Global SITREP C3:19: Elam and Iran in History and Prophecy

Elam/Iran  Susa/Anshan

27 June 2019: Elam and Iran (Paras), from the biblical prophetic perspective, are they the same or different? There are, according to the conducted Eschatology Today research, as many differing opinions or interpretations of this question as there are maps or drawings which depict the territory of ancient Elam within what we know today as the Islamic Republic of Iran (Paras). What appears as a fact is that ancient Elam does not exist today, but within its ancient territory are several provinces of the present Islamic Republic of Iran. Perhaps that is all we need to know about the subject. But maybe there is more. This discussion of the "more" will be brief but detailed overview of the Biblical and historical perspectives.

The Biblical Perspective

Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel all referenced this land within the prophecies given them directly by the LORD God, or in the case of Daniel, by His angelic messenger Gabriel. One question that arises is why Jeremiah's prophecy (Jer. 49:34-39) only refers to Elam, and Ezekiel's prophecy (Ez. 38:5) only refers to Iran (Paras). Not many venture futher to acknowledge that Ezekiel also referred to Elam during the time of his prophetic ministry. 

Ezekiel 27:10 refers to Paras (Iran). Then in Ezekiel 32:24 the prophet speaks lamentations upon the nations that will go down into the pit having been conquered by the sword (war). Among them is Eylam (Elam), gone into the pit,; conquered for having caused "their terror in the land of the living." With Elam in the pit is also Asshur (Assyria), Meshech, Tubal, Edom, Sidon and Egypt). So here are two example of Ezekiel using both terms for modern Iran in the same general time period (circa 580 BC).

The Historical Perspective

In those ancient times Elam had been an established political state for a couple of millennia in the general region of Iran we know today as the province of Khuzestan when Jeremiah and Ezekiel received their prophecies. Back then Elam was a contemporary of Akkadia and Sumeria. Elam emerged from that domination circa 1300 BC, and over hundreds of years there emerged within Elam two regional powers, Susa, with which we're eminently familiar from the Old Testament, and Anshan. In those ancient days the kings of Elam were known as "the king of Elam and Anshan. 

Then, circa Nebuchadnezzar the First (Nebuchadnezzar I) reign, about one-hundred some-odd years prior to King David's rule in Israel, the western half of Elam came under the control of the Babylonian Empire, while in the east, in Anshan, the Achaemenids began establishing what would come to be known as the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Before taking on Babylon, as the Bible recounts for us, successive kings of Anshan (Achaemenes, Teispes, Cyrus I, Cambyses and finally Cyrus II (Cyrus the Great 559 BC) took all nations and empires east of the Tigris River, until the sack of Babylon, as we know from Scripture. The languages of this second of the great world empires after Babylon was Persian, Elamite, Akkadian and Aramaic as the official language of government.

The point here is that from a bible-based eschatological perspective, Elam and Persia are virtually synonymous. This is why Ezekiel used both names. And this is how Eschatology Today interprets Jeremiah 49:34-39 and Ezekiel 38:5 as referring directly to the modern-day Islamic Republic of Iran. In the days of Jeremiah and Ezekiel both Elam and Anshan (proto-Persia) were located within the same geographic region of southwestern Iran.

Global SITREP C2-19: Behold! Elam's Bow Has Been Broken

Iranian Ballistic Missiles in Underground Storage Site

UPDATED 23 June 2019: Did President Trump really call off a military strike on several IRGC missile sites? The answer is Yes... and No. Yes, a fairly significant kinetic strike involving American missiles and aircraft on the designated terrorist IRGC missile sites was prudently aborted, but the long-planned strike on Iranian computer-based command and control (C2) by United States Cyber Command, a/k/a CYBERCOM, the 10th Combatant Command of the United States Armed Forces, was approved by President Trump and was launched as the Stand Down order was issued for the kinetic strike last Thursday. So, yes, the US military attacked Iran with great power as a direct response to the shoot down of our surveillance drone in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz.

And guess what primary target CYBERCOM, in coordination with US CENTCOM, was authorized by POTUS to attack? The Command and Control (C2) network of the Iranian ballistic missile forces. In fact, President Trump has pretty much given our cyber warriors a blank check to launch cyber attacks on adversaries, like Iran, at will and continuously as the need arises. Now, while most of the world wasn't looking Eschatology Today immediately recognized this crippling cyber attack on the Iranian C2 infrastructure for what it really could be - fulfillment of Jeremiah 49:35. "Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the foremost of their might." Without their C2 computer network functioning the "bow" that launches Iranian "arrows" is inoperative. No ballistic missiles threatening US and Israel and other allies in the entire region can be launched. The "bow" has been broken.

From last Thursday to this moment, no one within the government will speak openly about this attack on the Iranian C2 network. However, their are dozens of examples of cryptic remarks by high-ranking folks in the know that have been made during these past four days with National Security Advisor John Bolton's comments being primary among them. Nevertheless, "As a mater of policy, and for operational security (OPSEC), we do not discus cyberspace operations, intelligence or planning" was the routine response by the US CYBERCOM spokesperson as noted in several open source and media reports. This is the war that nobody but those persons directly involved can see being waged. The American posture in this cyber warfighting is one that is known as "defending forward." It's a forward leaning defense using offensive cyber weapons. Offense is the best defense as we all know, and this is an unseen practical application of that sporting adage. It's part of the blank check referred to above.

This, make no mistake, is a major escalation in the ongoing war. And it will escalate even further into the realm of kinetic military action as "the sword" is brought against the Islamic Republic now that the "foremost of their might" has been neutralized. 

CyberWar

25 June 2019: When it comes to Jeremiah 49:34-39 and its fulfillment, some folks would do well to become acquainted (or re-acquainted) with the interpretive view that has been integral to Eschatology Today since 15 September 2010. There are a few other directly related posts here that are available by using the search engine in the upper left-hand corner of this main page. Enter 'Jeremiah 49:34-39' as the search criteria. 

The key phrase that should be noticed right off the get-go when accessing the above link are the words "Coalition of Nations Move Against Iran." As we can clearly see in 2019, that post title is no longer a question as originally posed. In 2019 it is an established fact. And, lo and behold, those words are precisely the action being taken by U.S. SECSTATE Pompeo in his current mission to the Middle East. He is about building a "coalition of nations" to oppose Iran. So, with respect to the now 9-year old original post and Eschatology Today's former "interpretive theory" about Jeremiah's prophecy two words apply: Nailed It. It is no longer a theory, it is reality.

And when it comes to the war against the clerical regime running the Islamic Republic of Iran, how can we not include the ongoing economic war known simply as "sanctions." How can we not see this aspect as being integral to the "sword" brought by the Lord against the Iranian Twelver regime? 

The economic sanctions are utterly crippling to the fiscal health of the country and its bastions of absolute power, such as the IRGC as well as the personal wallet of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. President trump just closed that wallet shut and made "tens and tens of billions of dollars" completely out of the Ayatollah's reach. In short he's broke. The Islamic Republic of Iran is broke and getting more broken by the hour. The only economic blood flowing through its veins is a mere fraction of what had been a few months ago.

Here's another fact. As it stands today, 25 June 2019, there is no longer any path to a diplomatic solution to the problem the coalition of nations, led by the United States, has with the Shi'a Twelver regime of Islamic Republic of Iran. That ship has sailed; those waters have passed under the bridge and are well down-stream now. 

And the next update is coming soon and will be accompanied by a brief backgrounder concerning Jeremiah's prophecy.

Global SITREP C1-19: Potential for War in Strait of Hormuz

Marine Transport (M/T) ship on Fire following Iranian limpet mine attack

Location of the attacks

UPDATED Below 16 June 2019: The Iranian limpet mine attacks on two merchant vessel transports (MV Front Altair and MV Kokuka Courageous) off Iran's southern coast and in the northernmost point of the Gulf of Oman this past week were covertly observed by several U.S. reconnaissance aircaft. A video of that surveillance was declassified and released to the world by USCENTCOM. Iranian forces then launched an SA-7 missile at one of the US aircraft, yet the SAM missed its target by about 1km. Nevertheless, this was an act of war by Iran in a continuing series of attacks against the U.S. and our Middle East allies, as well as international commerce in international waters and airspace.

Screen capture of CENTCOM video of IRGC-N removing unexploed
limpet mine from the hull of the M/T Kokuka Courageous.

This SITREP was delayed until a majority of of factual information could be corroborated. Corroboration takes a little time. As a direct result of these attacks the UK MoD announced the deployment of at least 100 Royal Marines to the region to add to the currently deployed forces tasked with safeguarding marine traffic from additional attacks, or to respond if and when new attacks occur.

The US released this much clearer full color image on Monday, 17 June.

Long-time readers will recognize a staple of Eschatology Today's "interpretative theory" of Jeremiah 49:33-39, originally posted in September 2010. What we have in the summer of 2019 is this theory becoming a very strong candidate for imminent, literal fulfillment. As you can read in the link to the original posting, this interpretive theory is about a coalition of nations coming against Iran from all directions. The prophet Jeremiah prophesied that the Lord would cause "Elam" (Iran) to be dismayed; that He would bring a sword after them. There is zero ambiguity in that the sword is a reference to direct military action.

In fact, this is exactly what the United States and our closest allies are currently engaged in. These allies are fully engaged building the case that Iran is a threat to international peace and the security of international commerce in the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman, the Arabian Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea (image below). All of these straits and sea lanes are known as choke points where the flow of international commerce could be shut down by military actions, such as been seen in limpet mine attacks and missile attacks in the last few years. The series of US DoD images seen in this SITREP are a key part of this effort; they go hand-in-hand with the American pledge that Iran will not be permitted to effect such a stangulation of global commerce. Nor will Iran be permitted to possess a nuclear weapon.

Choke Points of international commerce around the eastern periphery of Israel.

If disruptions were to occur to petroleum products trans-shipments around the eastern periphery of Israel, then consider how much more important the oil and natural gas fields under Israeli, Greek Cypriot and Greek control in the eastern Mediterranean Sea could become. Exactly how secure are the land-based pipelines for these commodities where they must cross active war zones in Iraq and Syria? These are factors in the overal security and supply-side jitters the international community, particularly Europe, are experiencing at this time.

There will also be an additional 1,000 or so US troops heading to the Middle East. These troops are said to be primarily intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and Force Protection (FP) troops. These are also a match for the 1,000 or so UK troops earmarked for a rapid Middle East deployment. French, Spanish, Australian and New Zealand forces are already in-theater along with smaller contingents from several other allies. NATO is in the Middle East in an ever increasing footprint as well.

US Navy MQ-4C Triton

Approximate location of the MQ-4C Triton shootdown.

UPDATE 20 June 2019: Multiple reports this morning stating the IRGC fired a Surface-to Air Missile (SAM) from Iranian territory (Hormozgan Province) at a very large, unarmed American UAV flying in international air space over the Strait of Hormuz. The UAV is reported to have been shot down. Given the specific maritime mission of the drone over the Strait of Hormuz, Eschatology Today assesses the downed UAV to have been the U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton. This act of war massively increases the potential for direct American military action against the IRGC, an already designated foreign terrorist organization. The seriousness of this is found in that US CENTCOM has not released an official public statement, indicating they're standing by for a higher headquarters directive (POTUS and/or JCoS).

Global SITREP B10-19:: Scaling Up The War Part III

Mount Hermon, Israel

UPDATED (below) 2 June 2019: Part III of this series begins with Israel having responded with great military force to rocket attacks from Syria this past weekend. The United States also reassured Russia that our support for Israel is unwavering as long as Iranian forces and their proxies remain in Syria.

The two rockets which began this flare of of fighting landed on the slopes of Mount Hermon, one is Israel and one not quite across the border. Israel's immediate response was to completely erase two Syrian Army artillery batteries, one east of beityama, the other west of Khan el-Shieh. Observation and intelligence posts in Quneitra and Tel al-Sha'ar, and an SA-2 SAM battery near Kiswah which was also eradicated.

Israel then closed the airspace over the Golan region effective from 06:30 this morning through approximately 21:00 on Thursday, 6 June. Then about three hours ago Israel began striking the T4 (Tiyas) Air Base with massive explosions being reported by Syrian media. It appears that Israel is striking Iranian weapons depots and armories at T4. 

Meanwhile, Russia, Syria and Iran are indiscrimanately bombing civilian areas in Iblib governorate. President Trump at 20:00 EDT this evening described this ongoing bombardment as butchery in advising Russia, Syria and Iran that "the world is watching. STOP!"

USS Abraham Lincoln Air Wing exercising with B-52H in the Arabian Sea.
This is one very rare sight to see!

7 June 2019: The immediate crisis between the U.S. and Iran subsided somewhat after the Iranian vessels that had missiles loaded into their launch tubes pulled into a port and the missiles were removed. These vessels were (and still are) under surveillance by U.S. intelligence assets on a 24/7 basis. Given the nature of the apocalyptic nature of the Twelver Iranian regime, the building U.S. posture to keep them in military check-mate has not subsided and will increase in the coming weeks.

On the Golan the tensions continue to rise. Israel detected, and in a rare move immediately made public, its detection of series of newly constructed Hezbollah outposts for observing the Israeli Golan. Also made public was the establishment of an IDF all-aspect intelligence collection apparatus dedicated to supporting the IDF Dotan division with real-time data acquisition. Never before has this type of real-time fusion between a combat division and on-site intelligence branch occurred in an Israeli front-line higher headquaters (HHQ). The obvious importance that Iran has attached to the ultimate high-ground of Mt. Hermon and its overview of the Golan and northern Israel belies their intentions. Further action here is imminent.

Over the years Eschatology Today has, due to the prophetic word of God found in the Book of Daniel, put an eye on the nation of Greece. Yesterday (6 June) an article was published by the Jewish World Review entitled "Greece Finds New Footing As a Player on the World Stage." The title is an instant attention grabber to anyone who knows Bible prophecy. Not lost is the fact that the article was written by the very astute writer Victor Davis Hanson. Eschatology Today has embedded a direct link, but advises that it is http versus a secure https link. in light of this, here are key takeaways from the article.

1.) Greece wants to host a far more lethal array of U.S. military power on a permanent base. There are talks ongoing precisely to this end. Given the expanding Israel, Cyprus and Greece military alliance a significant and permanent U.S. military presence in Greece makes great strategic sense, besides the fact (as long-term readers are aware) that it dovetails nicely with the Eschatology Today interpretation of military affairs in the eastern Mediterranean Sea leading up to and during Israel's 70th week of years. 

2.) As Turkey edges closer to Russia with the purchase of an S-400 SAM system, and the U.S. reciprocation of cancelling virtually all aspects of Turkey's participation in the foreign (NATO) military sales and pilot training in the F-35 program, the obvious counter-balance would be a much more integrated defense posture between Greece and the U.S., and which would also integrate near seamlessly with the increased defense integration of Cyprus and Israel that the U.S. also has developed recently. 

3.) This will only exacerbate the loggerhead issues between the European Union (principally German financial dictates) and Greece. Many Greek bitterly resent this aspect of the EU-Greek relationship. Should more nations, like Italy, Poland and other eastern EU member states drive wedges, the emergence of a new loosely aligned political block (some of the "Ten Toes") could rise rapidly and still be fully within the U.S.-led NATO alliance. Watch all of this develop rapidly in the coming months.