Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani is expressing optimism over certain sanctions being lifted:
January 11, 2016
Sanctions against Iran will end in “days” and the coming year will be one of “economic revival,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said.
“In a few days, we will see the end of the cruel sanctions against Iran,” he said Monday in a speech to open natural-gas facilities in the south of the country. “When sanctions end, I will explain to people how great of an accomplishment this is.”
Iran secured a nuclear deal with world powers in July to end the country’s political and economic isolation. The formal implementation of the accord will lift financial and oil sanctions and allow the return of foreign investors, providing Rouhani’s government with an opportunity to stimulate a turnaround at a time when state revenue has been hit by low crude prices.
The nuclear accord is “days away from implementation,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Jan. 7. Speaking at a press conference in Prague on Monday, the European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said she expects “the day to come rather soon.”
EU, U.S., and United Nations sanctions on Iran are scheduled to be lifted as soon as the International Atomic Energy Agency verifies that Iran has met the terms of the accord. Four IAEA envoys said in December that may happen around the middle of this month. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-11/rouhani-expects-end-of-sanctions-in-days-iran-revival-to-follow
Last year, Iran gambled that the West wanted a deal so badly that it would make a deal closer to what Iran wanted–and it did. The deal agreed to will give Iran access to about 90-150 billion dollars of frozen assets that Iran can use again. Some of those assets will likely be used for its economy and to partially deal with the Islamic State, but other funds will likely go to terrorist groups and other groups that oppose the USA and/or Israel.
Iran is still involved in international terrorism.
So, what will happen with Iran? What does it really want?
Iran wants to takeover Jerusalem and lead the Islamic world. It then wants to takeover the world. It would prefer to knock out the USA whenever it can and it believes that mystical powers will allow it to do that.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani stated that his own election was because of the intervention of a mystical Imam Madhi, who Shi’ite Muslims (the type that predominate in Iran) believe has been alive for over 1300 years and who will become publicly manifested in the end times to bring victory to Iran over non-Muslims (see Iran’s President-elect wants to negotiate with the USA and credits the ‘Islamic messiah’ for his election).
Why is any of this ‘Imam Mahdi’ rhetoric of any value.
Well, among other reasons, because there is old Shiite prophecy involving him that seems to tie him in with someone like Barack Hussein Obama personally. Notice what Forbes’ writer Amir Taheri reported:
Is Barack Obama the “promised warrior” coming to help the Hidden Imam of Shiite Muslims conquer the world?
…a pro-government Web site published a Hadith (or tradition) from a Shiite text of the 17th century. The tradition comes from Bahar al-Anvar (meaning Oceans of Light) by Mullah Majlisi, a magnum opus in 132 volumes and the basis of modern Shiite Islam.
According to the tradition, Imam Ali Ibn Abi-Talib (the prophet’s cousin and son-in-law) prophesied that at theEnd of Times and just before the return of the Mahdi, the Ultimate Saviour, a “tall black man will assume the reins of government in the West.” Commanding “the strongest army on earth,” the new ruler in the West will carry “a clear sign” from the third imam, whose name was Hussein Ibn Ali. The tradition concludes: “Shiites should have no doubt that he is with us.”
In a curious coincidence Obama’s first and second names–Barack Hussein–mean “the blessing of Hussein” in Arabic and Persian. His family name, Obama, written in the Persian alphabet, reads O Ba Ma, which means “he is with us,” the magic formula in Majlisi’s tradition.
Since we are near the end of times and Barack Hussein Obama is considered to be black and he is basically the “ruler in the West” and he now leads the” strongest army on earth,” it makes sense that a lot of Shiite Muslims could believe that he may fit that Islamic prophecy. And since there is only about 53 weeks of President Obama’s presidential term, any who believe that prophecy in Iran (and since it originally was publicly reported in Iran, it is widely believed that Iran’s leaders authorized its publication), the leaders of Iran may well look upon the unfreezing of assets as a sign to proceed with their agenda.
Information on that ‘tall black man’ prophecy was also in another article in Arabic that was translated into English:
According to the text that is the foundation of modern Shiite Islam, a prophecy that a tall black man would rule the West portends the coming of the Islamic redeemer.
Ali Ibn Abi-Talib—the prophet’s cousin and son-in-law and the most revered figure in Shiite Islam—prophesied that before the return of the Mahdi, the ultimate redeemer in Islam, a tall black man will rule the West and will carry a “clear sign” from the Third Imam,Hussein Ibn Ali, according to the report by Iranian-born, London-based journalist Amir Taheri…
The Mahdi (Arabic for “the guided one”), is supposed to return before Judgment Day to eliminate injustice and tyranny. The appearance of the Mahdi is not mentioned in the Quran or the Sunnah (Prophet’s teachings), and many Sunni scholars view it as a Shiite invention…in the 132-volume work by Shiite scholar Mullah Majlisi (Nayouf, Hayyan. Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid. Shiite scholar denies Obama link to Muslim savior. Dubai. November 4, 2008. http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/11/04/59490.html viewed 05/19/09).
The fact that Barack Obama’s name also seems to closely fit that prophecy suggests that he may. And while in I do not believe that Barack Hussein Obama himself believes that “he is with us” (as “o bama” apparently means in Persian) refers to him in that prophecy, the fact is that no other USA president has ever been as close to Muslims as President Obama. And no US President has ever supported a deal remotely like the one the USA now has with Iran.
At this moment, the Obama Administration keeps trying to tell everyone what a great deal it made with Iran while Iran keeps making statements that it plans to do what it wants and that it will not have to comply with the deal. Barack Obama IS with Iran by pushing for the deal, which Barack Obama claims will lead to peace. Right now however, some in his Administration would like to delay the ending of sanctions, but others differ on that (cf. Key Dem ‘concerned’ by delay in Iran sanctions). Overall, Barack Obama seems to want to eliminate the sanctions as he publicly claims this will lead to a more peaceful Iran.
As I have written before, a temporary peace will come to the Middle East (cf. Daniel 9:27, see also The ‘Peace Deal’ of Daniel 9:27), but this Iranian deal is not that one.
Iran wants a nuclear bomb and the nuclear deal will not prevent it from acquiring one. Actually, getting back its assets may well embolden Iran to pursue its military plans–which includes getting weapons of mass destruction, like nuclear bombs.
The reality is that Iran hopes to takeover the Islamic world, then the rest of the world. It may well feel emboldened to do so once it gets most of its financial assets back like the proposed deal provides for. Bible prophecy, however, does not show that Iran will lead the Arab world (Daniel 11:40-43; Ezekiel 30:2-9), thus the deal that President Obama is pushing will likely cause Iran to do something that will result in its power/influence ultimately being reduced.
Iran is dangerous, and it is subject to being hurt by its own actions and statements (cf. Jeremiah 49:34-38).
Iran has no real interest in world peace and no one in the West should believe otherwise. Today’s statements by its President Rouhanido not change that.