The anniversary of the Iranian revolution slipped by on February 10. The day marked 34 years since the shah of Iran was overthrown. His government was replaced with an Islamic republic under Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the uprising. For anyone non-Islamic, February 10 passed without a mention of revolution. The scene on the streets of Iran was entirely different.

Mass rallies occurred across the nation where angry protesters took up the call, “Death to America!” The rallies showed a rare solidarity among the Iranian people that doesn’t reflect the current administration. Political turmoil and friction between Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are ongoing. The political unrest was not enough to stop President Ahmadinejad from giving his customary defiant speech, where he reiterated that Iran is now a “nuclear state.” His speech was met by more frenzied cheering from the masses.

Iran’s statements and actions should give cause for concern. What are the implications for Iran’s future, and how did the West allow it to get to this point? If we look to Iran’s history, we will gain a better understanding of where its steps will take it tomorrow.

During the rally this year, one of the prominent guests was the leader of Yemen’s Hizb al-Haq party, Hassan Zaid. He spent his time praising what he called the “peaceful revolution” of 1979. Let’s take a look at just how peaceful that revolution was.

In September of 1978, martial law was declared by the shah of Iran as riots broke out over his policies that were set to Westernize the nation. Strikes and mass demonstrations started to cripple the nation. In France, Ayatollah Khomeini was stirring the uprising as best he could. He was the unofficial leader of the revolution despite living in exile across the Mediterranean.

In January 1979, the political situation was deteriorating rapidly. The shah and his family were forced into exile. A few days later, the exiled Ayatollah Khomeini triumphantly returned to the thunderous applause of the masses.

In November of that year, Islamic militants overthrew the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Fifty-two Americans were taken hostage. Simultaneously, Adolph Dubs, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, was kidnapped then shot to death by the same militant groups that helped overthrow the shah. The murder of an American Ambassador and the invasion of sovereign U.S. territory is far from the “peaceful revolution” Iran supposedly experienced. A more accurate description might be a bloody and violent coup that led to the suppression of free speech, the breakdown of a pro-Western government and the manifestation of radical Islamic dictatorships.

The violent founding of the Islamic Republic in April 1979 set the stage for the next 34 years of isolation and radicalization.

Just one year later, violence engulfed the region as the Iran-Iraq War got under way. The war dragged on for eight bloody years and cost the lives of over 1 million people.

In 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini died. His successor, Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei, was appointed the next day. He remains supreme ruler of Iran today. Five months after his election, the United States released $567 million worth of frozen Iranian assets.

It was only a few years later, in 1995, that the U.S. started placing sanctions on Iran due to its continued sponsorship of terrorism, its quest for nuclear arms and its continued attempts to destroy the Middle East peace process. Sanctions have continued to this day, but with little effect. Iran is still the number one state sponsor of terror in the world. Iran is closer than ever to obtaining the nuclear bomb. Iran still strives to incite terror and hatred against Israel at every conceivable opportunity.

Thirty-four years after the revolution, Iran is going strong. The populace still rallies en mass to cheer for the destruction of the West. The authorities work behind the scenes to gain a weapon that will take their terrorist tendencies to a whole new level.

Iran has a violent 34 years behind it. And there is nothing preventing it from continuing on this path. U.S. sanctions won’t stop it. It does not fear military intervention. Iran will continue to push. It will push on until someone stops it. Bible prophecy says that day is coming quickly. Iran is about to pick a fight it will come to regret. Soon it will push at Europe, and Europe will push back, hard. The Trumpet has long forecast this event, and will continue to warn of the impending conflict. With Bible prophecy, we can see far into the future of world events. Interested? Order your free copy of The King of the South today, and see what is in store for the Middle East tomorrow.