Iran

Iran is not simply teetering on the edge of unrest. It is standing at a historic rupture, one that carries consequences far beyond its borders. What unfolds next will reshape energy markets, redraw regional alliances, challenge Islamist power structures, and test the moral clarity of the West and the Church alike. This is not a local uprising. It is a global fault line.

At the heart of the question is whether the Islamic Republic can survive sustained internal collapse or whether it will be decisively dismantled through airstrikes, internal fracture, or a combination of both. A full destruction of the regime would send shockwaves across the Middle East, not least because Iran sits at the center of proxy warfare, nuclear brinkmanship, and global oil supply chains. Any destabilization of Tehran reverberates through Hezbollah in Lebanon, militias in Iraq and Syria, the Houthis in Yemen, and even energy prices felt by American families at the pump.

President Donald Trump has made clear in past conflicts that American involvement is rarely altruistic. His approach to Venezuela demonstrated that regime pressure often comes with long-term U.S. interests attached, particularly oil. Trump has openly said the United States would be involved there “for years” and Iran would be no different. Even if Washington were to assist in facilitating the return of Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, it would come at a price. Power vacuums invite factions, and Iran has no shortage of them.

Inside the country, the chants are unmistakable. “Javeed Shah--Long live the King” has echoed through protests, signaling an overwhelming popular rejection of Islamic rule. Yet outside Iran, the opposition landscape is far messier. Competing factions backed by powerful Western and regional forces are positioning themselves for influence. Chief among them is the Mujahideen-e-Khalq, or MEK, whose very name means “those who fight jihad for truth.” Despite the branding, the reality is darker.

The MEK is a Marxist-Islamist cult that demands absolute obedience, suppresses dissent, and operates with rigid ideological control. It does not resonate with a generation of Iranians who are risking their lives for personal freedom, not ideological replacement. Yet the MEK has found defenders in surprising places within Western political circles, including figures such as Rudy Guiliani, John Bolton and Mike Pence. Their support reflects a dangerous misunderstanding of the Iranian people’s aspirations and a willingness to empower another authoritarian movement under the guise of opposition.

Power, Oil, and Global Consequences

The stakes extend well beyond Iran’s borders. A destabilized or liberated Iran would dramatically affect global energy markets, potentially lowering oil prices and weakening petro-authoritarian regimes. It would alter nuclear negotiations overnight. It would challenge the balance of power across the Middle East, especially among Islamist governments that have been propped up by Western policy for decades, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, and now post-war Syria and Iraq. Many within the U.S. State Department fear “regional imbalance” if Iran falls. What they truly fear is something unprecedented: the defeat of Islamic rule by its own
people.

Regional leaders from Riyadh to Ankara do not want a free Iran. Saudi Arabia and Qatar worry about oil price shocks and the ideological implications of a successful anti-Islamist revolution. Turkish President Erdogan fears the precedent it would set for political Islam across the region. Trump will hear these concerns loudly. At the same time, he faces pressure from isolationist elements within his own base who reject any form of nation-building or prolonged U.S. involvement abroad.

Officially, the administration maintains that diplomacy comes first. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has stated that while negotiations are preferred, nothing is off the table. Trump has already imposed a sweeping 25 percent tariff on any entity doing business with Iran, signaling that economic warfare is very much underway.

Israel’s position adds another layer of complexity. A free Iran would almost certainly align against Islamist terror networks and in favor of Israel’s security. That shift would have profound implications for the Abraham Accords, Palestinian statehood debates, and regional peace negotiations. The very existence of a non-Islamist Iran would upend decades of anti-Israel strategy rooted in Tehran.

Yet military intervention is not the only tool available, and it is striking how many non-military options remain underutilized. The United States possesses some of the most advanced cyber capabilities in the world. Iranian internet infrastructure, traffic systems, and regime-controlled media could be disrupted at scale. The temporary shutdown of Iran’s national television network showed what is possible. More could be done.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, continues to operate with alarming freedom through front companies, shipping firms, construction conglomerates, charities, banks, and energy intermediaries. Assets are hidden through relatives. Money is laundered through third countries. Operatives travel under diplomatic cover. Sanctions are riddled with carve-outs and selectively enforced by Western governments terrified of escalation.

Cutting off the IRGC would require real resolve: aggressive enforcement of material support laws, freezing assets held by proxies and family members, blocking insurance and port access, grounding aviation services tied to IRGC networks, and ending humanitarian or commercial channels the Guard secretly controls. Elevating authentic opposition voices, smuggling communication tools and supplies into Iran, and conducting psychological operations that sow doubt within regime ranks are all viable strategies that fall short of open war.

The urgency of this moment is underscored by recent developments. The U.S. has ordered evacuations of American citizens. France has withdrawn diplomats. Intelligence reports suggest regime elites are already moving money and preparing exit strategies. The cracks are real.

Faith, the Church, and What Comes Next

For the Church, this moment carries profound spiritual weight. Iran is a theocracy that criminalizes Christianity. Converts are branded traitors. Pastors are imprisoned. Evangelism is treated as a national security threat. Yet despite relentless persecution, Christianity is growing through underground churches, exposing the moral and spiritual bankruptcy of political Islam.

While Iranians risk everything to escape Islamic rule, too many Western churches remain silent, confused, or morally neutral. Scripture does not permit such detachment. Isaiah commands, “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.” Hebrews reminds us that what can be shaken will be shaken, so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

Living fearless does not mean predicting outcomes or endorsing geopolitical schemes. It means refusing to avert our eyes, refusing to distort the truth, and refusing to let fear dictate our witness. Millions of Iranian Christians are praying for freedom. The question is whether the global Church will have the courage to stand with them when history is being written in real time.

For biblical insight, cultural analysis, and fearless reporting on moments shaping our world, stay connected with the Real Life Network. Visit RealLifeNetwork.com to watch, listen, and stand for truth where faith and current events collide.

There is something quietly powerful about a person who simply shows up. No speeches. No screaming. Just the steady confidence of standing on principle. On the Daniel Cohen Show for Real Life Network (RLN News), I want to name what so many Americans can feel right now: our culture is loud, confused, and unstable, and the need for biblical truth, moral clarity, and a Christian worldview has never been more urgent.

Hollywood and the legacy media love to lecture the rest of us about morality, but this week exposed the hypocrisy. We watched celebrities elevate a political narrative around Renee Good while ignoring the deeper issues of law, order, and truth. At the same time, actress Sydney Sweeney did something refreshingly human that cut through the noise. She stood for a photo with former Israeli hostages Noah Argomani and Avianatan Orr, survivors of Hamas captivity. In an entertainment industry that punishes anyone who steps out of step with the herd, she did not flinch. Quiet courage still matters, especially when it costs you something.

Protect Women’s Sports and Tell the Truth

We also have a major case at the United States Supreme Court that could decide whether men will continue competing against women in women’s sports. The arguments we are hearing from the left are built on confusion, and sometimes outright denial of reality. The lead attorney could not even define what a woman is. Justice Alito asked a basic question. The answer came back as word salad and evasions.

Title IX was passed to protect women and ensure equal opportunity, privacy, and safety. It was not designed to accommodate an ideology that pretends biology is optional. We have seen female athletes lose scholarships, lose records, and take physical punishment they should never have to endure. This is not compassion. It is exploitation. Riley Gaines nailed it when she said that if leaders cannot state a simple truth about male and female, then they lose credibility on everything else.

And Christians, this is another reminder of why voting matters. Supreme Court seats shape the law for generations. Policy follows downstream from worldview, and worldview follows downstream from truth.

Iran’s Uprising and the Red Green Alliance

While Americans are being distracted and manipulated, Iran is burning, literally and figuratively. The death toll is unclear because the regime has cut the internet and buried the truth along with the bodies. There are reports of mass graves, families not receiving the remains of loved ones, and protesters being executed publicly. We are watching an Islamic dictatorship respond the only way it knows how: with terror.

Here is what I know. It is worse than the world is being told. It is worse than many want to admit. And the people of Iran cannot do this alone.

This also connects to what Charlie Kirk has described as the Red Green Alliance, the coalition between radical leftism and radical Islam. We have seen this pattern before. In Iran in 1979, leftists welcomed Islamists into the revolution, thinking they could build something free together. Then the Islamists took power and crushed everyone who would not submit. That is how it ends every time. Tyranny wins and freedom dies.

If you are wondering why this matters in America, look at what is happening in Minnesota, including Somali fraud scandals, the obstruction of ICE operations, and elected officials calling law enforcement “terror.” Look at the ideological protection being offered to movements that do not share Judeo-Christian values at all. If we lose the ability to name truth, we will lose the ability to defend anything good.

As the noise grows louder and the truth becomes harder to find, believers need a place they can trust. Real Life Network exists to cut through propaganda, speak with biblical clarity, and equip Christians to stand firm in an increasingly hostile culture.

Watch The Daniel Cohen Show and hundreds of other faith grounded programs anytime on Real Life Network. Stream biblical worldview news, bold teaching, and cultural commentary all in one place, free and without compromise.

Download the Real Life Network app or visit RealLifeNetwork.com and make truth part of your daily rhythm.

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In a world drowning in confusion, Christians need biblical truth more than ever. The Daniel Cohen Show on Real Life Network connects the breaking headlines to the deeper reality: a spiritual battle over truth, law, and the future of the West. From chaos in Los Angeles after a U-Haul attack to reports of Sharia style patrol behavior in Europe now echoed in New York, to rising hostility toward ICE, the pattern is clear. If the church loses biblical worldview clarity, the culture will gladly disciple the next generation with propaganda.

Chaos in Los Angeles and the New Normal of Imported Conflict

A U-Haul rams into a pro Iran freedom demonstration in Westwood, leaving one person injured and setting off a wave of anger, confusion, and street level retaliation. Daniel Cohen’s point is not that every protest becomes violence. His point is that American streets are increasingly becoming the stage where foreign conflicts play out locally.

What used to feel “far away” is no longer distant when factions bring their grievances into U.S. neighborhoods, when social media accelerates rage, and when institutions refuse to name ideologies honestly. In Cohen’s framing, these are not random sparks. They are warning signals.

American cities are already strained by polarization, distrust in legacy institutions, and leaders who often reward the loudest activists. When you add global ideological conflict into that mix, the result is volatility. The Westwood incident is a picture of how quickly a crowd can become a mob, and how quickly a single driver can turn a public gathering into a near tragedy.

Cohen also warns that the public is often fed a curated narrative instead of full context. That is why Christian news grounded in Scripture matters. A biblical worldview does not deny compassion, but it refuses manipulation. It insists on truth, accountability, and moral clarity.

“Community Patrols” and the Slow Drift Toward Parallel Enforcement

The script turns from Los Angeles to New York City, where a Muslim “community patrol” presence is described as operating in a style that resembles law enforcement branding. Supporters say it is a response to bias incidents. Critics argue it looks like a parallel security culture, and they point to Europe as the preview.

The European examples Cohen highlights are not abstract. Reports have captured patrol members confronting residents for drinking, declaring certain areas “Muslim,” and harassing people over sexuality and women’s clothing. That is not neighborly concern. That is social coercion. And the danger of coercion is that it spreads by normalization.

Cohen’s argument is that this does not begin with tanks or armies. It begins with guilt, pressure, and political appeasement. Leaders present it as tolerance. Institutions frame it as inclusion. But the practical effect can be the creation of new boundaries, new rules, and new “protected” enforcers operating in the public square.

In this context, Cohen links the issue to the broader Red Green Alliance, where radical left politics and Islamist movements can cooperate for influence. They may disagree on many doctrines, but they can align against Judeo Christian values, moral order, and the legitimacy of Israel. The outcome is a culture where truth is treated as hate, and coercion is treated as compassion.

This is also why the question of Israel matters here. Israel is not a side issue in Scripture or in geopolitics. It sits at the crossroads of Biblical Prophecy, regional security, and the post October 7th reality where Hamas continues to threaten civilians and exploit global confusion.

Political Vigilantism, MediaBias, and Iran’s Sliding Door Moment

Cohen returns to what he calls an “epidemic of political vigilantism,” especially as rhetoric escalates against ICE. When activists are told for years that law enforcement is “Nazi,” “Gestapo,” or “secret police,” it should not surprise anyone when someone decides that confrontation is heroic.

In the script, the call for violence is explicit. It is celebrated as maturity. It is framed as necessity. But that is exactly how societies decay: when the moral boundary against violence is erased, and when law is replaced by emotion and mob power.

Cohen’s critique of Media Bias is simple: the narrative matters more than the facts. A tragic death is instantly weaponized. Responsibility is blurred. Moral agency disappears. Meanwhile, in Iran, something historic is unfolding and much of the same media class treats it as background noise.

Cohen argues that Iran’s uprising is a sliding door moment. If the regime falls, the ripple effects could be massive across the Middle East. Iran’s terror funding networks weaken. Hamas and Hezbollah lose support. The “ring of fire” around Israel is disrupted. The moment also exposes the selective outrage of activists who scream constantly at Israel while remaining quiet when the Islamic Republic brutalizes its own people.

This is not just politics. It is Spiritual Warfare, and the cost of deception is always paid in blood.

‍The Hope of the Gospel

The world offers two false shelters: denial that evil exists, or rage that tries to defeat evil with evil. The Gospel offers something better. God is not confused, not absent, and not intimidated by the chaos of nations. He created humanity, judges with perfect justice, and commands all people everywhere to repent.

Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, entered a violent world and did not answer darkness with darkness. He conquered sin and death through the cross, and He offers forgiveness to rebels who deserve judgment. The same grace that saves also transforms, teaching believers to love what God loves, hate what God hates, and speak truth with courage and compassion.

If you feel overwhelmed by chaos in Los Angeles, fear in New York, or bloodshed in Iran, do not cling to propaganda or despair. Cling to Christ. He is the only King who cannot be voted out, overthrown, or silenced.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Discover more Christian news and biblical worldview analysis on the Daniel Cohen Show, streaming on Real Life Network.

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The United Arab Emirates, a Muslim-majority nation, just drew a shocking line: the UAE is restricting Emirati students from enrolling in UK universities because British campuses have become hotbeds for radical Islam and anti-West extremism. If that sounds familiar, it should. UK universities and American universities have become ideological factories where pro-Hamas rhetoric spreads, Israel is demonized, and truth gets buried under activism. Meanwhile, Iran protests are erupting against the Islamic Republic, and legacy media barely whispers. I’m Daniel Cohen with Christian news from a biblical worldview. Watch now for free on the Real Life Network at RealLifeNetwork.com.‍

UAE Draws a Line as UK Universities Radicalize Students

Let’s start with the headline that should stop every parent and policymaker in their tracks. The UAE, a country that knows exactly what Islamist extremism looks like up close, is warning its own young people: do not go to British universities because the environment is radicalizing and anti-West. Think about that. A Muslim-majority nation is signaling that the UK has lost control of its own institutions.

And this is not just a “UK problem.” The same pipeline has been forming for years in the United States. Universities, aided by sympathetic media and activist networks, have normalized slogans, excuses, and narratives that sanitize extremists while vilifying anyone who pushes back. The result is predictable: soft language for radicalism, harsh language for law enforcement, and constant moral confusion.

Here is what the UAE decision exposes. Even leaders in the Muslim world can recognize that radical Islam is not merely a private faith issue. It is a political movement that uses institutions as battlegrounds. When governments finally admit that campuses are becoming recruitment and propaganda spaces, that is a flashing red warning sign to the rest of us.

Iran Is Erupting While the West Looks Away

Now, pivot to the story the corporate press treats like background noise: Iran is on fire. The people are risking their lives to throw off the yoke of the Ayatollah, the IRGC, and decades of religious tyranny. This is not theoretical. This is blood in the streets, internet shutdowns, families grieving, and a nation crying out for freedom.

So why is the coverage so thin?

Because the modern activist class does not actually prioritize human rights consistently. If they did, the brutality of Tehran would dominate the news cycle. If they did, celebrities, influencers, and the same voices screaming about “justice” would be naming the Iranian regime for what it is: a violent theocracy that crushes dissent, oppresses women, and funds terror across the region.

Instead, too many of these voices are fixated on attacking Israel and Zionism. That is not an accident. It is ideological alignment. The Iranian regime’s obsession has always been the destruction of Israel and hostility toward America. And when Western activists echo that obsession, they go quiet when Iranians rise up against it. Silence becomes a form of complicity.

From a biblical worldview, this is spiritual blindness in real time. Scripture warns that people can be deceived into calling evil good and good evil. And that is exactly what we are watching when the world shrugs at Iranian suffering but rages endlessly at Israel’s existence.

America’s Campus Crisis and Why It Matters for Your Family

Now bring it home. The UAE is making a protective move about UK universities, but Americans should be asking a harder question: who is protecting our kids from the same ideological machine here?

Across the U.S., campuses have become training grounds for a mix of far-left activism and Islamist sympathy. Students are taught to view America as inherently oppressive, Israel as uniquely evil, and violence as “resistance,” depending on who commits it. That framework does not produce thoughtful citizens. It produces radicals with credentials.

And when the public sees federal officers attacked, when lawful enforcement is treated like tyranny, when words like “secret police” get thrown around casually, it creates a permission structure for chaos. People start believing rules do not apply to them. They start believing intimidation is activism. They start believing the state is illegitimate unless it agrees with their ideology.

You do not have to agree with every policy choice to see the danger of a society that cannot tell the difference between law and lawlessness. A civilization collapses when truth becomes optional.

So here is the challenge. If the UAE can recognize that universities can become incubators for radicalization, Americans can too. Parents, pastors, and leaders need courage to speak clearly, protect their communities, and refuse to be manipulated by propaganda disguised as compassion.

The bigger story is not just geopolitics, it is worldview. When elites can excuse extremism, ignore persecuted people, and call propaganda “education,” you are watching a culture lose its moral center. But we are not without hope. God is not confused, not surprised, and not absent.

If you want Christian news that connects the headlines to biblical truth without the spin, watch The Daniel Cohen Show on the Real Life Network. Tell your family and friends, download the app, and watch now for free at RealLifeNetwork.com.

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A Regime Facing Rejection, Not Reform

Iran is entering a phase that its ruling clerics have long feared but refused to acknowledge. What began years ago as scattered unrest has now hardened into a sustained rejection of the Islamic Republic itself. Across multiple cities, protesters are no longer bargaining with power. They are repudiating it. The chants coming from the streets no longer ask for reform within the system. They call for the system’s removal.

According to reporting by Iranian dissident and analyst Anni Cyrus, one of the most alarming developments for the regime is the growing number of protesters openly calling for the return of Crown Prince Reza Shah Pahlavi. That demand is unprecedented in the context of Iran’s post-1979 political order. It signals not a longing for the past, but a rejection of clerical supremacy and the religious state that has dominated Iranian life for more than forty years. When crowds chant for a figure explicitly displaced by the Islamic Revolution, they are not negotiating terms. They are declaring the revolution itself a failure.

This shift matters because the Islamic Republic is not merely a government. It is an ideological system that fuses religious authority with political control and enforces obedience through fear. The regime’s legitimacy rests on the claim that it governs by divine mandate. Any public challenge to that claim, especially one voiced by large numbers of ordinary citizens, strikes at the heart of its authority. That is why the state’s response has been swift and violent.

Security forces have fired live ammunition into crowds. Arrests have escalated into the thousands. Executions have been carried out under vague criminal charges designed to disguise political repression as law enforcement. Internet blackouts and surveillance have intensified in an attempt to control the narrative and isolate protesters from one another. These measures reflect a regime that understands it is losing consent and is relying increasingly on brute force to maintain control.

Faith, Fear, and the Collapse of Legitimacy

Economic collapse has accelerated the unrest, but it did not create it. Inflation, unemployment, and shortages have devastated everyday life, yet these hardships are widely understood inside Iran as symptoms of a deeper problem. The ruling clerical class has enriched itself while ordinary Iranians struggle to survive. Corruption is systemic. Accountability is nonexistent. Faith has been weaponized to silence dissent rather than to serve the people.

Religious minorities, particularly Christians, have borne the cost of this system for decades. Iran remains one of the most hostile environments in the world for Christian converts. Leaving Islam is treated as a political offense. House churches are raided. Pastors are imprisoned. Evangelism is prosecuted as a threat to national security. These actions are not anomalies. They are the logical outcome of a state that cannot tolerate allegiance to any authority beyond its own religious framework.

Yet despite the repression, Christianity continues to grow underground in Iran. House churches persist. Converts continue to testify to encounters with Christ through Scripture, personal witness, and dreams. The expansion of the Christian faith under such conditions highlights the inherent weakness of coercive religious rule. When belief is enforced by law, it eventually collapses under its own contradictions. Faith that is freely chosen cannot be extinguished by prisons or executions.

Why Iran’s Uprising Matters to the World

Western policymakers have repeatedly misread this reality. For years, Iran has been treated as a conventional state actor capable of moderation through incentives and diplomacy. Nuclear agreements were framed as stabilizing tools. Sanctions relief was promoted as humanitarian. Dialogue was cast as the pathway to peace. These approaches failed because they misunderstood the ideological nature of the regime. The Islamic Republic is not oriented toward compromise. It is oriented toward survival through control.

The Iranian people appear to understand this more clearly than many Western institutions. Their chants are not aimed at foreign governments. They are aimed at the clerics who rule them. They are rejecting political Islam as a governing system, not merely objecting to economic conditions or foreign policy disputes. That distinction matters.

The contrast between Iran’s streets and Western discourse is stark. While Iranians risk their lives to escape Islamic rule, segments of Western culture continue to romanticize Islamist narratives under the banner of tolerance or social justice. While Iranian women defy compulsory veiling, Western institutions frame hijab enforcement as empowerment. While Iranian Christians worship in secret, Western churches often hesitate to speak clearly about the dangers of religious authoritarianism.

This moment demands honesty. The uprising in Iran is not simply another cycle of unrest. It is a reckoning with an ideology that promised justice and delivered repression. It is a warning about the consequences of merging religious absolutism with unchecked political power. It is also a reminder that truth, once awakened, is difficult to suppress.

Whether the current uprising succeeds or is violently crushed, the Islamic Republic has already lost something it may never recover. It has lost the belief of its people. Regimes can survive sanctions and protests. They rarely survive the collapse of legitimacy. Iran’s future remains uncertain, but one reality is now unmistakable. The era of unquestioned clerical rule is ending, and no amount of force can fully restore what has been broken.

For more by Hedieh Mirahmadi, watch Living Fearless on Real Life Network.