Ironically, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA, the UN’s “watchdog”) closed an investigation (underway for years) of Iran’s nuclear activity just ahead of “implementation day” of the July 2015 Iranian nuclear deal.  In various reports over time, the IAEA has determined that:

• Iran, indeed, had a secret nuclear weapons program prior to 2003 (which was the thrust of the IAEA investigation).
• Iranian missile launches in 2012 and 2013 violated UN resolutions banning testing of ballistic missiles.
• Iran’s recent (October 10) test firing of a ballistic missile violated paragraph 9 of the Security Council Resolution 1929.
• General Qassem Soleimani, head of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has made illegal trips to Moscow to meet with Russian authorities.  This violates restrictions on his travel by UN Security Council resolution.

According to an American official, “Implementation Day”is not to happen “until Iran complies with all steps under JCPOA.” However, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani believes it will be before the end of the year.

Meanwhile, following the IAEA’s conclusions, US Congress is calling for additional sanctions against Iran, based on Iran’s most recent violation of the test firing of a ballistic missile on October 10.

The question arises: will Congress succeed in blocking removal of sanctions, or will President Obama once again acquiesce to Iranian persuasion and lift sanctions despite obvious and repeated violations to the very agreement the Obama administration brokered in July?

Recall to mind Obama’s previous “red lines.”  At one time, he promised that if Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons on his own people, the US would take decisive action.  That did not happen.  There is certainly legitimate argument regarding whether or not it was in the best interest of the US to get involved in Syria at that time.  However, the point is that the administration uttered a significant threat and failed to follow through.  That seems to have opened the door for Russian President Vladimir Putin to flex his muscle on the world stage, and it most certainly emboldened terrorists, as they became convinced that America is all talk and no action.

These are perilous times in which we live.  America’s leadership on the world stage has exited stage left.  We may talk a good game, but when it comes to action, we either can’t or won’t.  Our nation is languishing in lack of leadership.

That is why we must be a people of prayer.  God, and God alone, is able to rescue and redeem us from the problems of this world.  We must know and trust that, in God’s divine providence, He will have His way with us, both nationally and personally.  Our God is in control, and He is our Blessed Hope.  We must continue to look to Him!

I leave you with this truth from Jeremiah 18:5-10:

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the Lord. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.”

Oh that we might be a nation that turns from evil.  I’ve made it my prayer…how about you?