It looks like the beginning of the end for Iran’s protesters. Once again, the evil regime of Iran’s radical mullahs has lived to fight another day after killing untold thousands in the streets.

It’s too soon to be sure of this, and a part of me hopes I’m wrong. This time yesterday, the regime seemed close to collapse. President Donald Trump told protesters that “help is on its way.” U.S. citizens were ordered to evacuate. The United Kingdom closed its embassy in Tehran. European sources said they expected an American strike “within 24 hours.” But yesterday evening, President Trump said he’d been told “the killing in Iran is stopping,” and American forces appear to be standing down.

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According to nbc, President Trump’s advisers could not assure the president that a strike on Iran would be decisive and warned that it could provoke a wider conflict. There is no aircraft carrier strike group in place in the Middle East.

So Trump appears to have declared peace and moved on.

Once again, the United States has left Iran in the “too hard” bin. The U.S. military took out hostile regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, but U.S. generals consider Iran’s mountainous territory and better-funded army a much more difficult target.

So thousands are dead, millions more remain repressed, and the U.S., even under President Trump, is again backing down—as it did during Iranians’ anti-government protests in 2009, in 2017–18, in 2019, and in 2022–23. There’s no solution in sight.

Of course, this could change very quickly. The apparent American stand-down could be misdirection. Tomorrow is January 16, the 40th anniversary of the death of Herbert W. Armstrong, who founded the Trumpet’s predecessor Bible prophecy magazine, the Plain Truth. Significant events often happen on this day: The U.S. launched Operation Desert Storm—the Gulf War—on Jan. 16, 1991.

Could something happen to free the people of Iran tomorrow?

This date does point to freedom for those in Iran, and beyond, but not through something like direct American intervention. When Jesus Christ was asked, “[W]hat shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” He replied that “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:3, 14). A few decades after Christ died and was resurrected, His gospel was suppressed and “another gospel” supplanted it, just as He had warned. False Christianity spread, and true Christianity barely survived. The true gospel—as Jesus prophesied—was not restored until the era leading up to His return: our time today (see Matthew 17:1-11).

Christ said that before He returns, “Elijah truly shall first come, and restore all things.” He was prophesying that, in the end time, a type of Elijah would restore the gospel, and the other truths He had taught, and preach it around the world.

Christ’s prophecy has been fulfilled.

Jan. 16, 1986, was the date of the death of that end-time Elijah. That anniversary alone is not a source of hope for Iran’s people. There could be some major events to shake the Middle East on that date. These will not bring lasting peace, justice or security. But that date, which reminds the world that an end-time Elijah has come and gone, points to the only true source of hope for all the world.

Jesus Christ is real, He is active, He is fulfilling His prophecies, and as He said in Matthew 17, He has sent His Elijah, so He is about to return and save not just the Iranians but all people from all repressive regimes! Our free booklet January 16: God’s Miracle Day has more.

Germany is ready to fight for Greenland: For the first time since the fall of the Third Reich, Germany is deploying troops to the Western Hemisphere to deter the United States.

The German armed forces “will send a reconnaissance team of 13 Bundeswehr personnel to Nuuk in Greenland on an Airbus A400M transport aircraft,” the German Defense Ministry announced in a statement yesterday. The mission takes place today through Saturday.

• Officers and logisticians are exploring what contribution the armed forces can make “within the framework of a joint mission of EU armies,” according to insider information obtained by Bild. While all participating countries are nato members, “[t]he operation is being coordinated from Copenhagen—and not through nato structures,” Bild explained.
• Greenland falls under the command of nato headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia. But EU militaries are exploring how to secure Greenland independently from the U.S. and nato. In doing so, Germany is stepping outside post-World War ii boundaries.

There may be an appetite for more, larger deployments, as Patrick Sensburg, president of Germany’s military reservist union, said on Wednesday that European troops should be sent to Greenland to prevent an American takeover of the territory.

The current small and short deployment and any future positioning of European troops in Greenland is intended to send a message to President Trump, who has threatened to annex the territory due to national security threats posed by Russia and China.

However, Bible prophecy reveals that the greater threat to America comes from Europe.

Germany’s defiance of the U.S. shows that it considers its own military strategy to be at risk.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius wrote yesterday that “the legitimate interests of the U.S.A.” would be better served if nato states worked together to secure the Arctic and North Atlantic. “Going it alone is the worse alternative and jeopardizes the continued existence of nato,” he added.

• Defense policy spokesman of Germany’s Union parties, Thomas Erndl, told Bild that “an international exercise” would “deter potential external aggressors and protect the alliance’s territory.”

But all this talk about defending nato is deceitful.

Referring to a prophecy in Nahum 3:1, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry writes: “The nations of Israel need to be warned about Germany’s military strategy. Germany is ‘full of lies and robbery’—or, it could read, ‘deceit and murder.’ It is full of deceit! It doesn’t just have a little deceit—it is full of it!”

Germany isn’t concerned about Greenland’s independence or the survival of nato. It is concerned that Trump’s plan will foil its anti-U.S. military strategy.

Witkoff: Second phase of Gaza ceasefire has begun: Phase Two of President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza conflict is launching, United States Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff announced yesterday. However, nothing on the ground appears to be changing.

• Phase One, which started in October, focused on a cessation of hostilities and Hamas releasing all hostages it kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, in exchange for Israel releasing Palestinian prisoners.
• Phase Two entails a withdrawal of Israeli forces in exchange for a total Hamas demilitarization. Witkoff said this phase will also introduce the interim technocratic government, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.

But Witkoff’s announcement clashes with some severe realities:

• Neither Israel nor Hamas has confirmed that they have begun implementing Phase Two.
• The body of the final hostage, Ran Gvili, has yet to be returned, as stipulated by Phase One.
• Israeli forces and Hamas gunmen are still skirmishing, each accusing the other of violating the ceasefire deal. As recently as Monday, Palestinian terrorists attacked Israeli troops in Rafah, resulting in six of the terrorists being killed.

Hamas claims it is willing to dissolve its government and allow the technocratic government to take over, but it has given no timetable or tangible proof that it will follow through. It has also rejected full demilitarization. Israel says it will not withdraw from Gaza without guarantees that Hamas will meet its obligations.

When U.S. President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire, he called the agreement “potentially one of the great days ever in civilization.” He claimed in December he brought peace to the Middle East “for the first time in 3,000 years.” The reality in Gaza and the potential for more terror and bloodshed show that these claims are a farce.

There is no peace in the Middle East, and the Bible prophesies that far worse conflicts are about to erupt in this region and within Israel specifically. “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

IN OTHER NEWS

Russia and North Korea’s ‘no limits’ alliance: Russia’s alliance with North Korea has transformed the latter into East Asia’s most “combat-ready” force, Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, told reporters on Monday. North Korea has given significant support to Russia’s war effort against Ukraine, including transfers of munitions and deployments of troops. The arrangement gives North Korea the benefit of battlefield experience as well as Russian weapons technology and training. The alliance has dramatically strengthened North Korea’s military power and reached a “no limits” level, Brunson said. The Bible prophesies of a colossal multinational Asian force, led by Russia, that will include China and several smaller Asian countries such as North Korea. That is why the Trumpet continues to monitor the strengthening military relationship between Russia and North Korea.

Britain bans Vlaadingerbroek: The British government has revoked Dutch journalist Eva Vlaadingerbroek’s electronic travel authorization, effectively banning her from the United Kingdom. She has criticized British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for his attacks on free speech and tolerance of migrant rape gangs. In issuing the ban, the government told her, “Your presence in the UK is not considered to be conducive to the public good.” The contrast is stark: The governing Labour Party will allow in almost unlimited numbers of anti-British and anti-Semitic foreign migrants to stay indefinitely, but it will not allow a visit from a journalist critical of such policies.

Is Britain’s Conservative Party falling apart? Robert Jenrick was abruptly sacked today, accused of plotting to defect to Nigel Farage’s Reform party. Jenrick is not a minor figure: He narrowly missed becoming leader of the Conservative Party in 2024. Jenrick had dinner with Farage last month and was apparently negotiating the best exit he could. He’s the most senior of a string of Conservatives defecting. Reform’s rise may provide a temporary resurgence for Britain at some point, but the chaos and drama point to wider political dysfunction in the UK.

Another ice shooting: In Minneapolis yesterday, an alleged Venezuelan immigrant reportedly assaulted an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent with a shovel, resulting in the agent shooting the man in the leg. Reports state that both individuals are hospitalized. The shooting came one week after an agent shot and killed a citizen who had positioned her vehicle in front of federal vehicles. That fatality touched off the current protests, which have included demonstrators throwing rocks and shooting fireworks, and federal officers firing tear gas. The Department of Homeland Security has arrested more than 2,000 illegal immigrants in Minnesota since December, and it is promising arrest more, while Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has demanded that agents stop arresting illegal immigrants. The Bible says such violence will continue and intensify until “Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers” (Isaiah 1:7).