Russia and U.S. Back Israel’s Right to Strike Iran in Iraq

And Australia joins the U.S.-UK mission in the Persian Gulf to protect shipping from Iran.

jerusalem
Recent mysterious explosions taking place at Iraqi bases are the result of a green light being given by the United States and Russia for Israel to expand its area of operations, the London-based Asharq al-Awsat reported on Wednesday, citing Western sources.

The latest Iraqi explosion came overnight on Tuesday, when an arms depot 50 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq’s capital, was hit. The base belongs to the Popular Mobilization Forces, a conglomeration of militias that mostly answer to Iran but are now part of the official Iraqi security establishment.

The target was missiles that had been recently transferred to Iraq from Iran. Sky News Arabia reported that at least 50 missiles were destroyed in the strike.

According to the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis, Tuesday’s attack was the fourth explosion at an Iranian-linked site in the past month.

While Israel has not taken credit for the attack, most analysts believe it is the only viable candidate.

As we have previously noted, Iran is entrenching itself inside Iraq through the use of its Shiite militias. These militias have now formed a fifth column inside Iraq, similar to how Iran uses Hezbollah in Lebanon. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at Israel’s role in the strikes, saying that “Iran has no immunity, anywhere.”

Netanyahu said in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly last September:

Israel will do whatever it must do to defend itself against Iran’s aggression. We will continue to act against you in Syria. We will act against you in Lebanon. We will act against you in Iraq. We will act against you whenever and wherever we must act to defend our state and defend our people.

The Israeli strikes reveal a stunning new reality in the Middle East: Iraq has fallen to Iran. The Baghdad government is powerless to stop it. If you don’t have the power to stop Iran from using you as a base to launch missiles at Israel, then Israel will strike.

According to the Asharq al-Awsat report, both the U.S. and Russian governments understand that and have given Israel the green light to attack. This permission reveals that there are giant cracks in the Russia-Iran relationship.

Biblical prophecy provides insight into how the future will unfold in Syria and Iraq.

In the case of Syria, and Russian intervention, Bible prophecy indicates that Iran will lose the control that it now has. But in Iraq, where Israel has now expanded its area of attack, there will be no such drawdown in Iranian power.

Going forward, watch for Iran to cement its control over Iraq and watch the current government in Baghdad become increasingly weaker. It’s likely that eventually pro-Iranian elements will get control of the Iraqi government as well, just like Hezbollah has done inside Lebanon.

For more information on our long-standing forecast of Iraq’s fall to Iran, please read Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry’s free booklet The King of the South.

Australia Joins the Persian Gulf Mission

On Wednesday morning, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that Australia would send 200 servicemen, a navy frigate, a maritime patrol aircraft, and planning and operations personnel to the region.

The Australian reported Morrison as saying:

This destabilizing behavior is a threat to Australian interests in the region, particularly our enduring interests in the security of global sea lanes … 15-16 percent of crude oil, and 25-35 percent of refined oil destined for Australia transits through the Strait of Hormuz …. So it is a potential threat to our economy.

Currently, the multinational force is made up of the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Bahrain, with Israel providing some intelligence support.

The mission, Operation Sentinel, is designed to limit Iran’s ability to stop international shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passageway that leads from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean. In recent months, Iran has successfully impounded a British flagged vessel, and made several other unsuccessful attempts.

The fact that Australia has joined the mission is unsurprising given its shipping is under threat. However, there is another interesting connection between these nations.

The U.S., Britain, Australia and the State of Israel in the Middle East are all descendants of ancient Israel. (For proof, request a free copy of The United States and Britain in Prophecy, by Herbert W. Armstrong.) The resurgent ties these nations are experiencing highlights the close brotherly bond that is rooted in biblical history.

The U.S. is currently experiencing a prophesied resurgence, something Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote about in “Saving America From the Radical Left—Temporarily.” The other nations of Israel (Britain, Australia and the Jewish nation in the Middle East) are each experiencing the trickle-down effect of America’s resurgence.

This mission in the Strait of Hormuz is another sign of the familiar bond that these nations share.