Quiet before the storm?
The revolutionary regime in Iran is on the verge of collapse. The US is willing to start negotiations. In Gaza, Hamas continues to refuse to give up its weapons, while progress on the “peace plan” stalls. Is this the quiet before the storm?
A cautious and tenuous negotiation process is starting to develop between the United States and the Iranian regime. US President Trump threatens to attack if the regime does not give up its nuclear program, ballistic missiles and sponsorship of terrorism. So far the regime has refused. The negotiations have been moved from Ankara to Oman. Still the regime is stalling. The big questions are whether the US will water down their demands, and whether they will ultimately be prepared to use military might to defeat the regime.
Iran has said it will not make concessions on its formidable ballistic missile program — one of the biggest in the Middle East — calling that a red line in negotiations.
Melanie Phillips reports: “If Trump attacks Iran, we’ll finally know that he realizes that deal-making among nations has its limits. The fact that he keeps being persuaded to continue with these talks, however reluctantly, has created fears that he’s being played by the world’s supreme masters of tactical concessions, delay and manipulation.”
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, currently in Abu Dhabi, are expected to travel to Qatar to consult with Prime Minister Mohammed Abdulrahman Al Thani ahead of the talks in Oman.
Senior security officials in Jerusalem argue that an unprecedented opportunity exists to replace Iran’s ayatollah regime, and urge United States President Donald Trump to act decisively to seize the moment.
According to them, Israel missed a rare chance to eliminate the Iranian leadership, headed by Ali Khamenei and his son Mojtaba, who is designated to succeed him, during the 12-day “Rising Lion” operation against Iran in June 2025. Israel had the intelligence and operational capability to do so; therefore, this historic opportunity must not be missed again, they say.
The Iranian regime is on the point of economic collapse. A sign of the desperation is that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Thursday seized two oil tankers with their foreign crews in Gulf waters for “smuggling fuel,” the Tasnim news agency reported.
Oil tanker | Photo: Shaah Shahidh/Unsplash
Gaza
The Trump peace plan seems to have stalled. The plan has compromised Israel’s sovereignty, and many in Israel are considering Israel’s strategic options. In fact as one commentator has observed, Israel may be in a worse strategic position today than during active combat operations.
“The Trump plan, structured as a diplomatic business deal between rational actors seeking mutual benefit, fundamentally misjudges the nature of the adversary. Hamas is not a negotiating partner amenable to compromise; it is a jihadist organization whose founding charter declares that “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it.” Hamas’s disarmament provisions remain unfulfilled, Israel’s sworn enemies now participate in Gaza’s governance structure without its concurrence, and Hamas is being rewarded by the international community for its barbaric attack on October 7.”
This week, continue to pray for the governments of Iran, Israel and the United States – that they will act with restraint and seek to avoid war. Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem, and the speedy coming of our Lord and Savior, the Messiah of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
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The Trump Administration’s Delusional Gaza ‘Master Plan’
Even if Hamas does agree to surrender some of its weapons as part of a façade to appease Trump, the terror group will undoubtedly continue to keep or replace as many as possible to maintain a military, political and security presence in the Gaza Strip.
SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK:
Ezekiel 36:22-32
22 “Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. 23 I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.
24 “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. 30 I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. 32 I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign LORD. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, people of Israel!
