A street scene from Tehran shows a mural with Iran’s supreme leader. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/Reuters

“If Ifs And Buts Were Candy And Nuts, We’d All Have A Merry Christmas” 

“If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
If turnips were watches, I’d wear one by my side.
If “ifs” and “ands” were pots and pans,
There’d be no work for tinkers’ hands.”

Regime change. The ayatollahs vanish, Twelver Shi’ism and shiite Islamic theocracy vaporize from Iran, and the people live in peace, live as they did prior to 1975. Wishful thinking.

Yes, damage was done. No one really knows how much. Not even the Iranians, let alone others speculating, looking at satellite images, receiving intel from the ground from implanted operatives.

How about we all calm down, folks, and let daily reality sink in. Let’s not overreact one way or the other, that Iran was barely damaged and within a few months will have their nuclear weapons program fully operational again, or to swing the pendulum to the far other side, they’ve been so obliterated they’re done, no coming back, it’ll take decades to recover.

I imagine reality lies somewhere between, but few ever want to face, reside in reality, do they? What? You disagree? Fine, how about looking around a bit deeper, longer? Listening a bit more intently?

Khamenei is going to die. He’s 85. Not invincible. Here’s the thing, all you wishful non-thinkers who are stuck in the whirlwind of noise and illusion due to a steady diet of television so-called news [no matter the letters comprising their name], due to listening to relatives, friends, and co-workers, and the tatted up, rings and posts through 27 points in her once lovely head barista serving you your $29.95 16oz. triple 5,000 calories of fat and sugar beverage still called coffee — once Khamenei dies, either via natural cause or assassination, there is a long line of Twelver Shi’ism clerics, ayatollahs all established to take his place. And all the lesser officers in the regime who managed to survive the brilliant early moments attack from Israel, as their high-ranking officers were eliminated, are eager to fill the vacancy and live for the cause, not of the past 46 years as is reported, but the past 1500 years.

Islam is not merely a geopolitical, cultural, or religious way of life. Islam is evil at its core. It’s truly too bad the overwhelming majority refuse to acknowledge this fact.

You see, if a professed believer, a truly faithful born from above, born anew within by faith in Jesus Christ, Yeshua Hamashiac — God — and having even a cursory understanding of God’s Word, you ought to know about Bible prophecy. How every prophecy in the Holy Bible to date has come true. As it was said, as it was written. And that the Holy Bible is the ONLY Book of any faith that is one-third prophecy. No other faith has prophecy in it. The belief in shiite Islam of the 12th Imam, the Mahdi coming to destroy every infidel and establish a worldwide Islamist caliphate was just a stolen and modified to fit his narrative bit from Mohammed, who stole from the Torah, and from the New Testament in writing the Qur’an. In order to be a true prophet, everything said or written must come to be, 100%, no halfway, no near misses, no mulligans. 100% spot on, come to be or else you’re a false prophet, baby. Not from God. Every made up faith that brought about those illusionary, delusional, and misleading beliefs knew that if they included prophecy and it didn’t come to fruition, it would be difficult to attract and retain adherents to all the lies within.

There’s been a lot of chatter, babel really, from the exiled crown prince, from various officials and leaders around the world, on air, a lot of talking heads, a lot said — way too much actually — about regime change, the Iranian people rising up and taking back their country.

The Iranian people, living there, know better. They know what would happen to them if they broached such a revolution. Especially since they are not permitted to own guns, have no weapons other than knives, pitchforks, clubs, and such.

You honestly want to continue to pitch your tent in HappyHappyHappyDelusionalLand and believe all the bad guys are going to surrender, or die, or flee, and all the good people are going to once again live happily ever after?

Whew.

Mature in wisdom of human nature, history, the evil hearts and minds of man — and even more so — mature and grow in spiritual wisdom and discernment, recognizing the seasons, the times, according to current events, history, and THE WHOLE WORD OF GOD.

Let’s just say, for argument’s sake, I’m dead wrong. My Mr. Sunshine title is revoked, and all the wishful dreamers are correct.

This next part is for those believers who imagine a peaceful Iran, with the ayatollahs being tossed out, and things returning to a monarchy, as it was prior to the Iranian Revolution of the 1970s.

Explain to me, I’ll gladly and eagerly await your response — how the most likely impact event on earth, I mean a whopper of an impact event, think BIG, not an election outcome, not your tax refund, not that your lazy 18-year-old son, who plays video games 16 hours a day on his phone and you haven’t seen his face in over a year, as his head is always bent forward, [“When did you grow that moustache!”] managed somehow to make it through high school and graduate, but then, standards, curriculum are low and don’t demand much, do they? — I mean a truly impactful world event — either The Rapture quickly followed by the Ezekiel 38 war, or the Ezekiel 38 war with The Rapture swiftly occurring thereafter happens. THAT impactful an event.  If Iran is no longer a rabid Twelver Shi’ism led Islamist jihad theocracy, and becomes once again a land ruled by a Westernized not pushing the Islam so much monarchy that was never allied with Russia, never allied with the nations of the Ezekiel 38 war, how will Iran be in such a place to rise up against Israel, with Russia and the nations Gog leads?

And the Ezekiel 38 war is NOT Armageddon. Different major war. It helps to read the Holy Bible. Pray before reading, pray while reading, pray upon finishing something read — for spiritual wisdom and discernment, because none of us can come, will come to know, to see, to understand without our faithfully trusting in God, in Jesus, in the Holy Spirit to provide us the discernment we need.

It is necessary to read, know, and understand what comes before and what comes after. Context. Rather important.

Ezekiel 37, Ezekiel 38, and Ezekiel 39 are in chronological order. Ezekiel 37 was fulfilled, and continues to be fulfilled. The people have and are returning to the land God promised Abraham and them. Israel, the dry bones, were made flesh and a nation was born in a day — May 14th, 1948. Not made for the first time due to anything the United Nations or anything it did. Not by the will of man. Men and women were only instruments of God to bring about His will. To fulfill the Word of God. Israel was RESTORED by God. For such a time as this. For the fulfillment of every word of Bible prophecy. For the fulfillment of Romans 9, Romans 10, and Romans 11.

The earthquake in Ezekiel 38 is not the earthquake of Revelation 16. Different earthquake. Different MAJOR IMPACT EVENT. In Revelation 16, the remaining people on earth are in the throes, the great suffering of the Great Tribulation. The time of the Antichrist and his false prophet. Right before the LORD Jesus Christ, Yeshua Hamashiac, returns a Second and Final time, with the assembly of all the believers in Him, those who had died in faith through the years, and those who were in The Rapture.

Ezekiel 38 is a time, a war prior to the revealing of the Antichrist, his false prophet, and the ushering in of the seven-year Great Tribulation. Which will be a time of woe, pain, death, violence, famines, disease, and suffering never known on earth, nor to ever be known again.

And you don’t want to turn to the LORD in faith, in repentance, and be spared this? Because it’s a lot closer than further away.

It is likely, as I’m not a prophet; I’m just a regular guy, well, even less than regular. I only know what the Holy Spirit instills, shows me, and teaches me through faithful, prayerful reading, study, and meditation on God’s whole Word, while being a keen observer of the times in which I live. That’s all.

Anyone can know these things. Have the necessary spiritual wisdom and understanding.

It is likely, I digressed, not that that ever happens, right? It is likely that the events that occurred recently are the overture, the prelude to a time of peace and prosperity for Israel. Great increase for Israel. Which further enflames with a white hot hatred Israel’s enemies, mainly the shiite Islamists, who serve Satan and a made-up god that does not exist, and the evil regime is not done. Not gone. Not going anywhere. Iran will regroup. Gather itself. It has mighty allies — Russia, Communist China, North Korea, Turkey, and a few others firmly in its camp.

I had my Thursday morning Bible study this morning, with a brother in Christ, a one-to-one gathering we’ve been doing for many months now, and we’ve been in the Book of Revelation.

I mentioned in the course of our time, I’m old, not feeble, not senile, but I do not recall word for word, but I said words to this effect; “I know people were elated and all the talk when President Trump was elected in November focused on America, America is going to come back, an American revival, but I believe, as God raises up kings and sets kings down, all leaders are ordained by God, that God did not so much raise President Trump up to lead America, as he is dong very well, but God raised President Trump up due to what President Trump would do with regard to Israel and His people. Americans, it’s understandable, have an America-centric view, but Israel is the center of the world. Jerusalem is the heart of that center. All things lead to Israel. Not America. And God raised President Trump up because no other person in America, no other Republican, would have the strength, the courage, to step forward and take the actions he has, and will, with regard to Israel.”

We have excellent, wonderful times in God’s Word and in discussion.

Iran isn’t going anywhere.

Israel certainly is not going anywhere, even though the removal of Israel is the reason the Iranian regime exists. Because Satan hates Israel, hates Jerusalem, hates Jews, hates God, hates Jesus, hates the Holy Spirit, hates the Word of God, hates truly born-again Christ followers, he is working ever and ever stronger and greater among certain nations, certain peoples, certain leaders, knowing his time is short.

Evil knows. It’s why it is intensifying its efforts worldwide, and things are, people are as they are.

If not keenly aware. If not discerning well and wisely, not rightly dividing the Word of God and following the words, the distractions placed before folks by the world, EVERY broadcast so-called news outlet, even most churches and pastors in such a time as this, it’s then time to shake that blinding dust from your feet, from your eyes, heart, and mind and come to see, hear, and know well and clearly. That is only possible, only accomplished by a truly faithful heart for the LORD Jesus Christ, Yeshua Hamashiac, with that heart, those eyes, those ears, that mind, that spirit, and soul immersed, deeply swimming within the whole Word of God.

What are you waiting for?

For it to become too late?

Well, then it’s too late.

Kind of foolish, really downright stupid to wait that long, isn’t it?

Do you wait for the engine to fall out of your car before taking it into service? Do you go outside and walk towards an E5 funnel cloud whirling and whirring away? Do you gamble your house at the blackjack table, the roulette wheel? Like playing Russian Roulette on the weekends?

Why do you neglect, tamper with, gamble with, and ignore your eternity?

Do you know, with certainty, how many more breaths, heartbeats, years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes you have left in this animated fleshly manner? This fleeting realm?

Iran is blind and foolish, and its army, its leaders are headed for certain death and destruction. Along with every enemy soldier and officer that rises up and marches against Israel in the Ezekiel 38 war — make sure you also read Ezekiel 39, friend. You can imitate them, or you can humble yourself, repent, confess your sin, turn to the LORD in faith, believe, and tell Him you believe and need Him, want Him as Savior and LORD of your life from this moment forth.

And He is listening. He is near. And He will be there for you. You will discover this. I promise. I know. Because I went from being among the many who are chief among sinners [ I was a wild and crazy guy!], immersed in the world, in a life of sin and rebellion, to, in one night’s time, one winter’s night, by a prayer, by opening God’s Word to having my life forever altered. Eternally altered.

Okay.

Do what you will. It’s all free choice to either accept the LORD’s free gift of grace, forgiveness, and eternal life, or reject it. You must heed the voice saying, “Come…come…” and respond. Yourself.

As for me and my house, we will continue to serve and believe in the LORD our God.

Shalom.

Maranatha.

Read on…

Ken Pullen, Thursday, June 26th, 2025

The Pillars of Iran’s Regime Are Damaged, Not Destroyed

Country expected to rebuild conventional arsenal and, potentially, nuclear program

June 24, 2025

By Sudarsan Raghavan,  Omar Abdel-Baqui and Laurence Norman

Reprinted from The Wall Street Journal

DUBAI—Israel and the U.S. have delivered powerful blows to the pillars of Iran’s theocracy, degrading nuclear and missile capabilities, the highest military echelons and institutions of governance.

Yet the regime, while weakened, is still intact, capable of recuperating and emerging more dangerous and unpredictable. A fragile cease-fire hasn’t alleviated tensions that soared during more than a week of war.

A preliminary U.S. intelligence report found that the U.S. military’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities only set back Tehran’s nuclear ambitions by a few months, according to people familiar with the intelligence. The initial findings, written by the Defense Intelligence Agency, relied on military damage assessments following the bombings, the people said. The assessment could change as more intelligence is collected, the people said.

A senior administration official confirmed the report’s existence but said it hadn’t risen to the level of being shared with top Defense Department leaders. Such reports don’t necessarily reflect the views of other spy agencies, and disagreement among agencies is not uncommon. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X that the “alleged ‘assessment’ is flat out wrong,” and described the report as classified at the top-secret level.

Damage assessments are still being done at the Fordow facility the U.S. struck with “bunker buster” bombs to reach deep under a mountainside. U.N. atomic energy agency chief Rafael Grossi said Monday he suspects it was seriously damaged.

Iran’s oldest enrichment site at Natanz was hit harder. Grossi said all its centrifuges—machines that enrich uranium—might have been wiped out. Israel and the U.S. also knocked out facilities capable of converting uranium into a form in which it can be enriched and turning fissile material into uranium metal. Factories for centrifuge parts were destroyed.

Yet the attacks likely left Iran in control of the main ingredients for a bomb. U.S. officials have signaled Iran still has control of around 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium it has produced since 2021. The whereabouts of the stockpile aren’t known—Grossi said it could have been moved from a facility in Isfahan before it was bombed. Vice President J.D. Vance said the U.S. wanted to discuss the state of the stockpile with Iran.

Satellite image of damage to Iran’s Isfahan nuclear technology center. Photo: MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

“The country’s nuclear program remains large and distributed with significant redundancy in expertise and leadership,” said Nicole Grajewski, a fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “Iran doesn’t need to rebuild its entire previous infrastructure but could develop a smaller, focused capability sufficient for weapons production.”

Israel also targeted Iran’s conventional weapons, leaving the nuclear targets vulnerable to attack. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel destroyed around half of Iran’s missile launchers. Israel has said it disabled dozens of Iranian air-defense missile batteries and destroyed their production sites. Israel estimates Iran began the war with 2,500 ballistic missiles on track to possess 8,000 within two years.

“Israel was shooting at the archer rather than the arrow,” said Fabian Hinz, a research fellow for missile technologies and drones at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Building more launchers and restoring air defenses that Israel first struck last year would take time, analysts said.

“What Israel bought itself is time,” said Michael Horowitz, an Israel-based geopolitical analyst. “The question is for what?”

VIDEO

As the U.S. deployed decoy B-2 bombers west over the Pacific, military officials quietly sent a ‘strike package’ east over the Atlantic to hit nuclear facilities in Iran. WSJ breaks down Operation Midnight Hammer. Photo: Annie Zhao/The Wall Street Journal

Israel could face renewed menace from Iran’s proxy militias, known as the Axis of Resistance. Lebanon’s Hezbollah, once Iran’s most powerful allied militia, is still reeling from a punishing Israeli military campaign last year that decimated its leadership and military. The Houthis in Yemen largely sat out this month’s conflict.

Iran could seek to rouse them now.

“As Iran figures out what is going to be the anchor of its deterrence strategy going forward—and the role of its proxy network—then it is in their interest to preserve whatever is left of Hezbollah,” said Randa Slim, a fellow at the Johns Hopkins University-based Foreign Policy Institute.

At the same time, Slim said, “There is a sentiment among Hezbollah supporters that Iran wasn’t there for them when they needed them most.”

On Tuesday, Iran’s theocratic leaders declared victory over Israel. “While the terrorist enemy initiated this imposed war, its conclusion was determined by the will and strength of the great Iranian nation,” said Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian.

But the regime could be headed for a period of internal turmoil as ambitious officials vie to fill power vacuums and seek recrimination for intelligence and security failures that left Iran vulnerable to attack.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that the country’s ‘terrorist enemy initiated this imposed war.’ Photo: Vahid Salemi/Associated Press

“The regime will definitely go after infiltrators and purge from within,” said Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House in London. “There is a risk of increased repression against potential opponents.”

Some hard-line members of Iran’s parliament are already calling for the regime to build a nuclear weapon to deter future attacks. Iran’s leaders might determine that is too great a risk for now, with their nuclear infrastructure damaged and President Trump having shown his willingness to use the military to prevent Iran from completing a bomb.

“The conflict is still not over,” Vakil said. “This is potentially just a pause, and escalation can kick up at any time unless a proper deal is done.”