Good morning!

This has been an extraordinary week in prophetically relevant news. What is fascinating is that the overarching reality—the ayatollah being killed and Iran being bombed back to the dark ages—seems contradictory to what the Trumpet has forecast for decades: that Iran will lead the king of the south straight into war with Europe, with the U.S. already irrelevant.

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Stay tuned, though. The story is still unfolding. That prophecy will be fulfilled.

In the meantime, a host of other events have been quite directly advancing and accelerating other prophecies. We have covered several this week:

• Psalm 83 alliance solidifying: Iran’s attacks on the U.A.E., Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan and Qatar have managed to unite the Arab world against them. Iran’s firing a missile at Turkey, another Psalm 83 member, drives a wedge in that relationship.
• Europe swooping in: Iran’s drone attack on Cyprus, an EU member, has raised Europe’s hackles. European nations are sending an armada, using the war as an excuse to fortify this strategic island.
• Lebanon breaking with Iran: When Hezbollah fired at Israel, the Jewish state pounced, and the Lebanese government is blaming Hezbollah. They’re arresting irgc fighters and kicking Iran out. But they don’t want Israel in there either, so they are turning to France for help, which also solidifies the Psalm 83 alliance.
• Europe uniting: America’s action underscores how weak and indecisive the Europeans are, and how much they need a strongman. They have also realized the need to secure their Middle East energy supplies. Now France is moving ahead on nuclear-sharing with Germany and increasing military cooperation. In the end, all that firepower will be used against Iran and its radical Islamist allies.
• Russia strengthening: High gas prices are a welcome relief for Russia. And Europe is looking for energy alternatives to its lost Mideast sources, as are China and other Asian nations. Also, Gulf states firing antimissile munitions to defend against Iran is depleting global supply and creating cracks in Ukraine’s defenses that Russia is exploiting.
• America dividing: The war has exposed America’s broken will, as the populace is deeply opposed. It has also highlighted and increased division within the maga movement over the U.S.-Israel alliance and America’s role in the world.

This is just a short list—you could make a strong case for other prophecies. We will continue watching to see how other dimensions of this conflict play out. Watching with an understanding of the prophetic dimension and a sense of ultimate outcomes makes what we see before our eyes each day infinitely more impressive and fascinating.

Iran War Disrupting Energy Flows

Wholesale natural gas prices have doubled since the U.S. and Israel began bombing Iran, and nations are going into emergency mode to try to sustain the global energy circulatory system.

• Qatar produces 20 percent of the world’s liquefied natural gas. It shut down all production on Monday. QatarEnergy declared force majeure and canceled contracts due to unforeseen events.
• So have Asian petrochemical companies, such as South Korea’s Yeochun, Indonesia’s Chandra Asri, Singapore’s Aster Chemicals and the Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore.

Europe turns to Russia: The European Union is scrambling to deal with the shortages. It had planned to stop buying Russian gas by the end of 2027 in order to stop funding President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine. Now, it may cancel those plans.

Putin celebrated the sudden turn of events by suggesting that maybe Russia should instead cut Europe off.

In addition to crucial energy shipments, other important exports are being affected.

“Ten percent of the world’s container shipping is caught in the Strait of Hormuz closure.”
—Jeremy Nixon, ceo of Ocean Network Express

• The Gulf states produce 15 percent of global aluminum exports. They can’t ship through the Strait of Hormuz, and Qatar has had to halt all production.
• Norsk Hydro, which partners with Qatar’s Qatalum, has also declared force majeure and warned that it could take six to 12 months before its plant is operational again.

The blockage of energy flows and other important resources, not to mention the many knock-on effects, reminds the world that national economies depend on sea gates like the Strait of Hormuz remaining open.

This provides even more incentive for powers like Europe to further rearm and assert power in the Middle East and elsewhere. It is also encouraging Europe to bring Putin back in from the cold so they’re less reliant on a single source for so many crucial raw materials.

• Watch for Europe to simultaneously deepen ties with the Middle East so they can keep those resources flowing and develop alternative sources in Russia and North Africa.

The Trumpet wrote in 2018, “If Iran fulfills its threat to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, it could lead to the prophesied clash between the king of the south [Iran] and the king of the north [German-led Europe].”

Europe is being forced to think much more strategically about the Middle East, Russia and its future as a rising world power.

Lebanon Looks to France

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun wants to stop Israel from targeting Beirut—and he has turned to France for help. This points to a prophecy that Lebanon will become part of an alliance linking the Middle East with Europe.

• Aoun called French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday. Macron promised to do all he could to prevent Lebanon from being drawn into the war. He spoke to both Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, trying to broker a ceasefire that prevents Israel from striking Hezbollah-controlled areas in the suburbs of Beirut.
• Macron also announced that France will provide armored vehicles and logistical support to Lebanon.

Cyprus is already looking to Europe for protection. When Hezbollah struck a British base on the island, it was a European armada that responded and is now gathering in its waters. Lebanon is following suit.

In the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre by Palestinian Hamas terrorists on Israeli civilians, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry immediately drew special attention to Cyprus, Lebanon and Europe. He wrote, “Lebanon is going to be a pillar in this biblically prophesied alliance with Germany.” Now we see more movement in that direction. To understand why these seemingly secondary nations are so important to watch, read “The Fall and Rise of Lebanon.”

IN OTHER NEWS

EU defends Cyprus: Italy, Spain and the Netherlands announced yesterday that they would send naval assets to Cyprus to protect against Iranian strikes. Greece and France have already sent ships, including France’s aircraft carrier, to the area. These deployments signal that EU nations will reinforce each other, potentially with deadly force, without the need for nato and the U.S.

Egypt silent on Iran: The Egyptian government’s rhetoric about Iran during the current war has been noticeably understated. Its first official statement condemned Iran’s efforts against peace in the region, but when President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi discussed Iran’s retaliatory attacks, in which it sent hundreds of drones and missiles into sovereign neighboring nations, he conspicuously declined to even mention Iran by name. Mustafa Bakry, a prominent Egyptian figure, called on the Arab world to put aside its differences and unite—not against Iran but against Israel and the United States. The Bible prophesies that Egypt will soon ally with Iran, a dramatic shift in Middle Eastern power and a precursor to a conflict far greater than any other in human history.

German mogul buys the Telegraph: German media giant Axel Springer announced today its $766 million acquisition of RedBird imi, the owner of Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper. Axel Springer owns German newspapers Bild and Welt, and it acquired U.S. political news firm Politico in 2021. Axel Springer founded his firm in 1946 after starting a successful career in Nazi Germany and divorcing his half-Jewish wife “for career reasons,” according to his biographer. Deutschland Kultur said in 2012: “During the Nazi era, Springer had been jointly responsible for anti-Semitic propaganda.” After the war, he employed several people who had been staunch Nazis. One of Springer’s current editorial guidelines is to support the formation of a united Europe. The Bible warns that this unified empire will suddenly turn against America, Britain and the Jewish nation in the Middle East. Germany has acquired numerous tools to help it shape the narrative.

Pentagon labels Anthropic a ‘supply-chain risk’: The U.S. government accused artificial intelligence firm Anthropic of endangering members of the armed forces by adding its own restrictions to the lawful use of its Claude AI software. Consequently, the government labeled Anthropic a supply-chain risk yesterday, a designation normally reserved for businesses from foreign adversaries. The label prohibits the military and its many contractors from doing business with the company. This follows reports that the U.S. military used Claude AI to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and is using it for intelligence analysis and target evaluation in Iran. The military has been ordered to phase out Claude AI and to replace it with one or more of its AI competitors. The dispute highlights the importance of and reliance on artificial intelligence, despite the unknowns and the risks, as highlighted in “Why We Must Develop AI (Even If It Kills Us).”

Donald Trump fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem yesterday. According to Axios, “Trump’s firing of Noem was the biggest personnel shake-up of his second term. It showed the backlash against her was so great that Trump was willing to dismiss the nation’s domestic security chief as he’s launching a war abroad.” Noem will be succeeded at the end of the month by Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin.

Trump disavows Tucker: Yesterday, President Trump reacted to commentator Tucker Carlson calling his Iran strikes “disgusting and evil” by saying that “Tucker has lost his way.” He told abc News, “I knew that a long time ago, and he’s not maga. maga is saving our country. maga is making our country great again. maga is America first, and Tucker is none of those things. And Tucker is really not smart enough to understand that.” In two recent broadcasts, Carlson asserted the exact claims the Iranian regime makes: that the war serves Israel and not the U.S., that the Gulf states are the real victims, that the ayatollahs will unleash chaos, and that the Jews secretly want to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem on the ruins of Islam’s third-holiest site. Middle East Forum’s Gregg Roman said, “Tucker Carlson has become Tehran’s most effective propagandist.”