ARTICLES

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

The Islamic Republic of Iran is home to some 10,000 to 15,000 Jews, who remain as the modern remnants of ancient Jews captured in Jerusalem and forcibly deported to Babylon in 587/586 B.C. While it’s not common knowledge, even now Iran’s Jewish population is the second largest in the Middle East after Israel. Also not well known is the existence of the Cyrus Cylinder, an archaeological treasure dating from the sixth century B.C. and displayed in London’s British Museum.

Discovered in Babylon (modern-day Iraq) in 1879, the clay cylinder draws a straight line from ancient Persia to Jewish people and their history with inscriptions from King Cyrus. In part, Cyrus observes in the cuneiform text, “I took up my lordly abode in the royal palace amidst rejoicing and happiness. … My vast army marched into Babylon in peace; I did not permit anyone to frighten the people.”

Scholars often call Cyrus’s decrees for the Jews the “first charter of human rights.” Cyrus, a pagan king, allowed all the people he conquered—including Jews—to keep their religions and cultures. Today, in exploring the destiny of modern Iranian Jews we find another Middle Eastern set of complicated facts and questions.

Let’s take a moment to revisit the 70-year Jewish exile in Babylon. The annals of biblical and archaeological history recount Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of Solomon’s Temple and eventually the rise of Cyrus the Great in 539 B.C. Why is Persian King Cyrus described as “great?” Apart from his military achievements, tolerant rule, and political astuteness, God tapped this secular ruler to liberate the Jewish exiles by repatriating Jews to their homeland.

Some 50,000 exiled Jews undertook the grueling 900-mile journey to Jerusalem. Most remained behind, however, possibly because many felt they were too old, or they preferred their good lives in Cyrus’ kingdom. The prolific prophet Isaiah mentioned Cyrus by name in Isaiah 44:28 and 45:1—some 150 years before Cyrus freed and financed not only the return of the Jews but also the wherewithal to rebuild the second Temple!

Cyrus’ words are not only inscribed in the Cyrus Cylinder but also in Ezra 1:2-3 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them.”

This link gives added historical insights: [view here].

In modern times, millennia after the human-rights King Cyrus, the Islamic Regime conquered what was called Persia in 1979 and rebranded the country with its Shia Islam. Its apocalyptic ayatollahs are bent on welcoming the so-called Twelfth Imam to rule the world in the end times, an oppressive, one-sided religious governance. Their theology is light years away from the freedom-loving historic King Cyrus.

That said, surprisingly the Jewish community has lived a somewhat unrestricted life under the Islamic Regime. With 30 synagogues, Jewish schools, youth sports, kosher butcher shops, restaurants, and a matzah factory, Jews are an official religious minority and hold one seat in the Iranian parliament. Nevertheless, with upwards of 100,000 Jews living in Iran in 1979, numerous individuals and families fled to Israel and the United States before and after the revolution in waves of mass immigration.

The continuation of comparative calm for the Jewish community is now highly questionable since the Twelve Day War started on June 13. The Iranian Jewish community’s concerns are multiplying by the day. The Regime is arresting dozens of Jews, and some are held without any outside contact. Detainees include rabbis and other Jewish leaders amid a sobering headline in Israel’s Ynet Global News: “Anyone Can Disappear.”

The Regime is focusing right now on Jews with relatives in Israel. The Persian Human Rights News Agency HRANA mentions a November 2011 law that had already restricted family ties between Israeli and Iranian Jews. The Iranian Parliament banned Iranian Jews from travel to Israel. The punishment is up to five years in prison and passport ineligibility. A leader in the Tehran Jewish Association commented anonymously, “We’ve seen limited summonses during previous crises, but the current scale is unprecedented and has raised serious concerns about the psychological and social well-being of our community.”

As the world’s largest sponsor of terror, the Islamic Regime has a track record of fostering horrific evil outside its borders. But it also holds another world record: the second-highest number of executions inside Iran, according to Amnesty International. Only China outpaces Iran in that regard. I daresay all Iranians are aware of the prisons, public hangings, and hateful cries against Israel and the United States even now—in their parliament and funerals after their recent widespread losses in weapons, nuclear sites, and leadership.

I am puzzled now about the Islamic Regime’s leaders amid their war losses. When I recall the total defeat of Japan and Germany in World War II, I have concluded that Iran’s culture is so vastly immersed in cruelty and domination that it has transitioned into more than its Shia Religion. It is a literal Religion of Evil. They will not give up. Even now.

The 2,700-year-old Jewish community is walking an incredibly fragile tightrope. Some diaspora Iranians tend to think Iran’s Jews voicing support for the Regime is a survival strategy. On the other hand, the Central Jewish Committee of Tehran states that “Judaism is a religion, not a political ideology,” adding that Iranian Jews are completely separate from the Zionist (Israel) regime.

Yasmin Shalom Mottahedeh, an Israeli who made Aliyah in the 1980s, put it this way in an interview a few years ago: “The country can never be empty of Jews. It’s a community that has survived since the Babylonian exile after the destruction of the First Temple.” Yasmin concluded, “Jews have had the opportunity to leave, but those who are there have chosen to stay for a reason.”

It is impossible for us to know or understand why every Jew did not flee Iran both leading up to and following 1979. But we do know that the Islamic Regime is a deadly one. Prayers for the Iranian Jews are necessary, as the oppressive leaders attempt to rebuild the country by murdering anyone who stands in their way, Jews and non-Jews. And the ultimate prayer: That all Iranians will rise in freedom to rebuild their beautiful Persian country.

Our CBN Israel team welcomes you to join us in prayers for Iranian Jews by reflecting on King Cyrus’ quote in Ezra 1:3—“And may their God be with them.”

Prayer Points:

• Pray the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will reveal His fullness to the Jews of Iran.
• Pray that God’s heavenly armies will surround the Iranian Jewish families with safety.
• Pray that the Islamic Regime will release the Jews they arrested back to their families.
• Pray Iranian Jews will not suffer the evils leveled against Israeli Jews on October 7, 2023. 

Arlene Bridges Samuels is the weekly feature columnist for CBN Israel since 2020. Working on the staff of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as their SE Regional Outreach Director for nine years, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as the Leadership Outreach Director part-time for their project American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel, is published at AllIsrael.com and The Jerusalem Connection, and has traveled to Israel since 1990. By invitation, she attends Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summits as part of Christian media worldwide. In 2024, Arlene and her husband Paul co-authored Mental Health Meltdown: Illuminating the Voices of Bipolar and Other Mental Illnesses. www.TheMentalHealthMeltdown.com.

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

On Thursday afternoon, June 12, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walked to the Western Wall (Kotel) with his prayer shawl draped over his suit and the customary kippah on his head. He wedged a note from Numbers 23:24 into the crevice, “Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion.”

The note in the Kotel was made public the next day—after Netanyahu’s address during Israel’s Operation Rising Lion ascending out of ancient Jewish history before the air strikes on Iran early the next morning. Indeed, the Lion is rising with God’s Hand—evident in extraordinary plans and miracles, despite the faltering Islamic Regime that deliberately targeted Israeli civilians and infrastructure.

Days passed during which Israel fought alone with extraordinary success against the Islamic Regime, the world’s largest terror threat. Global news outlets and commentators declared that division existed between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu. Would the U.S. commander-in-chief utilize our B-2 stealth bombers to drop the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), often dubbed the “bunker buster” bomb—on Fordow, Iran’s deepest underground nuclear production site?

The answer exploded into headlines in the early hours of Sunday, June 22. Our commander-in-chief, President Donald J. Trump, who earlier gave the Islamic Regime a final two-week ultimatum for diplomacy, acted militarily after the Regime’s pointed refusal. The United States B-2 Spirit stealth bombers struck Iran’s nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The operation was code-named Midnight Hammer, and President Trump enacted his covert maneuvers with his words and schedule. He spoke in nonspecific terms, presented a calm demeanor, and maintained a normal schedule—that is, until right before Midnight Hammer began.

Planned diversionary flights by U.S. stealth bombers headed east in an aerial fake. Other B-2s flew west toward Iran, their true destination to destroy three nuclear sites. In a cooperative goal to disable the terror regime, Midnight Hammer and Rising Lion implemented their own specialized skills and weaponry. Israel never asks the United States for boots on the ground, and during the B-2 attacks, Iran fired no missiles at our U.S. Air Force and no military personnel were harmed. The precision of the Israel and American air forces in targeting only military sites and Islamic Regime terrorists is admirable. In contrast, Iran’s leaders directly attack Israeli civilians, which is unsurprising since that is how Iran’s proxies Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis have functioned during decades of evil.

At this writing, a ceasefire is in place between Iran and Israel, brokered by President Trump. Currently described as the Twelve Day War, Israel extraordinarily met its goal to disable Iran’s nuclear dream of destroying the world’s only Jewish state. Since 1979, the Islamic Regime and its surrogates have attacked and killed Americans upwards of 45 times. In the Iran hostage crisis of 1979, 66 Americans were held captive for 444 days in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. In 1983, Iran-backed Hezbollah drove a truck bomb into a U.S. Marine compound in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 220 Marines. In the Iraq War, Iran-backed terrorists killed at least 603 American soldiers. In 2020, an Iranian ballistic missile hit an American air base, leaving 100 American soldiers with traumatic brain injuries. President Trump not only aided Israel with our precision stealth bombers, he enacted justice for our country!

Although the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and our State Department have issued domestic and global alerts for our vigilance, it seems the U.S., Israel, and the world can rest a little easier for now. 

Oppressed Iranian citizens are celebrating the possibility of freedom after more than four decades of Islamic tyranny. Nevertheless, almost immediately, outrage against President Trump was voiced by Democrats, leftists, and Islamist imams in the United States. President Trump has remained consistent since he first ran for president, repeatedly declaring, “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.” He added on May 13, “Iran can have a much brighter future—but we’ll never allow America and its allies to be threatened with terrorism or a nuclear attack. The choice is theirs to make. We really want them to be a successful country.” Although he preferred demonstrated diplomacy smartly done, he acted on peace through strength as the only solution to disarm Iran’s goal of destroying Israel and America to gain worldwide dominance.

President Trump’s stance is the opposite of past American leaders’ appeasement. Their disastrous 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Joint (JCPOA) was based on their inability or refusal to recognize the difference between evil and good. During the Obama and Biden eras, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry directed an operation of deception to foist it onto Americans. Obama made a $400 million cash transfer to the Ayatollahs. Biden as president gave huge sanctions relief that amounted to $16 billion. When John Kerry ran the State Department, he blocked FBI arrests of Iranian operatives in the U.S. to protect the misguided JCPOA agreement.

When you hear less-than-reliable versions about the decisions of President Trump or Prime Minister Netanyahu, recall these examples of free speech hatred in the United States. Yasir Qadhi—a Muslim cleric in Plano, Texas, who is considered the “architect of Islamization in Texas”—pushes American Muslims to unite against non-Muslims, whom he refers to as Kaffir—“filthy unbelievers.” Praising the Islamic Regime, he is against Muslims who do not agree with his ideological warfare.

Say what you will, it does not change the fact that President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu know the vast difference between evil and good. They have acted in a war they did not ask for but which was necessary to gain peace for our world through strength. They are rational leaders seeking peace by disabling the irrational Islamist Regime instigating hate through terror. Polling varies, and while Americans are anxious about what’s next, three in four voters now see Iran as a real security threat.

On June 21, when President Trump gave his speech after the U.S. Air Force’s precision strikes to cut off the head of the Iranian snake, he declared in closing: “I want to just say we love You, God.” On June 22, PM Netanyahu returned to the Kotel to give thanks for President Trump and pray for the IDF. Again referring to Numbers 23:24, he commented: “Today I return to the same place—and there is a new note: ‘And a nation rose as a lion.’”  

Our CBN Israel team welcomes you to join us with prayers reflecting on this verse: 

Revelation 5:5: “Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Prayer Points:

• Pray for U.S. Army soldiers stationed in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates. 
• Pray for Israeli civilians under fire from Iranian ballistic missiles.
• Pray for displaced Israeli families and for Israel Defense Forces.
• Pray for Iranians longing for freedom.

Arlene Bridges Samuels is the weekly feature columnist for CBN Israel since 2020. Working on the staff of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as their SE Regional Outreach Director for nine years, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as the Leadership Outreach Director part-time for their project American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel, is published at AllIsrael.com and The Jerusalem Connection, and has traveled to Israel since 1990. By invitation, she attends Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summits as part of Christian media worldwide. In 2024, Arlene and her husband Paul co-authored Mental Health Meltdown: Illuminating the Voices of Bipolar and Other Mental Illnesses. www.TheMentalHealthMeltdown.com.

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

We are witnessing world and biblical history in the making. Like David bravely confronting Goliath in 1012 B.C., Israel in A.D. 2025 is crushing the world’s deadly threat from the Islamic Regime—3,037 years later. Despite Iran deliberately directing its ballistic missiles toward Israel’s civilians, Jews are incredibly resilient. Yet they are painfully aware of the incredibly high stakes of victory amid deaths, injuries, and frequent dashes to bomb shelters. 

Israel has been fiercely engaged in a defensive war since October 7, 2023—fighting not only for its own existence but also on the frontlines for the United States and the free world. The rallying cry Am Yisrael Chai (“The people of Israel live”) expresses gratitude to God for His eternal, redemptive plans enacted through the Jewish people.

Today, via worldwide media, millions of people on planet Earth have a front-row seat to Israel’s Operation Rising Lion—the daring military operation targeting Iran’s military and nuclear strength. However, Marziyeh (Marzi) Amirizadeh, born and growing up amid the oppressive Islamic Regime for 33 years, suffered in another kind of front-row seat in 2009. After their radical conversion to Jesus, Marziyeh and a friend ran a covert operation giving out 20,000 Bibles. They were spied on by the Regime’s authorities, then arrested—and brutally forced into Evin Prison, one of the worst in the world.

Sentenced to death by hanging, Marzi underwent punishing traumas before being miraculously released nine months later. She legally immigrated to the United States and obtained her American citizenship. Years later, she fulfilled a long-held hope by visiting Israel in 2023 for the first time. She has now visited Israel three times. Her most recent trip last fall was the inaugural tour sponsored by Jonathan Feldstein, founder of the Genesis 123 Foundation, and Marzi’s NewPersia.org.

These two remarkable people created the organization Root & Branch, which offers a meaningful way for Christians to connect with Israel. Jonathan, an Israeli modern Orthodox Jewish father and grandfather, and Marzi, a Christian author and speaker, pioneered this specialized tour. It combines an agricultural pilgrimage to harvest olives with spiritually uplifting activities along the Gaza border and interacting with the IDF.

Marzi’s life reflects her mission to promote understanding and freedom for her Iranian people and to stand firmly with Israel. A beautiful Iranian American, she loves her “Jewish Savior’s homeland.” I invite you to read about and connect with my remarkable friend at www.NewPersia.org  

Hers is a significant voice, now more than ever during Israel’s Operation Rising Lion. In 1979, when the apocalyptic Ayatollahs ousted the government of Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, the new government’s malicious nature expanded into a behemoth of worldwide terror that is more obvious now than ever before. 

Marzi is a sought-after speaker/author for interviews in Israel, America, and beyond. Sharing a few of her firsthand perspectives will illuminate both the Islamic Regime’s evil mindset and the hopes of the 90 million inhabitants still longing for freedom.

In a 2024 interview with Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz at Israel365, Marzi explains that prior to 1979, “Iran as a country was very pro-Israel, a big ally. Iran was one of the most advanced, enlightened westernized countries.” She added, “Iran is not an Arab country. It is Persian with Farsi as the language, not Arabic.” Iranians look to ancient “King Cyrus as their father” and “believe that their country has been taken hostage.”

Ezra 1:1-2 is a magnificent verse about Persians and Jews! In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled. The LORD put it into the mind of King Cyrus to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and to put it in writing: This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build Him a house at Jerusalem in Judah.”

Marzi also addressed the Iranian hunger for learning about Jesus. During the years that she gave out 20,000 Bibles, she engaged in thousands of conversations about Jesus. Iran is considered the fasted-growing Christian community in the world despite the hard-line Islamic Regime’s ban on Persian Bibles, murdering pastors, and closing churches. In the last 20 years, more Iranians became Christians than in the previous 13 centuries.

On one of her X posts, Marzi shared short videos from Iranians that show the true nature of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) terrorists. They are haphazardly bombing buildings in Tehran to kill innocent civilians. A building in Tehran’s Narmak location is a recent example. The IRGC’s goal is to blame Israel, whose policy is the exact opposite.

The IDF targets only terrorist leaders, staff, and operatives. When Israel must eliminate known terrorists hiding on purpose in civilian neighborhoods, their policy is to notify civilians directing them to leave. Marzi warns, “Don’t be deceived by fake media.” She points out that the Regime knows how to play the role of victim and sell its lies to the world. 

Marzi’s Facebook posts hold many perspectives. In one post Marzi suggests that a regime change with Iran means “the elimination of the supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei and his four sons.” At this writing, with fast-moving news unfolding, Vladimir Putin has reportedly offered Ali Khamenei asylum in Russia.

In another post, Marzi shared a video from an Iranian man driving past the Imam Hasan military base in Kermanshah, Iran. He filmed it while the Israeli Air Force was destroying the base—and “praised PM Netanyahu for his bravery.” Marzi made it known in another post that the Islamic regime “has shut down the internet to stop Iranians from sending films and true news outside in order to spread their own lies and propagandas.”

She could not contact any of her friends in Iran. 

Although Elon Musk has activated Starlink for Iran, confirming that “The beams are on,” it is not yet accessible to everyone. The government opposes Starlink’s presence, and the logistical need for satellite dishes and ground terminals make access inconsistent. Hopefully, Starlink connectivity will grow more available with time.

A June 14 video showed Iranian people dancing in the streets—a form of civil disobedience and protest—while leaving the major cities after last week’s Israeli airstrike campaign began. Marzi commented, “They are celebrating the elimination of the evil Islamic regime and its followers.” 

Let us join with prayers that the celebrations will multiply across Iran, where Jews and Persians will once again revitalize their friendships in freedom, shalom, and joy!

Prayer Points:

• Pray thanking God for the flawless skill of the Israeli and American air forces. 
• Pray for Mossad implementing a complex plan on Iranian soil.
• Pray for Iranian and Israeli civilians seeking the end of Iranian terror.
• Pray for a quick and successful end for Operation Rising Lion.

Arlene Bridges Samuels is the weekly feature columnist for CBN Israel since 2020. Working on the staff of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as their SE Regional Outreach Director for nine years, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as the Leadership Outreach Director part-time for their project American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel, is published at AllIsrael.com and The Jerusalem Connection, and has traveled to Israel since 1990. By invitation, she attends Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summits as part of Christian media worldwide. In 2024, Arlene and her husband Paul co-authored Mental Health Meltdown: Illuminating the Voices of Bipolar and Other Mental Illnesses. www.TheMentalHealthMeltdown.com.