Global SITREP A8-25: The Terminal Phase of the War Against the Islamic Republic of Iran

Massive fireball 

UPDATED 16 April 2025: Except for a few corrected typographical errors, this SITREP from seven years ago (30 April-1 May 2018) remains in its original form. Some readers may not have seen this in the archive listing of Eschatology Today posts and SITREP's, so it may serve as both a reminder and new information for all readers. It most certainly is relevant to the present as you will see after reading it.

Global SITREP B3-18: The War Against Iran Escalates: JCPOA Nuclear Deal is Toast

30 April 2018: It was a very bad day for the Islamic Republic of Iran, and if it's any consolation to the Ayatollah, much worse days are yet to come. 

The image above is of the fireball that erupted following a preemptive strike on what had been known as the Syria Arab Army's 47th Brigade base located 7 miles south of Hama in northwestern Syria. The base, which had been occupied by an IRGC militia of Pakistani Shi'a known as Liya Zaynabiyoun, is adjacent to the village of Ma'arin al-Jabal. The "had been" is due to the size of the first and second order detonations; it is unlikely much remains of this base. 

This base itself has been noted by some as a bunker complex. On the contrary, the three massive above ground structures were perfect for housing and/or assembling fairly large ballistic missiles. The largest of the structures, seen in satellite images captured earlier this year, was well over 400 feet in length and 300 feet in width, two relatively smaller structures measured approximately 300 feet in length and 75 feet in width. Eight ancillary buildings were adjacent to the larger ones and could not have escaped the primary and secondary blasts intact.

Accordingly, use of a bunker buster bomb does not fit the above-ground nature of this facility. However, Israel's version of the US Mk-82 laser guided bomb, known as the MP-500 (Massive Penetrator 500 lbs) could have been the weapon of choice to level this facility and leave a gigantic smoking hole in its place.

The main blast registered as a 2.6 Richter scale event on regional seimosgraphs. According to many reports the blast and dozens of simultaneous secondary ordnance detonations killed or wounded a very large number of the Pakistani Shi'a militiamen who apparently had duty safeguarding two hundred Iranian ballistic missiles destined for delivery to Lebanese Hezbollah. That delivery has obviously been cancelled. Additional strikes are reported to have occurred at bases near Aleppo, but they do not even remotely compare to what happened at Ma'arin al-Jabal at 10:30 PM Sunday night.

Then came Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu's equally massive nuclear bombshell regarding the Iranian nuclear weapons program. To be short and sweet on this issue, this intelligence coup makes preemptive strikes on the Iranian nuclear weapons sites more likely than not. The nonsensical JCPOA that Obama and Kerry masterminded is now just so much burnt toast. We'll find out how burnt it is in about 12 days time.

It also must be noted that the Israeli human intelligence collection operation which secured the hundreds of thousands of documents and digital data is unlike anything any nation has achieved in modern history. A close second intelligence coup might be the Polish engineer during WWII who memorized the Nazi "Enigma" cryptographic machine's impossibly complex inner workings so that allied engineers could reporoduce it in England. However, even the Enigma machine pales in comparison the the details exposed by the Israeli operation.

And as US President Trump prepares to meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, Eschatology Today would be completely remiss to not note one important detail revealed by PM Netanyahu. The Iranian warhead design appears to be virtually identical to the primary core that Kim Jong Un was photographed standing next to not too long ago. As has long been maintained here, the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs have been conjoined twins for decades.

UPDATE 1 May 2018: If you've not yet seen the entirety of PM Netanyahu's presentation on the Islamic Republic of Iran's "Project Amad," please make the effort to do so as what I am adding as an update will bring all of his revealed information full-circle and bring full understanding on why Iran has been dead set on the development nuclear weapons.

The Iranian development of nuclear weapons has always been 100% about Shi'a Islamic eschatology. In fact, the name of their effort, which PM Netanyahu revealed as "Project Amad" is actually over-anglicized from the Farsi language and should be "Project Amahd." "Project Amahd" itself is actually Farsi shorthand for its true name, "Project al-Mahdi." Many of you are now likely having a light bulb illuminating in your minds because you are aware that the mythical al-Mahdi is central to much of the Islamic creed. For Shi'a Islami, the al-Mahdi is ground zero for all of their eschatological beliefs.

The focus here will not be on the mythical man who is this Shi'a messianic figure, but what his adherents, known as Hojjatieh and Twelvers, believe. For them the al-Mahdi is the foundation of everything they believe. And what they believe is the utility of nuclear weapons in quickly achieving their end-state objective in hastening the al-Mahdi's reappearance once they possess such weapons. Israel knows this, and the U.S. Government ever since the Clinton Administration has known this. Now we all know this.

A few brief points on what the Shi'a believe and are acting on. The Iranian Shi'a Twelvers, who are 85% of Shi'a Islam, all believe that the Sunni Muslims will make war on the al-Mahdi. So Iran has been at war with Sunni Islam for some time due to this belief. 

The Iranian Shi'a Twelvers also believe - and this explains perfectly why Iran is so invested in the Syrian Civil War - that a great war must occur in Syria until the country is completely destroyed. A similar rationale exists for the country of Iraq. The Shi'a Twelvers, such as former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his clique of Hojjatieh clerics believe that provoking nuclear war with Israel or America will hasten al-Mahdi's reappearance; such chaos is critical to this end. If the Islamic Republic of Iran acquires nuclear weapons, such as the five weapons PM Netanyahu cited, they will use them.

Now you should have full understanding on why the U.S. and Israel, and a precious few other nations, particularly Saudi-led GCC, see the imperative necessity of preempting Iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons even if it means launching strikes into Iran.

Russia-Iran Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty

UPDATE 22 April 2025: Eschatology Today believes that the events of the past three days effectively signal that the critical moment of the Jeremiah 49:34-39 prophecy is now at hand. Do not be dismayed if you missed notification of the events, the vast majority of the media deliberately attempted to keep you in the dark. However, that's why I and some other watchmen are here!

Saturday night Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu issued a video recorded speech. Although advance notice was given of the speech the vast majority of Israel's left-wing media outlets declined to air the speech in full. Some even declared it unworthy of the airtime required to present it in full, while others obfuscated the critical point of the speech completely. Nevertheless, the critical point in the speech came when the PM said that while he greatly preferred a joint strike by the US and Israel to neuter the Iranian nuclear program, Israel is prepared to go it alone.

The response to PM Netanyahu from Russian dictator Vladimir Putin came yesterday morning when he officially signed (ratified) the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty (CSTP) between Russia and the Islamic Republic of Iran. This "covenant" between Russia and Iran is effectively a comprehensive alliance geared toward their military and diplomatic agendas. It is a direct challenge to Israel and the United States intended to forestall joint or unilateral military action against Iran's nuclear program. 

Leaning forward, Eschatology Today assesses that the CSTP will fail its intended purpose but will ultimately result in the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38/39. Put another way in full, the CSTP will fail to preempt the fulfillment of Jeremiah 49:34-39 but will result thereafter in the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38/39. In-between these two fulfillments are the fulfillments of Isaiah 17 and the conclusion of the Psalm 83 war, both currently in a process of fulfillment. 

This, Brothers and Sisters, reveals precisely where we are on The Prophetic Road to Revelation.

Marana'tha!

 

Global SITREP B5-22: Russia's War in Ukraine - Phase II

Russia Targets Civilians and Civil Infrastructure

UPDATE 25 March 2022: Ukrainian forces continue their offensive and advance against Russian forces in several areas on both the east and west banks of the Dnieper River in the Kyiv Oblast. Strong points of massed Russian armor, tanks and infantry fighting vehicles have been over run in the past 24 hours. Mopping up, security and the hunt for fleeing Russian troops is ongoing today. 

At daybreak yesterday, in the port of Berdyansk, a large Russian LST ship (the Alligator-class Saratov) was attacked and sunk by Ukrainian forces with an OTR-21 Trochka ballistic missile. Second and third order detonations ripped through the vessel as tons of ordnance detonated. Two other Russian Navy Ropucha-II class LSTs (the Kunikov and Novocherkassk) narrowly escaped destruction by fleeing the port. This attack was made possible through high-technology recently delivered to Ukraine from the West. This is the most significant loss yet for Russia in the war and will further complicate its already significant logistics problems in Ukraine.

Russian LST Orsk explodes as Two other LSTs escape

Also, the US and EU apparently have reached a deal for the US to supply the EU with American liquid natural gas (LNG) to further divest the EU from dependence on Russian LNG.

Also, it is with due emphasis that the statement made yesterday by Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, be repeated yet again. "It is important for Ukraine that Israel become one of the guarantors of an international treaty on security guarantees, which would provide clear security guarantees for Ukraine after the end of the war with Russia." 

23 March 2022: Recent western MSM reporting has it that the Russian Federation would only use nuclear weapons if it were faced with an existential threat, in accordance with the Russian Federation's concept of what an existential threat would actually be. Well, that intended comforting news is only a half truth, a deliberate omission of the most salient fact. The fact is that Vladimir Putin's primary spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, and the deputy secretary of Russia's Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, are on record saying that the United States and its NATO allies intent is to humiliate, divide and destroy the Russian Federation. Sounds like an existential threat, albeit a paranoid mindset, but it is what it is. 

By what measure could the NATO alliance assure the Russian Federation that it has no intention to humiliate, divide and ultimately destroy it? That answer gets back to the November 2021 to January 2022 pre-invasion demands Russia made, knowing full well that NATO would never agree to them. Those demands were for the withdrawal of all NATO forces out of eastern Europe and the ejection of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria (i.e. the former Warsaw Pact nations) from the North Atlantic Alliance. 

Here's a little known fact also conveniently omitted from MSM reporting. There were no NATO troops in these same countries prior to the Russian invasion, occupation and annexation of Crimea - exactly eight years prior (23-24 February 2014) to Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. One month later Russian mercenary troops (Wagner Group), also known as the "little green men" began the Donbas War in Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts of southeastern Ukraine. Make no mistake, this is a war of Russian aggression which has very similar overtones to what Hitler's Nazi Germany did in central Europe prior to World War Two.

To be crystal clear, the regime holding power in the Kremlin has made it known that it is fighting an existential war against NATO, a war which makes the use of nuclear weapons permissible by its own paranoid concept of an existential threat to itself. Hoping that something does not happen is not a strategy, it is a grand impracticality; a virtual self-fulfilling prophecy. So the world waits to see what NATO's recognition and response to this overt nuclear threat will be.

Completely destroyed Russian T-80UM2 "Super Tank"

22 March 2022: The Russian Federation dictatorship of Vladimir Putin is now telling its citizens that the "special military operation" launched in Ukraine one month ago will continue for an undetermined length of time. Things are not going according to the original war plan - a misguided and abject failure - and as a result Russian generals are being sacked left and right. Better to be sacked than sent to the front lines where expert Ukrainian snipers have been picking off Russian generals at a rate of one or two per week. Putin himself is reportedly in at least a partial seclusion due to fears of a coup d'etat or assassination.

The Russian government is also calling up for service 16 and 17-year old youths who will begin their preparations for wartime military service. This action, in addition to the Russian military's focus on civilian targets instead of warfighting against peer Ukrainian military forces delineates the tactical shift from initial invasion to the attempt to begin siege and hold territory operations in eastern Ukraine in order to force a surrender. The image at the top of a destroyed Kyiv shopping mall is emblematic of the morphing Russian strategy. Ukraine will never surrender to Russia, and therefore Russia now has its very own "forever war."

It may be, as some are suggesting, Russia will of necessity resort to weapons of mass destruction in the coming days.

Global SITREP A7-22: Ready, Set and Hooks!

 

Is this man Gog of Magog?

17 February 2022: The current warfighting doctrine of the Russian Federation, if not the whole of the Union State (Russia and Belarus), employs the simultaneous use of Information Warfare (INFOWAR), Psychological Warfare (PSYOPS). Cyber Attacks (CYBERWAR). These types of hybrid warfare are at some predetermined point combined with conventional kinetic warfighting. 

As of the early hours today Russian Federation forces conventional warfighting against Ukraine in the southeastern oblasts (provinces) of Luhansk and Donetsk began on a scale not seen since the original invasion of Ukrainian territory in 2014. The Ukrainian military command, referred to as the Joint Forces HQ published a list of attacks that erupted along the entire front lines in eastern Ukraine.

82mm mortars struck Ukrainian Army positions near the towns of Stanytsia Luhanska and Novozvanivka. UAV dropped VOG-17 and VOG-25 grenades at Lobacheve and Vodiane, which was followed by 120mm mortar strikes. 122mm artillery opened up against Prycheplivka; Luhanske, Marinka, Syze and Katerynivka were all hit by antitank and machine gun fire. 

There are no reports of Ukrainian military casualties from the Joint Forces HQ as of 0700 EST this morning, nor have Ukrainian defenders taken the bait to return fire on the Russian forces which would almost certainly trigger a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Union State forces. Below is an image of a pontoon bridge erected in the past 24 hours over the Pripyat River in Belarus that Russian T72B3 main battle tanks would use to establish an invasion route through Chernobyl to Kyiv.

Satellite image of new Russian pontoon tank bridge
4 miles north of the Belarus-Ukraine border.

New information also cites the forward movement of several Russian battlegroups up to the Ukrainian border and not away from the border per Russian INFOWAR and PSYOPS. In recent days massive Russian CYBERWAR attacks were launched against Ukrainian military servers and at least two Ukrainian banks in Kyiv.  Suffice it to say that just as occurred in Georgia fourteen years ago, "it's on" in Ukraine today. Watching.

Global SITREP A3-20: The Rise of Gog

Ezekiel 39:6

18 January 2020: The events which took place in Moscow, Russia this week are assuredly relevant to the prophetic visions given in Ezekiel 38-39 as noted in the chosen title for this SITREP, and which, for the purpose of continuity, is essentially an update for the 2009/Update 2014 post The Prophetic Road to Revelation (Part IV): The War of Gog of Magog and the 2012 post Clues to the Timing of Ezekiel 38/39 and other Insights.  

 

Sweeping top to bottom change to the government of the Russian Federation came as the result of a stunning speech this past Wednesday (15JAN20) by its President Vladimir Putin to the Federal Assembly. In the speech Putin announced reforms that would change the very nature of Russia's governnance. Those changes resulted in the instantaneous resignation of the entire government The resignations were not in protest of the announced reforms, but in support of them and of Putin's objective agenda behind them. In the midst of this single day upheaval came word that an obscure apparatchik of the Russian tax service, Mikhail Mishushkin, was elevated to the office of Prime Minister. Mishushkin was elevated in leap-frog fashion above a total of thrity-two Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers of the Government with nary a signle protest. Not so much as a peep. Tsar Valdimir has spoken. 

Or should it now be acknowledged, Gog of Magog the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, has spoken.

Global SITREP A10-17: News That's Not Being Widely Reported

Belarus President and Union State Chairman Alexander Lukashenko

22 February 2017: This eschatological item has been discussed here previously, but a new wrinkle has emerged which may well reflect something stated in Ezekiel's prophecy even more than in the past references. Ezekiel 38:4 and 39:2 both begin with the words I would paraphrase as "I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws, bring you from the far north against the mountains of Israel." Clearly, Gog of Magog is busy with his army in the "far north" of his lands when this turning around with proverbial hooks in his jaws to strike southwards to Israel.

Russia is already deeply engaged in a war against independent Ukraine, having annexed Crimea and actively in the process of carving away more of the southern part of that country. In the Donetsk and Luhansk regions Ukrainian citizens of Russian extraction are being given Russian passports, with the thought being that Russian passport holders live on Russian territory; makes annexation that much simpler to accomplish. In addition, Russia is militarily threatening the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), former Soviet republics within the defunct Soviet Union which are now members of NATO, and the former members of the defunct Warsaw Pact alliance, from Poland to Romania. Here comes the new wrinkle.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union one of the first things to emerge was a new political entity known as the Union State. The Union State was intended (on paper at least) to become a true political union between Belarus (literally: Byelorus or White Russia) and the Russian Federation. But things never quite got that far. Belarusian nationalist aspirations following periods of rule by Poland and then intensive Russification under Soviet masters following WWII always had to take a back seat. And after WWII, with nearly a third of its native population having been killed and its infrastructure utterly devastated, the remnant Belarusians were easy picking for Moscow's Soviet Tsars, until recently.

The Union State: Belarus a tiny appendage west of the Russian Federation

Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarus president (to some Europe's last dictator) and the Chairman of the Union State Supreme Council, has been feeling his oats lately, and acting in ways that, all things considered, are downright independent minded of him. If there's such a thing as deja vu, then what occurred in Ukraine prior to the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea two years ago just might be afoot in Ukraine's neighbor to the north - Belarus. The only question at the moment is when Russian Federation president Vladimir Putin will consider that Alexander Lukashenko has crossed his ill-defined "red line" and Russian military forces do to Belarus what they've done and continue to do to Ukraine.

One other tidbit has come to our attention. Since November 2012 the Defense Minister of the Russian Federation, and holder of the title General of the Army, has been Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu. Sergei Shoigu was born and raised in the Republic of Tuva, a southern Siberian land just east of Kazakhstan that most people outside of Russia have never heard of before. A land like all of those around it which were settled by the descendants of Noah's eldest son Japheth. The seven sons of Japheth (Genesis 10:2) were: Gomer, Magog, Madai,  Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras. The Tuvian people trace directly to the equally ancient Scythian people, with artifacts dating to 6th and 7th century Before Christ in central Tuva. The Tuvan language is as ancient as the people themselves; they have suddenly popped right out of Genesis 10.

In any case, it looks as if these kinds of real-world under-reported events make Ezekiel's "I will turn you around around" prophetic scenario all the more relevant these days and going forward. 

Breaking News Alert 04-17

🔺 15 February 2017: A couple of items actually.

1. President Trump and Special MidEast Envoy Jared Kushner will meet today in the White House with Israel PM Bibi Netanyahu. This meeting will set the tone if not the entire United States-Israel agenda for the foreseeable future. Settlements, the US Embassy and direct Israeli-PA negotiations with Kushner acting as the good offices mediator are probably key issues for the discussions.

2. Do your best to ignore the media frenzy regarding Trump and Putin or US and Russia issues. Most of what comes from the corporate media is openly hostile disinformation (i.e. Fake News) because since January 20th the Trump Administration has given them a well-deserved cold shoulder since they adopted the openly hostile adversary role many months ago.  Recommended exceptions to most corporate media reporting are the highly reliable Washington Free Beacon, The Independent (UK), and FoxNews.

Global SITREP C4-16: Will the Russian Federation (Magog) Fall to Islam?

Eid-al-Adha Sunrise over Moscow's Central Mosque

Update 3 August 2016: This and other SITREPs on Eschatology Today have achieved an audience which surpasses all other countries, including the U.S. and Canada. Now that I've given you the greatest hint by posting this update to this particular SITREP, yes, folks in the Russian Federation using Internet Explorer browsers are by far the number one viewers of Eschatology Today, exceeding American Christians by nearly 1,200 for the month of July. 

I really don't care much for statistics, but this one jumped off the page as I was looking to see what subjects folks have the greatest interest in. Obviously, the folks in the Russian Federation are extremely interested in reading about eschatological issues. In Jesus name, my prayer is for as many as will do so turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and become one of the bride of Christ before He comes for us in the Harpazo. Amen.

You see just as the Russian Federation has an imminent problem with the Ezekiel 38/39 prophecy, so does the United States and all other western countries have an imminent problem with the rise of the Antichrist. From the eschatological 'last days' perspective, both countries, and all countries on this third rock from the sun for that matter, have an appointment with the wrath of God. Whether prior to the 70th Week or during it is of no consequence, wrathful judgment is coming upon this world, and Yeshua Mashiach is the only avenue of escape from it.

4 July 2016: The subject of Russia falling to Islamism is not new to the long-term readers of eschatology Today. However, some memories are short and new readers might not yet have gone deep enough into the archives to locate the now 6-year old post entitled 'Gog is Alive and Well and Living in Russia.' To recap, the question was how an ostensibly Eastern Orthodox Russian Federation would lead an alliance of non-Arab Muslim nations (Iran, Libya and Sudan/Horn of Africa) against the State of Israel in the 'last days' according to the Ezekiel 38/39 prophecy. And in support of the contention that Russia would fall to jihadist Islam the estimation of a near-future Muslim-majority Russian Army was cited, as was the fact the demographically there are more Muslims living in Russia than any other country in Europe. Therefore projecting a Muslim-majority military force joined by Iran, Libya and Sudan/Horn of Africa armies in the Ezekiel invasion remains an eminently feasible projection.

Muslims of the Russian Federation

Also cited was the possibility that Vladimir Putin might not be the future "Gog" of a Muslim-led Russia, but the Grand Mufti of Russia, Sheikh Ravil Gaynutdin (born 1959 Rawil Ismagliovich Gaynutdinov) of Tatarstan. Last year Ravil, as the leader of the Council of Muftis of Russia, was awarded the highest Order of the State of Palestine, the "Star of Jerusalem." The last round of warfare between Israel and the terrorist HAMAS in Gaza was heralded by the Russian Mufti as an Israeli attack on mostly innocent civilians - women, children and old men; that Israel is at war not with terrorists, but with the people of Palestine and that the war policy of Israel more closely resembles a war of extermination. His bonafide as a potential 'Gog' are hereby thoroughly established.

Now in the present time were learn that Russian Muslim jihadists are at the forefront of international jihadist attacks. The Tsarnaev brothers who bombed the Boston Marathon and terrorized the city were Russian jihadists from Chechnya. Battle-hardened Russian and former-Soviet Muslim jihadists led the attack on Turkey's Ataturk Istanbul airport last week, as they have done elsewhere over the past ten years in attacks all over the globe. Who is not aware of the role Chechen and other former-Soviet jihadists have played in Al Qaeda or the Islamic State Caliphate? These Muslim jihadists go into battle screaming 'allah hu-akhbar' but their language of communication with each other in the thick of battle is Russian.

In Russia itself these jihadists are no longer confined to their ancestral homelands found in the Caucasus, Crimea and Tatarstan, but a minimum of an estimated 8 million are now firmly established in Russia's European heartland. They have been joined in this mass migration by at least 6.5 million more coming from the former Soviet states of Central Asia. They are being trained for jihad by between 5000 and 7000 Russian-speaking jihadists returned from Syria. 

I do reaffirm in mid-2016 the exegesis that we can see the nations so positively identified by Ezekiel as the principal antagonists: Magog, Rosh (Russia), Meshech (Moscow) and Tubal (Tobolsk) coming to the forefront as the Islamic State Caliphate establishes a more firm hold through the establishment of terror cells in these Russian heartlands. Their declared intent is seen in graffiti on the walls of battle-damaged buildings throughout Syria: "We will pray in your palace Putin! Rise up Chechen's and Tatars!"

Will Russia fall to Islam?  It sure looks that way.