brave and faithful like Esther, Ezra, and Nehemiah, who served God in difficult seasons. Let us pray for wisdom to see God’s hand in our own story, and let us be ready to play our part, small or large, in His unfolding plan. We go forward encouraged that the same God who guided events in Persia walks with us today.