Iran, the Jewish People, and You
Many of us woke this morning to the news that the US and Israel have attacked Iran. As expected, Iran has responded by launching attacks on Israel and on US bases in the region. Many who are not following this conflict closely may be wondering at the history of this conflict and the background of their volatile relationship. It’s important, especially in times of large-scale conflict like this, to ensure that we understand the big picture of how we got to where we are. As we’ve seen in recent years, a lack of factual information leads to wrong conclusions. This has been especially evident with the rise of worldwide antisemitism after the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists[1]. Our prayer is that as you understand this conflict better, you’ll be better equipped to stand against antisemitsm and pray for Israelis, Iranians, and others who are in the line of fire.
Life in Messiah is neither a news organization nor a political action committee. But we are very much attuned to events in the Middle East because Israel is often in the crosshairs. Since the founding of our ministry in 1887, the welfare of the Jewish people has been a concern. And since their restoration in 1948 to the land God deeded to Abraham, the tiny Jewish state has faced existential threats – and never more than today.
True, in every decade since Israel’s War of Independence, the Jewish state has fought a major war or had to combat serious terrorist attacks.[2] But most of those battles were fought with near neighbors: Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.
Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Israel has had to deal with a new threat vector. Shiite Islam’s eschatology does not allow for the existence of a Jewish state.[3] “Death to Israel” (the “little Satan”) is more than a slogan. Rather than directly attacking Israel, Iran fomented terror attacks against Jewish targets abroad such as the horrific bombings in Buenos Aires in 1992[4] and 1994[5] (26 and 85 killed, respectively).
For decades, Iran’s oil profits funded, armed, and trained[6] their proxy warriors: Hamas and other jihadis in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen. Hezbollah’s attacks against the “great Satan” (the U.S.) resulted in mass casualties – many American – in the early 1980s.[7]
Iran’s “ring of fire” surrounding Israel was firmly in place when Hamas massacred 1,200 Israelis on October 7, 2023 and took nearly 250 hostages into Gazan tunnels. For more than two years Israel fought on three fronts seeking to eliminate the threats to their south, east, and north and get back the hostages – dead or alive.
The situation grew more serious in April 2024 when Iran decided to directly attack Israel – not with a land invasion or with fighter aircraft, but massive missile launches and swarms of drones.[8] Israel’s Iron Dome[9] had been kept more than busy neutralizing the more than 25,000 rockets fired by Israel’s near neighbors – which, while life-disrupting, were far less lethal; the massive warheads carried by ballistic missiles are far deadlier. A second such wave of close to 200 ballistic missiles was unleashed from Iran in October 2024.[10] Thankfully, Israel’s defensive shields (Arrow, David’s Sling) proved wondrously effective: only one confirmed casualty from the second strike was recorded.[11]
Iran’s “Twelve Day War” with Israel in June 2025 was the most deadly. Iran unleashed more than 500 ballistic missiles, including a final salvo of six after the ceasefire had been agreed. Though the great majority were intercepted, some were not; tragically, 28 Israeli deaths resulted.[12]
Historical Perspective
We read of ancient Persia in the pages of Scripture. During Daniel’s lifetime he served under four Babylonian kings before the Medo-Persians under Cyrus the Great in 539 BC conquered the vast empire built by Nebuchadnezzar. Cyrus issued the proclamation that his Jewish subjects were free to return to Israel – and he funded the rebuilding of Jerusalem to boot (Ezra 1:1-4)![13]
Fast forward three Persian rulers to Xerxes (aka Ahashuerus, 486-465 BC) and we find the story of Esther. One high court official (Haman) hates one Jewish man (Mordecai) so much that he gets the king to sign an edict to annihilate every Jewish man, woman, and child throughout the 127 provinces of the kingdom. Every Purim (March 2 in 2026) Jewish people around the world read the megillah (scroll) of Esther and rejoice in God’s miraculous preservation of His chosen people.
In the medieval period, Jewish people thrived in cities like Isfahan and Shiraz.[14] The twentieth century saw the end of the Qajar Dynasty when Shah Reza Pahlavi rose to power in 1925. Under his leadership, in World War II Iranian officials provided passports for European Jews.[15] By 1979, when the Islamic Revolution ousted the shah,[16] the Iranian Jewish population – which was faring very well – had risen to about 100,000.
A Biblical Perspective
So, what should we as followers of Messiah Jesus be praying for in this critical time? We know we have a sovereign God who has already written the final chapter of human history (see the book of Revelation!).
The Iranian people have suffered much under the cruel reign of the Islamic regime. At least six popular uprisings have protested against the government.[17] Many casualties resulted, sometimes in great numbers. From 2022-23, the “Mahsa Amini” demonstrations resulted in 551 deaths.[18] We may never learn the true number of those killed in recent months, but conservative estimates start at 5,000 civilian deaths and may be 10 times that number,[19] many of them young people, including children.
What comes as a surprise to many is the growth of Christianity in Iran in the last quarter century. In fact, some missiologists are saying the Iranian church is the fastest growing in the world, nearing as many as a million adherents.[20] This leaves us to wonder how many of the protesters who have lost their lives were born again believers. And only God knows how many are being tortured today in Iranian prisons.
Fair-minded people want to see the suffering of the Iranian people end. Those who understand God’s heart for the Jewish people would love to see the regime that for decades has fomented terror and launched missiles against Israel brought down.
We encourage you to pray on behalf of all who are involved in this deep-seated conflict. Pray for wisdom for the world powers who are making life and death decisions that could ignite a wider war should this attack on Iran be responded to by those aligned with that malign state. Pray also for those in Israel who are constantly running to safe rooms or bomb shelters. Iran and its proxies have a long history of targetting civilians in their attacks and the anxiety level is very high among Israelis.
We remember how God’s grace and mercy were extended to us while we were yet sinners. So we can also pray that the most hardened of hearts against God and His people may be turned in repentance to receive the free gift of salvation through faith in the finished work of Messiah Yeshua, who is the Prince of Peace and the soon-to-return King of the Jews.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Written by Wes Taber, Life in Messiah Global Ambassador
Endnotes:
[1] Read more about this rise of antisemitism at https://www.lifeinmessiah.org/blog/fact-fiction.
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_Israel.
[3] For a deeper dive into “Twelver Shia” beliefs regarding the coming Mahdi’s rule, see https://shiism.hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/09/exoteric-imamate-omnipresent-esoteric-shia-hiero-history.
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Buenos_Aires_Israeli_embassy_bombing.
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMIA_bombing.
[6] Iran’s elite Quds Force, the foreign arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps which is most loyal to the ayatollahs’ regime, is the primary arm for training and equipping terror groups. See https://www.cfr.org/backgrounders/irans-revolutionary-guards.
[7] Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, experienced three bombings: U.S. Embassy (April 1983) – 63 killed, 120 injured; U.S. Marine Barracks (October 1983) – 299 killed, many injured; U.S. Embassy Annex (September 1984) – 23 killed.
[8] Estimated aerial attacks on April 2024: 120 ballistic missiles, 30 cruise missiles, 170 drones.
[9] https://www.ajc.org/news/7-things-you-need-to-know-about-israels-iron-dome-defense-system.
[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2024_Iranian_strikes_on_Israel.
[11] A Palestinian civilian was killed by falling debris; one Israeli died of a heart attack during the raid.
[12] https://israel24.com/2025/06/30/the-israel-iran-war-by-the-numbers-after-12-days-of-fighting/.
[13] Of course, only a remnant of the Babylonian captivity returned in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah; the majority remained in Persia.
[14] https://www.mohammadmossadegh.com/news/israel-iran-relations/.
[16] In 1978, then General Director of American Messianic Fellowship Bill Currie sent two couples to Tehran to bring the gospel to the thriving Jewish community. The Revolution forced their departure, with one couple airlifted out of the country by US military personnel.
[17] https://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2019/dec/05/fact-sheet-protests-iran-1999-2019-0.
[18] https://www.iranhr.net/en/articles/6200/.
[20] https://joshuaproject.net/countries/IR and https://persecution.org/2023/07/20/the-worlds-fastest-growing-church/. Also https://buzzbeatmedia.com/christianity-in-iran-churches-converts-population-updated-2026/.